Page 6 of Dark Truth

“Because, you gave me your virginity. You didn’t know I was going to monopolize your time when you did that.”

“I like that you monopolize my time, Dylan. I don’t have a problem with that, at all.”

“What about other women? Would that be satisfying?” There was a gentle purr to his voice when he asked.

“I don’t know. I’m not against it, but I’m not sure I want it either?” I looked at him again, and then finished. “Besides, wouldn’t a woman touching me be the same as a man?”

“You might be on to something there, my dear. Do you want some juice?” he asked and rolled off the bed.

I heard a glass break in the kitchen and called out to Dylan. He called back and said he’d knocked a glass on the shelf and to stay in the bedroom while he cleaned it up.

I went to the bathroom, freshened myself up with a quick shower, and then went back to bed. Dylan came in with two glasses of juice and handed me one.

“What do you want to eat tonight? We have that roast in the freezer, or we can have something quick? I can pop some of that fried chicken into the oven.”

Dylan liked to do most of the cooking while we were here. At home he rarely had time to do it, but here, he had all the time in the world.

“The chicken sounds nice.” I plopped back onto the pillows and rolled up in a ball. Wake me up when it’s done.”

“Lazy-bones,” I heard Dylan say, but just chuckled. I was very tired suddenly, and I wasn’t kidding when I told him to wake me up because I was hungry too. Which was another reason I chose the chicken; it wouldn’t take as long to cook as the roast.

I closed my eyes, and my thoughts drifted away. Soon enough, I was asleep, and the world no longer existed outside of my brain’s impulses. When I woke up an hour later, Dylan was at the foot of the bed with a grin.

“KFC has nothing on me, baby. Come on, let’s eat.” Dylan pulled me up when I put my hand out to him, and I soon found myself at a small dining table. He had mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, and green beans spread in bowls around the chicken.

“It looks great.” It was only frozen fried chicken, but it was a gourmet variety and tasted surprisingly good.

“Thanks. I made the macaroni and cheese myself, by the way.” The cabin’s fridge and chest freezer were always stocked up. Dylan would have found anything he needed in those or the pantry.

“It’s delicious,” I said around a mouthful of hot mac and cheese. I saw him smile in pleasure and felt my own little smidgeon of delight as he did. Dylan wasn’t necessarily used to compliments, but he was getting used to mine.

“What are we going to do now?” I asked when we’d finished eating and had cleaned up.

“Well, we can watch a movie, read a book, or just sit on the couch together and stare out at the stars in the sky.” We wouldn’t be able to see a lot from the couch, even with the lights off, but it would be nice.

“The last one,” I said and slipped over to the wall to turn off the light.

We settled onto the couch; Dylan’s arms were around me, and I closed my eyes, enjoying the moment. I’d put on a robe to eat dinner and was glad. There, in the dark, it was a little chilly, even with the fire going.

“What did you want to be when you were little? Before life got in the way, and Trent was such an asshole to you?” His words were almost like a splash of cold water on the fantasy-land I’d found myself in. I thought about his question, though, rather than letting it ruin the moment.

“I wanted to be an astronaut.” As soon as the word left my mouth a raucous laughter burst from Dylan's lips. “Stop laughing!” I pushed against his side, and he stopped chuckling.

“Really? You’d want to leave this world behind?” He looked genuinely curious, and I looked up at the stars beyond the tips of the tallest trees outside.

“I did. I wanted to look at the planet from the other side and explore other worlds. I wanted to see if the Crab Nebula really was that bright and beautiful. I wanted to see Mars from close up, and walk on the moon.” I heard the wistfulness in my voice.

“It sounds amazing, you’re right. Why didn’t you?”

“I’m a Thompson. It’s that simple. We don’t leave the world behind. I had the grades for it, and I could have worked to make sure I was NASA material, but, well, I’m a Thompson. We do hotels, not space rockets.”

“I understand.” He hugged me tight and apologized for laughing.

“No, it’s alright. It’s a man’s job, right?”

“Not at all. I’ve just never met someone with such high, um, dreams.”

“I don’t expect many people have.” It was a crazy idea, but one I still sometimes thought about.