He shrugged. "You were perfectly capable of grabbing yourself a chair, Zadia. It's not my fault you didn't, even though it was common sense to grab one when I grabbed mine. Also, for clarification, you are the most sensitive person I've ever met. It's ridiculous honestly. Your eyes start to tear up if I raise my voice the slightest bit at you and if conflict comes your way, you're crying."
Zadia gulped. "That's not true and you don't know me." She stretched her arms, reaching for the cooler to grab a bottle of water.
"I don't... and I don't want to." He said out into the open, leaning his head back so he could feel the sun on him. It's been a while since he felt the sun against his skin like this. He liked it. "Why do you smell like cocoa butter all the damn time?" He questioned, hating how he couldn't focus on anything but the smell.
Zadia squinted. "Look at you contradicting yourself." She moved her legs, trying to get comfortable on the ground. "Because I like to put on lotion..." she answered. "Cocoa butter just happens to smell even better, hence why I use that type of lotion."
"The smell is disgusting."
"No, it's not." She defended. "Your nose is just broken."
He inhaled, breathing in the outside air. "My nose works just fine, thank you very much and cocoa butter isn't all that great. Some study's show that it can cause anti-estrogenic effects and block pores." He said and as the seconds went by and she didn't respond, he opened his eyes to look at her. Zadia was facing the trees, eyes holding the gaze of the scenery around her. Some light wind blew against her face, making her eyes a little blurry. Roman stared at her, his lips slightly parted. "No slick come back?" He questioned.
"You're a nerd, no matter how much you try to hide it." She replied, lifting her hand in the air so it could move with the wind. "It's beautiful out here, I can see why you brought us out here."
"You've never been to the woods before?"
She shook her head, looking at the birds that flew above them. "Nope, nature isn't my thing." She replied, watching as one of the small birds flew instinctively behind another bird. Her mind instantly thought of Santino and what he was doing right now. It always felt weird not being around him. "I know I already asked during the whole ride here, but can you check if Tino's okay?"
"No need, Lynn gave me an update ten minutes ago. He's fine, watching his crappy nursery shows." He paused. "I don't remember saying you can take a break. Just because you shot them bottles, doesn't mean you've got enough practice."
Zadia groaned. "I've been at it for hours and the heat is killing me."
"Oh well, get to it," Roman said while leaning down to get his grey duffel bag that was filled with different types of things. He always brought it with him when he came out here. Pulling out a clean white towel, he zipped the bag up and dumped the towel into the ice with the cooler. He placed the towel on top of his head, unfazed by the wetness and coldness.
"Let me guess, you only brought one towel?" Zadia asked as she stood up, brushing the dirt off her high-waisted baggy jeans.
Staring at her backside was the last thing Roman wanted to do, but when he saw the huge tainted red spot that stained her pants, he couldn't exactly look away. He took off his glasses to make sure his eyes weren't playing tricks on him, and when he realized that it wasn't, he sat up straight. "Change of plans." He voiced, grabbing his windbreaker jacket from his duffel bag. "We gotta go home. Here," he said, standing up to pass her the jacket. "Wrap this around your waist and grab the chair."
Zadia frowned, confused at his sudden change of mood. "Are you okay?" She asked, taking the jacket from him and wrapping it around her waist. "You look pale."
ChApTeR - 11
Start from the beginning
