doesn’t like naked people. He eyeballs me in that strange way of his when I finish in the shower and walk out on his slippery floor. He hands me a towel and looks away. Does he not want me to smell like him?
“Are you shy?” I ask, drying off with the soft towel. “Does naked scare you?”
“You’re a girl. This isn’t normal.”
“What’s wrong with it?” I ask, looking down at my wet body. “Is there a part you don’t like?”
“Are you trying to make me crazy?” he growls like a big blond bear.
“First, you say to take a shower. Now, you get angry about the shower. You’re like a squirrel with a broken tail.”
Anders exhales deeply. “I’m a man,” he says, gritting his teeth. “I think you’re beautiful. And you’re fucking naked. That makes me want to touch you.”
“Then touch me. I already told Mama that my heart belongs to you.”
The anger in Anders’s handsome face disappears, leaving him looking like a scolded little boy. I move toward him, thinking a hug will fix his broken heart. He just walks out of the bathroom.
“Bears have claws,” I whisper to myself while drying off. “They can slice you up with the slightest effort.”
My heart burns with wild emotions after Anders’s strange behavior. I walk to the bedroom, where he hands me a shirt while keeping his eyes on the wall.
“Put on this one.”
“Is this yours?”
“Of course. I don’t have other people here.”
“Not even Bronco?”
“Why would he come to my bedroom?”
“I don’t know. I don’t have a bedroom. What do people do in here? Just sleep?”
“Yeah,” he mutters, walking out of the room.
I slide the shirt over my head and then run to the bathroom to see how I look in the mirror. The fabric hangs every which way and reaches my knees. Anders’s shirt is my dress.
After the soda drink, my energy remains high, but my stomach rolls angrily. I walk to the kitchen, where Anders stands with his arms crossed and a pout on his face.
“You need a hug.”
“Stay away from me.”
“Then take me home.”
“I can’t.”
“Do you want to?”
Anders’s blue eyes study my face. Then he lowers his head and shakes it. “No.”
“Can I have a treat?”
“Dinner’s on its way.” Anders walks to the room with all the seats and then throws his hands up. “I should have asked Jena to bring you clothes.”
“Is Jena your sister?” I ask, crawling onto the couch and stretching out.
“I don’t have any sisters. Not that I know of. My dad might have made kids with other women he fucked. I don’t know. It doesn’t matter. Stop asking me questions.”
I just watch him and listen to the music playing from the box near the ceiling. “Your house smells good.”
Anders frowns at me like the people do at the Village when I’m bad. He wants to punish me.
Then he shakes his shoulders and sighs. “Thanks.”
“Why are you sad? Is it because I got water on your floor?”
“No. I want you, but you’re a little kid.”
“No, I’m not,” I say, rolling my eyes. “I have all the grown-up stuff like Mama.”
“So does Dove, but she’s not a grown-up.”
I think of my sister. “No, but she isn’t a kid either.”
“She’s a teenager.”
“Am I a teenager?”
“I don’t know.”
“What does it matter?”
“If you’re a little kid, then I’m a gross weirdo for wanting to touch you.”
Smiling, I stretch out on the couch until my toes touch one end. “I’m not a little kid.”
“How old are you?”
“I don’t know.”
“Exactly.”
“I’m a grown-up. I could have a helpmate and a baby at the Village. I just don’t want any of those men. They’re vile. Most of them think John Marks is smart, but he’s dumb. That means they’re dumb. I don’t want to have a baby with a dumb-dumb. I want someone like Papa.”
“And what was he like?”
Smiling, I remember my papa with his shiny brown eyes and a big, warm smile. “He was fun and smart. You can’t imagine how good his hugs were, Anders. But now he’s hugging in a different story.”
“I’m sorry.”
“You don’t have to say that every time.”
“I don’t know what else to say.”
“Don’t say anything. People talk too much. The world can be quiet.”
Anders walks over to me and kneels down. He tugs the shirt I’m wearing toward my feet to make it cover me more.
“Aren’t you worried I’ll hurt you?” he asks in a quiet, fearful voice.
“No.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know. I wasn’t scared of your biker men friends either. I felt so happy.”