Page 54 of Coyote

The report crackled in my pocket.

"Did you find what you needed?" he asked.

I put my arms around his waist and held on. "I found dinner."

John glanced at the rabbit tied to my belt. "You catch that with your hands too?"

"I used a snare."

"Good. I was starting to worry you did everything the difficult way."

"Only when the difficult way is more fun." I pulled back enough to look at the dressing over his ribs. "Let me check you."

His hand stayed on the back of my neck for another second before he released me. "Go ahead."

I pressed around the edges of the bandage, watching his face instead of my fingers. He hid pain well, but his stomach tightened when I reached the stitches near his back.

"That hurt."

"It pulled."

"What did you do while I was gone?"

"Put on my pants."

"You could've waited."

John laughed and caught my wrist before I could move to the dressing on his thigh. "I've been dressing myself a long time."

"You didn't have me for fifty years."

He smiled. "Check the wound, little one."

I did. The dressing had held, and the skin around it wasn't any hotter than the rest of him. I sat back on my heels, satisfied for now.

John reached for me again, but I stood and took the rabbit from my belt before he could pull me back between his legs. If he kept touching me like that, I might tell him just to stop the report from making noise every time he put his hands on me.

Or I might burn it.

I looked toward the fire ring. Coals still sat beneath the ash. I fed them dry grass and twigs, then added thicker wood once the flame caught.

John watched me push a green branch through the rabbit. "How long?"

"Until it's cooked."

"That clears things up."

"You want parasites?"

"I want dinner."

"Then quit asking questions."

He leaned back against the cave wall and stretched his legs in front of him. Even sitting down, he took up too much space. One boot would've reached the fire if he'd been wearing them. He bumped his bare foot against my hip while I turned the rabbit. I shoved it away.

He put it back.

I glared at him.