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I smiled and told myself he didn’t mean what it sounded like. “Got any particular someone else in mind there?”
“‘Course not,” he replied, coyly. “I just think you’d look nice next to...other people.”
His hand slid off his stomach and it fell next to mine. It was like one of those cheesy romance moments, but neither of us made a move.
I grinned. “Other people?”
“Other people,” he agreed, sounding like he was holding back a smile of his own.
“And does this have anything to do with the totally bogus effect I supposedly have on the male population of our town?”
He laughed. “You can’t be serious?”
“What? Why?”
“You can’t seriously not realise, Barlow?”
“Let’s for the time being assume so, Lombardi.”
“You’re very assertive suddenly.”
“Shall I get back in my box?”
He huffed a laugh and sat up. “Fuck no, Barlow. Whatever you do, don’t do that,” he said, looking back at me with a devilish smirk. “Please, never do that. Not with me.”
“You don’t like me in my box?” I asked, pretending I was insulted.
I just saw his smile grow before he turned to look back over the lake as though I wasn’t supposed to see it. “I like you fine in your box. If you really want back in your box, I won’t stop you.” He ran a hand over his chin. “But, I’m not nearly annoyed enough by your incessant yabbering to wish you back in it.”
I grabbed his arm to pull myself to sitting. I almost didn’t let go, but I finally did. “You prefer me out of my box?” I hedged.
He chuckled roughly. “I don’t prefer you any way.”
“Is that not the same as saying you don’t like me?”
I was aiming for teasing, but the speed with which he turned to look at me with a frown on that aggravatingly handsome face made me think it passed over him. I could tell he was looking me over carefully, but I couldn’t have told you what was going through his head. He was quiet for so long, the intensity radiating off him, that I felt like I had to lighten the mood.
“You want to take a picture, Lombardi? It’ll last longer.”
The next thing I knew, a flash went off in my eyes and I was almost as blinded as the night before. I blinked, spluttering a laugh, and heard him chuckle roughly.
“I wasn’t being serious!” I giggled.
“Well, you shouldn’t offer things you aren’t willing to give.”
I was still blinking furiously, trying to clear the spots from my eyes. “It’s less I was unwilling to give it and more I preferred to not be blind!”
“Oh, come on, Barlow. Think of the actual blind people in the world. I doubt they’ll take kindly to your complaining.”
I did my best to glare at him as I tried surreptitiously to pull my phone out of my pocket. As I whipped it up and touched the button to take a picture, I saw him smirk around the cigarette in his mouth as though he was totally expecting it. But, then he was complaining just as much.
“Okay. No. Fair. That is painful,” he laughed and rubbed his eyes.
“Ah, revenge is sweet,” I teased and he laughed again.
“You at least seem in a better mood now,” he said as he rubbed his eyes again and shook his head.
“I was in a bad mood before?”
