Want Her

08

"Would you like to help me pick a house?" he suddenly changes the subject after we stare at each other in silence, letting the unspoken float in midair.

My brow furrows in confusion, "What do you mean?"

"Well, I'm not here with my thief's hat for nothing." He points to it, and I immediately eye the two silver balls of his eyebrow piercing.

So either we think the same way or I accidentally thought something out loud that shouldn't have happened.

"Oh you were serious." I say and bite the inside of my cheek. Bloody hell.

,,If that were the case. Which would it be?'' so it's not like that after all? He is fucking with me for sure. Because if he's a criminal, I won't tolerate that.

His eyes sparkle suspiciously, but in a playful and teasing way.

Before I can stop, I say, "The Petrović family comes to my mind. But I haven't heard from them in ages. I don't think they still live here either.'' Hopefully I won't let them walk into the fire because of this.

Suddenly curiosity appears on his face ,,And why would you think of them?''

"When I was six, their son always beamed such a huge flashlight into the window of my room. I was so terrified of it because I thought the aliens were about to get me. He also knew very well that I was crying under my covers and didn't even want to look out the window.'' I'm playing with the hem of my pants. Rather said, paint the little hearts with my index finger.

To be honest, I never really paid much attention to the boy. I had my friends and he had his. I can't even remember that we ever exchanged a word.

That's why I loathed him as a kid, wondering why he was doing this to me.

Why I actually tell the pretty man next to me the reason for this and also recommend that he should break in there - if he really is that kind of person - takes me by surprise.

Next thing I think about is how I would accompany him just to make sure he doesn't actually do something bad.

As if breaking in alone was harmless.

I guess I need a bit of therapy.

"You mean he had fun with it?" he tries to make sense of it. I start to speak and watch closely as his eyes slide to my lips.

Was it just like that and I didn't notice it?

,,Yes! After all, he was a few years older than me and took advantage of my naivety. It got worse when he did it several times a week, I could never sleep and I completely screwed up the early days at school. I never wanted to tell my parents why either, because I was afraid they would be just as scared.'' I babble on.

In his place I would have had to revise all the information first. But he carefully hands me the next question.

"Then when did you realize it was just a flashlight?"

"That dragged on. Sometimes he did it often and sometimes not at all. At some point I dared to look out the window and saw that it was coming from his."

"Let me think... you want me to steal his flashlight?"

Now that sounds so silly. 13 years ago he could have come to me with this help.

Still, I answer, "It's supposed to be worth it, right?" With a broad grin, I cross my leg over the other and make space between us. I feel a small patch of cold where his thigh was just stuck to mine.

Goddamnit.

He also looks down briefly and licks his lips.

I'm sorry, handsome. I would also like to undo it if I could. However, that would be too unusual.