Tessa Teevan - Incinerate

She’s just staring at me, not responding as she sits on the bed. I decide to leave the room and go do as I said. It’s a few minutes before she comes back out to the living room, where she sits on the coffee table directly in front of me. Placing her hands on my knees, she leans in close to me, and I’m prepared to take whatever she has to give because I know she’s probably pissed.

“I guess I was wrong. Even after being inactive and injured for over two months, you are still strong enough to haul my ass around. And I’m not little, so that’s pretty damn impressive,” she says, surprising me.

That was the last thing that I was expecting. I was waiting for a verbal tongue lashing or at least a parental-like scolding, but her telling me it was impressive? Yeah, I’m shocked as shit. And proud as hell. I thought I was more trying to prove a point to her and to myself when I did that, but looking back on it, maybe I was trying to impress her at the same time. I don’t want her thinking I’m some weak guy, and the way she’s been acting made me think that she did. Until now.

“Thanks, sweetheart, but you’ve seen nothing yet. Give me two months back in the gym and I’ll really be able to impress.” The cocky douche in me comes out before I can even stop it, and she rolls her eyes at me before turning serious-faced again.

“I know what you were doing, and once I figured it out, I just let you go ahead with it. Consider your point proven. That being said, don’t ever do anything like that to me again. At least not until you have full clearance from the doctor. You and I both know that Dr. Branch said you couldn’t lift anything more than ten pounds, and I outweigh that by about 130, so I’m definitely off-limits.”

I start to interrupt her to let her know it was a one-time thing, but she holds her hand up to stop me. “I know I’ve never been in your shoes, but I have been in the position where I’ve been injured and not been able to do my daily workouts. I understand how it feels to be cooped up, helpless, and weak. What happened to you was awful, Knox, and I know you’re itching to get back in the gym, back to work, and back to your normal life. I know having me around is a reminder that you can’t do it all on your own right now, but please don’t look at it that way. Forget why I’m here. All that matters now is that you have a new roommate who is conveniently around to do the things that you can’t. And when you’re given the go-ahead, I’ll be right there with you working through your rehabilitation so you can eventually throw me around like a sack of potatoes. But let’s wait to do that so we don’t potentially worsen your injuries, okay?”

Nodding, I’m shocked at how spot-on she is. Maybe Jace was right when he said I’m not that hard to read. Or maybe it just takes the right person to get me, and apparently this girl is that person.

Smiling, she pats my knee before getting up from the coffee table. “It’s going to take time, but you have to be patient. If we do something to cause a setback, it’ll just take that much longer to get you back in the gym, and to be honest, I’m itching to go toe-to-toe with you to see what you’re made of,” she teases.

It doesn’t escape my attention that she’s been talking about this as a dual effort, using ‘we’ when talking about my rehabilitation, and a strange feeling washes over me at the thought of us being a ‘we,’ an ‘us.’ It’s foreign and only slightly familiar, because it’s been so damn long since I’ve ever even entertained the idea of coupling up. I push that thought out of my head. I can see myself being friends with this girl, and that’s how it has to stay. She’s obviously got baggage with the cheating ex, and now that we’re roommates, I definitely don’t want to start anything that’ll complicate things.

“Hello? Anyone in there?” Charlie waves her hand in front of my face, pulling me out of my thoughts.

Shaking my head, I grin up at her. “Sorry, I was just trying to imagine any scenario in which it would be even remotely possible for you to keep up with me.”

“You have no idea what I can and can’t do. The next time you see Kale, feel free to ask him how hard it is for me to ‘keep up’ with the big boys,” she says, causing me to be curious as to what she means. I remember him telling me that she went to our gym. Now I want to call his ass and get the info, but I don’t want her to know I’m even remotely interested.

She settles in on the couch next to me and we watch the television in silence until the pizza man rings the doorbell. Charlie gets up to get it before I can, and this time I let her. She’s headstrong, and I’ve decided just to let her do her thing instead of fighting with her on everything. She’s definitely the type you pick your battles with, and this isn’t one of them. So I decide to back off—at least for now.

Knox

DINNER GOES by quickly as we eat pizza and casually drink wine, not really talking but both watching the television in silence. Once we’re finished, she gets up and takes the plates to the kitchen, along with the extra pizza, claiming that it’ll be the perfect breakfast in the morning. I can’t remember the last time I went out with a chick who ordered more than a salad. Clearly I’ve been picking up the wrong type of women. But then again, that’s all I wanted at the time. Something about just hanging around the living room, eating pizza with Charlie makes all those nights with randoms seem pointless, and I realize I’ve missed being around a chick who isn’t just interested in getting into my bed.

Coming back into the living room, she goes over to my movie collection to see what I have. She pulls out The Departed and holds it up to me. “Is it cool if I put this in?”

Is she fucking kidding me? Not only is that probably my favorite movie in my collection, but it’s kinda hot that she’s not wanting to watch a chick flick.

“Seriously? Do you actually like it or are you just picking that because I don’t have any rom-coms on my shelf?”

Rolling her eyes, she goes about putting the movie in before she rejoins me on the couch. “I love this movie. I mean, come on. It has Mark Wahlberg AND Leo DiCaprio, hot cops, gangs, and the mob. What’s not to love?”

“You’re pretty fucking awesome, you know that?” Shit, that was supposed to be an internal thought, but instead it came out before I could stop it. It’s true though, and the more I get to know Charlie, the more I realize I’m actually beginning to like her.

Turning towards me, she smirks at me. “It only took you a week to figure that out? I guess you’re not as slow as I thought.”

“Hey, my brain was scrambled on the Afghan concrete a couple of months ago. Cut me some slack, sweetheart.”

“And there it is again. I was wondering if we’d be able to make it through one conversation without you calling me that, but I guess not.”

I shrug, not sure what to tell her. “That’s your fault. You’re just so damn sweet that I can’t help it.”

She laughs as she settles into the couch and hits the play button on the remote. It’s weird since she’s practically a stranger, but I feel more comfortable around her than I have around anyone else in a really long time.

About an hour into the movie, I find that I’ve been watching her more than the show, and I can’t help but feel ridiculous jealousy when she comments on how she’d love to be in a Mark/Leo sandwich. It’s irrational, but the part of me that wants her can’t help it, even if I’ve already resolved not to go there.

She must feel the burning on the side of her face from my watching her because she finally turns away from the television to look at me, mistaking my staring for something else.

“What’s up? You all right? Need a pillow for your back or your arm or something? You can just ask me if you need anything. That’s what I’m good for, remember? I refuse to get you a bell to ring whenever you need something, but I don’t mind you asking.”

Shaking my head, I tell her, “No, it’s not that.” And she frowns at me.

“Oh, geez, do I have pizza sauce on my face? I swear, Dad’s been telling me since I was a kid to slow down while eating it, but it’s my favorite and I get a little crazy whenever I have it in front of me,” she says, looking at me sheepishly as she wraps her sleeve around her hand and goes to town trying to wipe off her face.

I know I should tell her that’s not it either, but I’m getting a fucking kick out of watching her, which causes me to chuckle. She stops what she’s doing and her eyes narrow.

“I don’t have sauce on my face, do I?” she asks.

“Nope, but it was pretty damn hilarious watching you try to get it all off,” I tell her, prompting her to scowl at me.

“Well, then why the hell were you staring at me, you creep?” she asks as she turns the TV down a little bit.

“I was just remembering something that Jace told me last night, and I realized that I still don’t know that much about you.”

Her forehead wrinkles as she turns towards me. “What’d he say?”

“He was telling me about how you work at Austin Peay.”

Nodding, she answers me. “Yep, I work as the liaison in the Veterans Affairs office. If you’re looking to get back into school, I’m your girl.”

“Nah, I’m good. I finished up my degree in International Relations when I was in Iraq in 2008 and right now I have no desire to go back to school. Maybe one day. How long have you been working there?”

“Umm, it’s been a little over two years. I like it. It’s how I found out about this volunteering gig, and it’s nice to help out the military in the community, making sure that they’re using their benefits in the most efficient way and all that.”