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I looked up at Travis and he was still staring at me. He was relaxed in his seat and his hands were now in his lap. Every time I looked over at him, he seemed to grow in size. The flames of the fire casted sharp shadows upon his features, making him look more intimidating by the second. His beard reflected colors of gold and red even though the hair on his head was brown and red. Like the hardwood floor I laid on as I tried to get dry.
“California,” I said.
“Still a ways out from there,” Travis said.
“Figures.”
I couldn’t do anything right. I couldn’t even fucking run away from home right. Kettle was, what… maybe an hour outside of Seattle? I had run away for all of sixty minutes before I got lost and found myself in trouble. Maybe my father was right. Maybe I was only suited to bear children and keep a home. I couldn’t even take charge of my life correctly when given the opportunity to.
“Any reason why you were scaling the mountains during a storm?” Travis asked.
“Wasn’t intentional,” I said.
“Wrong turn devolves into several. Sounds intentional to me,” he said.
“Well, good thing you don’t know anything about me, then.”
My voice was harsher than I had intended it to be and guilt began to take over. Which was another fun little trait my mother had instilled into me. Even if someone patronized me, I always had to be polite. Anything less than respect for anyone who paid me the time of day was considered grounds for a day-long guilt trip festival party.
“I didn’t mean that as harshly as it came out,” I said.
“You did. But it’s fine,” Travis said. “And to answer your other question, I don’t know.”
“About what?” I asked.
“Your stuff. Your car. We can’t get out there tonight, and there’s a slim chance that we’ll have an opening tomorrow. I don’t know if your stuff is going to be okay. Do you have insurance on the car?”
“My parents do,” I murmured.
“If things get damaged and your insurance company—”
“I know how insurance companies work, but thank you for assuming I didn’t.”
I turned back over onto the cushions and faced the fire again. I felt tired all of a sudden. Like someone had sucked all the energy right from my bones. I allowed my eyes to close as I peeled the blankets back from my body. They needed to dry by the heat of the fire because I sure as hell wasn’t taking them off. I had nothing to put on and I wasn’t about to wear some strange clothes some mountain man with a beard had in his closet. His knees acted like they had a restraining order against one another and there was this playful glint behind his eye.
Like he was somehow enjoying the fact that I was flailing in a new situation.
Shit. Was that a trait of a psychopath?
“I’ll help you with your car in the morning, if it’s safe,” Travis said.
“Thanks,” I said.
“Would you like me to help you to the guest bedroom?” he asked.
“I’m fine here,” I said.
“It’s got a comfortable bed.”
“I’m sure it does, but it’s farther away from the front door in case you turn out to be crazy.”
“Fair enough. I’m going to bed,” he said.
“Night.”
I heard him get up from his chair before his movements stopped. His presence loomed over me. Watching me with those bright amber eyes. I slid a little more of the blankets back, trying to get my pants to start drying off. The lower half of my body was still soaking wet and I knew I would never get to sleep until it was dry. Travis’ body cast a shadow over me and I stayed focused on the fire, trying to make it seem like I wasn’t clocking his every move. Finally, he moved, his body making its way for the hallway as I relaxed. I listened as his footsteps trailed off into the distance before a door opened. And when it closed and muted his footsteps, I quickly got up off the cushions.
