Page 99 of Let the Light Shine Through

“You’re a Flame Bowerbird now?”

“What’s that?”

Wrapped up in a giant hoodie that matches her joggers, Gia hesitates by the tailgate, surveying the stocked bed before smirking at the combination of perfectly balanced snacks. She looks tiny, fragile even, but has a personality the size of an entire defensive line. How she manages to pull off both feats, without so much as trying, I don’t know.

“It’s a bird in New Guinea that builds these fancy bowers, basically a nest or a bed, that are supposed to impress a mate, but really, it’s just to fuck in.”

“That’s not what this is.” I didn’t do that.

I didn’t mean to do that.

“Uh-huh.” She picks up the black device closest to her, instinctively fitting it to her eyes, and asks, “What are these?”

“Night vision binoculars.”

She breathes out, “Whoa,” as she looks around, then pulls them away just as quickly, asking, “Why do you have them?”

“I just bought them today, I swear.” Fuck, I look like a douche.

Her glare doesn’t let up an inch.

“I got them for us, for you, so you can watch for any birds that might be out here. I don’t know, like an Owl maybe?” Or something like that. I thought nocturnal birds were a thing, but with the way she’s looking at me, I’m not so sure.

“You did this…for me?” She uses the binoculars to gesture at my truck. “All so I could bird-watch in the middle of the night?”

“I mean, yeah.” Pretty much.

“After everything I said to you?”

I nod, eyebrows furrowing.

“And after everything I did?”

I bite my cheek.

“After you saw me with those two hot guys—”

“Fuck that,” I say, unable to hold it in. “Those guys were fucking scavengers. What birds are scavengers?”

“Crows.”

“Worse than Crows.”

“Turkey Vultures.”

“Turkey Vultures, that’s what they’re called?”

She nods, and with a shaky smile forming, she asks, “So, even after the Turkey Vultures, you still wanted to do this for me?”

“Yes.”

Her lips split wide open into one of her best smiles I think I’ve seen so far.

“You’re something else, cowboy.”

Cowboy. What a stupid fucking nickname. I still have no idea what it means, but the moment I hear it leave her lips all the fight, all the fire eager to spread, just disappears, leaving my body completely as that calm Gia creates settles back into place.

“I aim to please.”