“Not sure you understand the concept of beauty, darlin’.”
“Truth, honesty, perseverance, strength, love of all kinds and forgiveness are all beautiful, Tack. The most beautiful stories ever told are the most difficult to take.”
For a few more beats he again stared at me intently then he said, this time on a whisper, “Right,” and his eyes didn’t release mine.
I liked him looking at me like that. I liked him being like this. I liked pizza, beer and sad movies with an easy-to-be-with Tack. This was what I thought I’d found a week ago and here it was, in my living room.
God, what did I do now?
“You got any movies that don’t make you cry?” Tack asked and I blinked up at him.
“Yeah,” I answered.
He shifted me off him, lifted his legs off the coffee table, got up and went to my TV. He ejected the DVD, crouched in front of the cabinet and then dug through it, pulling out DVDs at random and totally ruining the alphabetical organization of my films. Then he opened a case, slid in another DVD and came back to the couch. He grabbed the remote from the end table and then he settled in again.
And when he settled, he did not slouch. He did not put his feet up on the table. No, he laid down flat on his back, ankles crossed, head on a toss pillow on the armrest. While he did this, he arranged me tucked into his side with my back to the back of the couch and my front plastered down his side.
Oh boy. Maybe it was time for me to start being smart.
I lifted up with a hand in his chest and looked down at him.
His eyes were on the TV and his arm with the remote in his hand was stretched out and aimed at the TV.
“Tack –”
He didn’t even look at me when he muttered, “Relax, Red.”
I started to push up from his chest and his arm around my waist got tight as his head turned my way.
Then he whispered, “Relax.”
I stared down at him. He turned his head back to the TV, hit some buttons and then tossed the remote on the coffee table. His arm curled me deeper into his body as his other hand went behind his head.
Speed started on the TV.
“Tack –”
“Relax.”
“Um –”
Another squeeze and his head turned to me.
“Baby,” he said softly in his gravelly voice, I felt that one word in my belly and it felt nice. “Relax.”
His eyes were warm, his arm was tight and his body against me was hard.
I bit my lip.
Then I made another decision and relaxed.
An hour later, I fell asleep with my cheek to Tack’s chest, my arm curved around his gut and my legs tangled in his.
* * * * *
I woke up confused.
It was dark and I was trapped in some kind of comfy cocoon. I sluggishly surveyed my situation and it hit me that I was sleeping on the couch with Tack. My head was cushioned on his bicep, my cheek pressed to his chest, his forearm was wrapped around my shoulders, his other arm resting on my waist. My arm was draped around his, my leg was hitched over his hip and his leg was cocked and resting between mine.