Page 68 of River Wild

“Whiny and annoying?”

“Yes.”

“You keep telling yourself that, Red.”

“Jerk. And I was merely pointing out that Macy likes you. You know, just trying to be nice. You should try it sometime.”

“News flash: I’m not nice. And I don’t want to be nice. Some people like being assholes. I’m one of those people.”

“The man doth protest too much, methinks.” I tap my chin with my index finger. “You’re nice, River. Deal with it.”

He folds his knife up and puts it back in his pocket. “Okay, explain how I’m nice.”

I falter a little. “Well … you’re nice to me on occasion.”

“No. I tolerate you on occasion.”

I laugh at that. “You took me to get a tree. That was nice.”

“No, it wasn’t. I was going there anyway. I just took you with me because you’re pregnant, and whether I’m an asshole or not, my gran would rise from her place of rest and come and kick my ass for leaving a pregnant woman to haul a Christmas tree around.”

“Fair enough. And … I’m sorry about your gran.”

“She was old.” He shrugs. “And it was years ago.”

“Well, I’m still sorry.”

I want to ask about his mom, but I don’t know how. So, instead, I skip right back to our conversation. “You were nice to Ellie when we were at the store.”

“I was respectful. I was taught to respect my elders.”

By his gran.

“Respect. Right.” I nod. “You were nice to Macy—well, after I prompted you to be.”

“Prompted? More like forced. And, if you think that was me being nice, then you need your head checked.”

I smile wide. “Maybe I do.”

“There’s no maybe about it. Now, can we stop fucking around? It’s wasting time and annoying me.”

“Do you have somewhere to be?”

“No.”

I tilt my head to the side, something occurring to me. “What do you do for a living?”

“This and that.”

“Sounds vague.”

“It is.”

“I work at the diner.”

He looks at me like I’m as thick as the Christmas tree. “Uh, I know. Because you already fucking told me.”

“I’m a waitress there.”