Greedy, I laid my cold hand right on his skin. His stomach muscles twitched, but he didn’t give any other indication that he noticed me. I quickly shed my other glove so that hand could join the first. I leaned closer to keep his jacket down, worried that I was letting cold air get to him.
My hands slowly warmed. I’d forgotten how smooth his skin felt. Leaning this close, my legs stayed warm too.
Turning my wrists, I warmed the backside of my hands. His muscles twitched again. It probably didn’t feel too good to keep moving my cold hands around like that, but he could scowl at me when we got to Beatriz’s.
I realized the trees lining the road, which whipped past at a dizzying speed, had slowed… no we had slowed.
“You okay?” I called through the helmet. He nodded and sped up again.
The last flip to warm my hands had probably shocked him. At least he hadn’t run us into the trees.
With regret, I withdrew my hands and stuck them back in his jacket pockets. I stayed reasonably warm the last few minutes of the ride, but was happy to see Beatriz’s house when we arrived.
I quickly dismounted and waited for Morik to help with the helmet not wanting to take the gloves off I’d managed to put back on. As soon as it was off, I gave him a sheepish smile. “I hope I didn’t cross a line. My hands were cold.”
His dark eyes met mine, and he quirked a lopsided grin. “I know. I felt it. And no, you didn’t cross any lines.” He stepped close and gently smoothed my hair. “For you, I’ll never draw any.”
Something inside me squirmed a little. Not trusting myself to say the right thing, I just nodded. His eyes behind the yellow sunglasses appeared much darker than usual, tempting me to reach up and move the sunglasses out of the way, but the front door opened before I moved. Beatriz greeted us. I broke eye contact first turning away to wave to her.
“Twenty minutes on the dot,” she said when we stepped inside. “You’re good.” Her eyes were all over Morik. I hoped she wouldn’t notice his eyes… or horns… or ears. Oh, boy, or his nails. Hopefully, she’d think it was nail polish like Mona. This wasn’t a good idea. Hesitantly, I officially introduced the two.
Beatriz, ever to the point asked, “So, what’s up with your eyes?”
I wanted to cringe at the same time I fumbled for something to say. Morik had it covered.
“It’s an eye condition. Several actually. The whites are discolored and the irises abnormal. I use the yellow driving glasses so people can still see my eyes, but not all the detail. Less mass hysteria.” He tucked his hands in his pockets in a relaxed pose and waited.
“Don’t blame you. People freak out when you’re different. That’s why I like different colors in my hair. Distract them with the obvious so they don’t notice the stuff you don’t want them to.” Beatriz held up her hand fingers splayed. When she did that, I noticed that her pointer finger was just a little shorter than it should be.
“I never noticed before Beatriz,” I admitted.
“That’s just one of many reasons I call you friend,” she grinned at me. “Let’s go downstairs. They already started warming up. Are you any good as air hockey, Morik?”
“I’ve never played, but I’m a fast learner,” he said following us down the steps.
Beatriz gave him the same guided tour she’d given me of the basement and then introduced him to Brad, Tommy, and Jay. Jay’s face wasn’t familiar so I guessed he must have missed last night’s party. That or he showed up after I left.
“Tommy and I will play the first set. Best of three. Then Morik and Jay. Then the winners of the two sets play. Anyone want anything to drink before we start?” Brad moved behind the bar and pulled cans of soda out of the refrigerator.
Everyone grabbed their choice and then moved into place. Beatriz and I stayed sitting at the bar drinking the soda and munching on the bar mix set out in a bowl. Morik leaned against the pool table and watched the contenders closely until the first one scored. After that, he moved to sit by me.
Beatriz started up a conversation with him, completely at ease with his watchful gaze. She asked when he graduated. Very subtle. Figure out when he graduated to determine his age and if he was too old for her. Way too old.
He dodged the question saying he hadn’t made the best decisions about school and asked what she was interested in going to school for. Interior design. Thinking about her room and her bathroom, it fit.
“You look Native American, Morik. Where are you from?”
“I grew up not too far from here. You’re right, this is my home land.”
Something about the way he said it had me watching him closely. I didn’t doubt he told the truth, but probably a very watered-down version of it.
Jay, growing bored with the wait, joined us and took over the conversation by asking about Morik’s motorcycle. The first round of air hockey was well advanced.