Psychic

24. Company

 Rai did not want to say goodbye to her family. In her own mind, she was insisting that she would only be gone a short while. If she believed it would be long enough to warrant a goodbye, it might make her nervous. She stayed in her cabin as the ship left the beach by Korrik, refusing to go out until they were far enough from shore that she could not see Lily's anxiety. Rai looked down at Jericho yawning. She took a blanket on her bed and folded into a type of nest and he rolled himself into a tight little ball inside it.

Rai opened the door to her cabin and noticed Reno coming into the hold. She wanted to go back in but felt it was too late to change her mind. "Go to sleep, baby," she whispered to Jericho before closing the door softly. Reno waited in front of the door to the deck, knowing she would have to come his way. She sighed quietly as she approached him, "excuse me."

He tilted his head a bit as he squinted at her. "Well, if I move, you'll go out and then I won't get to talk to you."

"That's kind of the idea. You're not supposed to be in here anyway." Rai spoke quickly, crossing her arms. "And if someone comes in, you'll be in trouble."

Reno smiled and bit his bottom lip, "am I going to get a stern talking to?" Rai turned away with a smile, understanding how it was likely nobody would do anything at all. "You better make it worth my trouble then."

"Come on," she said in a voice that almost sounded sweet. "Just get out of the way so I don't have to look at you anymore. Don't make me move you."

"You mean you haven't been moving me this whole time? Well, something's making my pants feel tighter. I wanted to tell you, when I thought you hadn't come for Kiyoshi, I was pissed. I couldn't stop thinking about you. I wanted to see you again. I just want you to know that..." His voice trailed off as he paused to find the words to express himself and to contemplate why she looked so terrified. "I've never said anything like that about anyone before. It feels weird to say it out loud to you."

Rai regained her composure and rested her hands on her hips, acting as though his infatuation was no big deal. She pointed at him with one hand. "That's a little hard to believe with a fuck record like yours. How many notches you got in that belt? Better yet how many belts you got with notches in them?"

He smirked, closing his eyes softly. "So you know my reputation?"

"Everyone does, homie," she called him sarcastically. "It's no secret that you think you're so fucking pimp."

"Well, that's not such a bad thing."

"No? Well, I'm not interested in having that nasty, overworked dick anywhere near me." Rai felt that she was being incredibly collected and was quite proud of herself.

Reno laughed and closed his eyes as he turned away from her, smiling down at the floor. "Now, it's not fair to assume," he started to whisper, "you haven't even taken me for a ride yet." He smiled his big, toothy smirk at her. Rai scoffed, pretending to be offended. "There's a reason my reputation is what it is." He let his eyes wander down on her and she took a step back from him. "And if you're... curious, I suppose I could be persuaded to give you a private demonstration of my skills. Or public, if that's what you prefer. Honestly, I don't care where."

Rai started laughing, "you have got to be kidding me, man! I'm fat and homely. You don't want me."

"You are not even slightly fat."

"I am so fat!"

"Then take off your clothes. Show me."

"I don't think so."

"Yeah, that's what I thought."

"Dude, you are so full of yourself, it's fucking hilarious. Listen," she forced herself to look serious, "people like you, so full of yourself and thinking no one could possibly ever reject you, disgust me and you will never lay a finger on me."