Page 8 of Double Dared
It was a perfect plan. I saw no way for this to go wrong, said Wile E. Coyote.
I plugged my headphones in and blasted “Holding Out for a Hero” by Bonnie Tyler as I walked to the subway, mingled with the living, breathing crowd around me, and exited near the abandoned industrial warehouse where the arts and crafts market was already bustling with activity.
As I neared it, the figure with his back to me was impossible to miss. His broad shoulders filled the knitted sweater in a clash of strength and elegance only Harrison could pull off. He wore gray checkered pants that fit him a little too well. I noticed, yeah. So what? I liked a well-dressed person as much as anyone.
I snuck up on him and poked his rib cage with my fingers from behind.
Harrison yelped and jumped off the sidewalk, grabbing his heart. “You’re so damn lucky I don’t know karate.”
“Yeah, because you could make me laugh to death with some karate moves.”
“That is probably highly disrespectful,” Harrison noticed. “Don’t do that again.”
I crossed my heart. “Never making fun of karate again.”
He arched that eyebrow of his, making me feel like Iwas in the principal’s office. “I’m ticklish, and I hate it. A boyfriend should know that.”
“A boyfriend would abuse this knowledge to the end of days,” I said, slipping a hand to his rib cage and giving him a tickle that provoked utter disbelief on his face. I missed the mark a little, virtually caressing his tit with my hand. “Oh, wow, you work out,” I said as my fingers met a steel-hard torso.
Harrison slapped my hand away like I was a mosquito. It only encouraged me.
“How much can you lift?” My hand went to his chest again.
“Are you always like this?” Harrison asked.
“I just wanna know. I do a hundred pounds on an inclined bench without breaking a sweat,” I said. “Boyfriends should tell these things to each other, Harrison.”
I could see him fight to keep his expression blank. I could also see the anxiety making all the nerve endings in his body tingle. “A hundred and forty, but I do break a sweat.”
“Damn, boy.”
“Right. Enough of this. We should look around and get to know some of the sellers. Emma’s not here yet, but I bet she won’t be able to resist it. She always came along with me.” He put a hand on the small of my back and leaned in real close. “Is this okay?”
“Your hand is fine,” I said. “You whispering into my ear is…” I didn’t have a word for it. Whatever it was, it made my neck want to twist, and it made my skin prickle. But before I could find the name for the feeling, we were at a stall where an artsy girl our age wore a particularly colorful bandana around dreadlock-decorated hair. Her nose was pierced on the left side, and she wore no makeup, yet glowed like a polished diamond, and greeted us with a dimpled smile that would have made me buy her a drink in a blink.
“Hi,” Harrison said while I was still too busy moving my gaze over the trinkets on her table. There were the classic wooden beads strung into necklaces and bracelets, amber jewels hung from strings, wooden boxes that were clearly handmade containing incense and clever mechanisms to hold them in place so they wouldn’t burn your house down, figurines and little statuettes of various animals cluttering an embroidered tablecloth. A stork with a long beak and one leg lifted off the ground was delicately balanced on its other leg.
“These are incredible,” I said. “Did you make all of this?”
“You know it,” she said.
“Wow. Witchcraft.” And I meant it. Bring out the stakes. I didn’t know it was possible for one person to be able to do so many things. I had a glancing talent at catching a ball and running into a crowd of testosterone-fueled men.
“My grandpa was crazy talented. He could make anything. If you just described it to him, he didn’t even need to see it.” She laughed. “I’m Kate. Welcome to my stand.”
“Hi, Kate,” I said, defaulting to my flirtatious self. “I’m Taylor. This is Harrison.” I glanced at him and saw what I was doing reflected in his eyes. “My boyfriend,” I added. I picked up the stork. “Look, babe. It’s a stork.”
A customer with a wallet out approached the table and watched Kate with the eagerness of someone willing to spend money here and now, so she excused herself. “Just look around. I’ll be here.”
“How did I do?” I asked.
Harrison was still holding my stork. “Incredible.”
“Really?”
He looked at me. “Oh, I meant the figurine. You did fine after remembering you’re not a straight, single guy looking to flirt with every pretty girl you meet.”
I polished my fingernails on the lapel of my jacket. “Thank you very much. I try my best.”
