Page 26 of Liberty

He stood too. “Hey, maybe we can stargaze tonight? What do ya say?”

“Y-you want to stargaze with me?”

Nodding, he smiled. “Sure, why not with you?”

“We do not do very well together, Liberty,” I reminded him. “Remember?”

He chuckled. “Hell, how could I forget? My whole family came after me today about you.”

“What do you mean they came after you?” I asked, feeling surprised and a little curious.

“It was truly bizarre. They were insisting that we…” He suddenly stopped talking.

“...Are total opposites,” I finished for him. “Don’t have a lot in common. And we just generally do not get along.”

“See now, that is what I said.” Liberty shrugged. “But they have a different take on this and it is preposterous.”

“What take?” I asked.

“They all believe that we are meant for each other. I mean they are claiming that we don’t get along because we are destined to be together.” Liberty laughed. “Can you believe that? My dad said that you are my match!”

I now felt stunned. This possibility had to be as far away from the truth as we could get. “You’re kidding?”

Shaking his head, he replied, “Nope. I told them that you would rather slap me than smile at me. I mean how could we ever be in love? We can't even establish a damned friendship.”

I shook my head. “They can’t be serious. Maybe they were teasing you?”

He scoffed. “No, my dad and Ma weren't kidding that’s for sure. Like did you know that you are gonna blow a hole through my screen door?”

I blinked at him. “What?” I laughed.

“I don’t know.” He shrugged. “Ma said it.”

“Oh… Hmmm, it’s one of those southern sayings.”

“Yeah, she’s full of those. For one, I don’t understand how I even have a screen door, let alone for you to make a hole in it.”

I laughed.

He laughed with me. “Then my dad said that you were gonna turn me inside out and set me on fire. I said, yeah, if you mean that in a violent way, you are correct.”

We both laughed louder.

“I mean what the hell?” Liberty shook his head. “Ma said that she would bet that up until you met me, you got along with men, even had male friends and that no man had probably ever rubbed you the wrong way like I do.”

I stared at him as my smile faded from my lips. This was entirely correct. I had just been thinking that very thing earlier today and it didn’t make sense to me either.

“And my dad reminded me that I have never had issues with any woman before you.”

“Is that true?” I asked him.

He paused and admitted, “Actually, it is. The only issue I ever had with the women I dated was that they couldn’t seem to get me naked fast enough.” He gave me a shrug of his wide shoulders.

I gaped at him.

He pointed at me. “Gotcha!” Then he laughed.

“Oh, wow. You are shameless!” I laughed.