Part 19 (2/2)
”Are you sure that's wise?”
He shrugged. ”Maybe, maybe not. But I was seen talkin' to ya' last night, so if there's gonna be any fallout, the damage is already done...for me, anyway.”
I didn't really understand what he meant with his addendum to the sentence, but it wasn't important. The fact was that his obvious conclusion about me being concerned for his career, while somewhat logical, was a misinterpretation of my query. I thought I should probably just let it go, but again my mouth was running out of sync with my brain.
”Actually, I was talking about your jaw,” I corrected him. ”You aren't afraid I might take a swing?”
”Uh-huh,” he said with a raised eyebrow. ”Yeah. Well, don't expect another free shot anytime soon, white man. Ain't gonna happen.”
”I'll bear that in mind.”
”Yeah, whatever,” he said, still not pursuing the caustic tone of my replies. Instead, he peered back at me with questioning eyes then repeated his earlier question, ”So, anyway, how's Firehair?”
”She's been better,” I answered. ”Of course, that stands to reason when you think about where she is.”
”Yeah,” he mumbled, inspecting the sidewalk for a moment before looking back to my face. ”But, she's tough. She'll hold up.”
”Yeah. I just hope she's tough enough.”
”She is.”
”Glad you're so confident.”
”You ain't?”
”Let's just say I'm worried.”
”Yeah, I can understand that...” he agreed with a nod.
”So,” I asked. ”This great confidence you have in her fort.i.tude...is that recent revelation?”
”Just drawin' from what I know about 'er.”
”Really? I thought you'd pretty much discounted all of that last night when the irrefutable evidence became the thing.”
”I never said that.”
”Not in those exact words.”
He shook his head. ”Ya'know, the only reason I'm resistin' the urge ta' kick your a.s.s right now is that I know your head ain't on straight.”
”Okay. Am I supposed to say thank you?”
”It'd be nice, but I'd settle for ya' tryin' ta' be a little more civil.”
”This is me being civil, Ben.”
”Yeah, right,” he harrumphed. ”It's more like you bein' an a.s.shole.”
”Live with it.”
”It ain't helpin' your wife, Row.”
”Coming from you, that sounds a bit empty.”
”Look, I've been doin' some thinkin' about all this and askin' a few questions.”
”Oh yeah? Did you come to any conclusions?”
”Yeah, actually, I did.”
”Let me guess...you still think Felicity is guilty.”
”Actually, considerin' some of the answers I've gotten, what I think is some s.h.i.+t don't add up.”
”Okay, so, is that a yes or a no on the guilty part?”
”It's a 'I think some s.h.i.+t don't add up',” he replied and then added, ”On both sides.”
”So what you're saying is that now you're on the fence?”
”s.h.i.+t, Rowan, I was climbin' the G.o.dd.a.m.ned fence last night. Just wasn't quite sittin' on it yet.”
”I couldn't tell.”
”Wanna know why? 'Cause ya' were too friggin' busy bein' p.i.s.sed off ta' listen to me.”
I paused for a moment to weigh what he had just said. In truth he was probably correct. Much of the previous evening was a painful blur, with even more excruciating but still out of focus highlights. I'm sure my emotional state clouded much of it just as it had been doing all along.
I finally gave him a shallow nod and replied, ”Maybe so.”
”Yeah...so listen...you wanna go grab somethin' ta' eat this evening?”
Taking into account the events of the past day, the invitation seemed to come out of nowhere. While I was willing to make a concession about my stubborness, I was still on a roller coaster ride where my feelings about Ben were concerned. I was willing to talk, but I wasn't so sure I wanted to sit down to dinner with him. On top of that, I had more than enough to deal with at the moment.
”No offense, Ben,” I replied, begging off the invite. ”But I'm not much in the mood for socializing right now. And, to be honest, I'm still not so sure about the company.”
”Yeah, well in case ya' didn't notice, that last part was actually kinda offensive.”
”Sorry about that. Just being honest.”
”Okay, but ya' gotta eat.”
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