Page 36 of Rough

I leaned onto the edge of the table and met his gaze. “What are you thinking about right now?”

“You’re all over the fucking place.” He rubbed the heel of his palm against his eye. “You ask questions, and then you’re just on to something else.”

“I’m not going to beg you to give answers. If you don’t answer me, I’m just going to assume you don’t want to, and I’ll move on.”

He leaned forward. “I’m like Samson. That’s why I’ve got the hair.”

It was a cute response. It didn’t make him safe, but it – along with his frequent smiles – made him seem boyish.

“It makes you strong?” I asked.

He brushed his hands through his hair and nodded.

“Do you believe that?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know, yeah.”

“Interesting.”

“Hey, hold on a minute,” he said. “A minute ago. Did you call me a douchebag?”

“Not like when you called me the B-word, no.” I chuckled. “I inferred it.”

“That’s what I was thinking.”

“Took you a minute, though, didn’t it?”

He looked me up and down. “God damn. Do you ever let up?”

“Rarely. It’s a self-preservation thing.”

“Because you don’t trust us?”

“Something like that.”

He looked at my hands, and then glanced under the table. “You haven’t got a drink yet?”

“I’m not getting one.”

“We met at a coffee shop. People drink coffee here.” He outstretched his massive arms. “Look around you.”

“You picked this place, not me,” I reminded him. “You haven’t been back to your father’s house since you barfed on the floor. If you had, I would have paid you there.”

“I’ve been back,” he snapped back.

“Not in my presence,” I said with a laugh.

He shrugged. “I’ve been busy.”

“You made a fool of yourself, and you were embarrassed.”

“I ate too many jalapenos, and then grabbed a sloshing bag of piss. That shit ran down my arm. Nothing embarrassing about that, just gross.”

“You stopped coming after that, I was just saying--”

He sat up straight and puffed out his chest. “You’re full of shit.”

He was full of shit, but I’d give him the benefit of the doubt. It was time to move on. “I don’t waste money on things like coffee. I’d rather eat.”