Chapter 37
BODIE
I was on the couch when she came home, enjoying a rare, solo night of warmth and relaxation. Of course, the whiskey probably had something to do with it. That, and the fact that the house was dark but for two things: the television, and the fire.
“Hey, Angel.”
Hayden’s cheeks were pink with the November evening as she stepped inside. I watched as she stripped off her jacket and boots without saying a word, then stared at me over the back of the couch.
“Want company?”
“Always.”
She slumped over. Something was clearly wrong, but by the look in her face, I didn’t dare ask what. Still lying sideways, I lifted the blanket for her. Hayden shimmied out of her jeans, and accepted the invitation.
“Thanks.”
God, she was so cold! Like she’d been out walking, instead of riding around in a warm car. Wherever she’d been, she’d tell me when she was ready. Until then, I just folded my arm over her body and wrapped myself around her.
“Mmmmm…” she purred, squirming the backs of her naked thighs against the front of mine. “Sorry.”
“For what?”
“Stealing your hotness.”
I flexed, locking my arm more snugly around her.
“You can steal my hotness anytime, baby.”
Baby. Wasn’t quite sure why I’d said that, but—
“So, what are we watching?” Hayden sighed, settling into me some more as I closed the blanket around us.
“Land of the Lost,” I told her.
Her eyes followed the claymation dinosaur as it roared across the screen, chasing live-action teenagers through a strange, spongy jungle. A pang of nostalgia hit me, square in the gut.
“The Marshall family goes river rafting, and they fall through a time doorway,” I explained, matter-of-factly. “They end up in dinosaur times, but not exactly.”
“What do you mean not exactly?”
“Well there’s a whole lost city of Sleestak — basically, lizard people — and they’re out to get the Marshalls. Plus there are pylons with all these crystals that you shouldn’t mess with, because they can fuck shit up.”
“Let me guess,” she chuckled. “They mess with them?”
“Oh yeah,” I confirmed. “They mess with them all the time.”
“Stupid Marshalls.”
I pulled back a little, to give her my best wounded look. “Hey, don’t beat up the Marshalls. They’re just trying to get back home.”
“Aren’t we all,” yawned Hayden.
I pondered her statement for a while, as the fire crackled and we watched the episode unfold. The Sleestak showed up, this time with nets and spears. Which was kind of impressive, considering they all but lacked opposable thumbs.
“This show is old,” said Hayden. It wasn’t so much a question as it was a statement.
“It is,” I admitted. “But my father grew up on it, and he got me hooked as a little kid. And so…”
“Land of the Lost,” she chuckled again.
“Exactly.”
I thought of my old man, and how I would lie across his back to watch these very scenes so long ago. There wasn’t much that made him happy back then, when I was a boy. But I could remember his smile, every time he popped in one of his old VCR tapes, to pull up this show.
Nestled beneath the blankets, Hayden and I watched together, my chin resting lightly on her shoulder.
Whatever was bothering her when she first walked in, the distraction of the television seemed to be just what she needed.
Cradled in my arms, I could feel her whole body relaxing itself, ever so slowly.
From her shoulders to her toes, she melted into the couch.
We were both nearly asleep by the time the ending theme song began blaring away. The long-lost 70’s guitar riffs screamed dynamically, as I squirmed even tighter against her.
“So do they ever get home?” Hayden murmured sleepily.
“Who?”
“The Marshalls.”
I thought about it for a moment. “Well… they do, and they don’t.”
Hayden sighed, as I brushed a stray hair back from her truly angelic face.
“That’s okay,” she murmured, her voice barely above a whisper. “They’re making the most of where they are.”