“My point is that you clearly bend the rules. Why can’t we?”
“Because the rule of us being near each other is so that they can protect us if we have any intruders.”
“I thought this was a safe-house?” Olive makes exaggerate quotations around the word “safe.”
“Yes, it is.”
“So, why would we need extra protection from people who supposedly have no idea we’re here?”
“Because, Olive, we can’t ever be too careful. I want my future wife to be safe. We all do. So, why don’t you scurry on over to her and stop making such a scene all the time?” She raises her brows and fists to me, but Espie jogs back down the hall, grabbing her shoulders and dragging her away from me. I click my tongue and take another puff of my cigarette before looking at Barth.
“We’ll talk about this later.” I warn and head down the hall to my room. Just before I reach the door, Espie pops her head out of hers.
“We’re hungry,” is all she says.
“You should try smoking. Curbs the appetite real quick.”
She cocks her head. “Dick.”
“Prude.” I turn around to my door.
“You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”
I stop, and spin around on my heel again.
“Like what?”
“Me being a prude.”
I lean in close to her and whisper, “I wouldn’t like it, I know it.”
“You know nothing.”
“I know enough.”
“Is that so?”
I scoff a laugh. “You’re challenging what I know because I told you the truth about yourself?”
“No, I’m insinuating that you’re an unintelligent, overly cocky asshole with a deep need for approval from me that you’ll never get.”
“Sweetie, I need nothing from you.”
“Oh?”
“Oh.” I nod, lips pressed to keep from curling my upper one.
“Then why are we here?”
“Fuck, I don’t know! Maybe because you popped your head out the door to talk to me.”
“No.” She shakes her head vigorously. “Why are we here? In this castle, locked away for months to ensure that our marriage happens?”
“God. Do you listen to yourself talk?” She crinkles her nose as I increase my volume. “Like it or not, Esperanza, we’re in this for the long haul. So, you can pout all you want. Avoid me, insult me, pretend like you don’t find me the least bit attractive, but it won’t change the fact that we’re getting married. And you’re stuck with me forever.”
“We’ll see about that.” She utters under her breath, but I hear her and the look in her eyes tells me she knows I did too. I don’t know what she means, but I know she didn’t intend for me to hear her.
“Now, who’s the unintelligent one?”