“I’m going to Denver.”
“No you aren’t,” he replied and his answer, which was firm, unyielding and also surprising, made me blink.
“I’m not?”
“Nope,” he said as he stood and he seemed very tall and very big. He was, of course, very tall and very big in the kitchen too but the kitchen was a brightly lit open space. The loft wasn’t a brightly lit open space. It was more like a brightly lit, intimate cocoon. His very tall, very big body seemed to fill the loft, leaving very little room for me.
“But… I am.”
He walked to me and I resisted the urge to retreat mainly because the spiral staircase was behind me and I’d already spent two days sick in his house, I didn’t want to break my neck there.
He stopped a foot away from me and said, “You aren’t.”
I shook my head and asked, “Why?”
“You need to rest.”
“I’ll rest in Denver.”
“Drivin’ to Denver isn’t resting.”
“Okay, then I’ll get a hotel in town and spend the night there, drive to Denver tomorrow.”
“You aren’t doin’ that either.”
“Why not?”
“Because you aren’t.”
I was beginning to get angry. I didn’t often get angry mainly because I’d made my life so that not much happened to me to get angry about. But I was definitely beginning to get angry right then.
“Why?” I asked.
“Nina, I gotta get this done, I don’t have time for this.”
He didn’t have time for this? Time for what?
“Time for what?”
“Time to spar with you.”
Now I wasn’t angry, I was confused. “We’re… sparring?”
“You’re off, you were better the other night.”
“Better at what?”
He didn’t answer me, instead he repeated, “I gotta go.”
“Max –” I started but he began to walk around me so, instinctively, my hand shot out and my fingers curled around his bicep.
He stopped but my body had frozen and my eyes had dropped to his arm.
My fingers were there, holding what felt an awful lot like steel. Niles didn’t have steely biceps. Niles had soft, fleshy biceps. One would think steely biceps didn’t feel nice but they didn’t only feel nice, they felt nice.
“Nina,” Max called and I jumped and yanked my hand away.
“I want to thank you, for being so nice about me being… sick and, um… everything, but really, I have to go.”