Page 62 of Maxim

“One stick or two? Hell if I know.” She shrugs.

“How about we skip that one for now?”

“Sounds like a plan. What about punch needling?”

“What’s that?”

“You apparently jab a piece of yarn through a fabric and create a design.”

“Maybe?”

“Candle making?” She makes a face. “Actually, as cool as that one sounds, we should probably avoid hot wax. Here’s an at-home pottery kit, how does that sound?”

I shrug. “Whatever you think sounds fun, I’ll try.”

“Yeah, but will you enjoy it?”

“I won’t know until I try.”

“True. I’ll think about it and come up with something.”

I can’t help but smile at how sweet she is. When you look at her, she looks like the kind of woman who would kill a man, no questions asked, but I have a sneaking suspicion she’s like a marshmallow.

Then again, despite the fact that I hang out with her all the time, I really don’t know her.

“Are you okay?” she asks, focusing on me.

“Can I ask you a question?”

“Shoot. I’ll answer if I can.”

“Can you tell me about your life? I never had the opportunity to have a normal life, and from what you have said before, I feel like you did.”

She leans back on her hands and crosses her ankles as she lounges on the floor. “I don’t even know where to start.”

“How old are you? Have you always lived here?”

“Twenty-four. I was actually born in Indiana, but my parents moved out here for work when I was in high school. My dad got a promotion right after graduation. When they left, I stayed behind.”

“Do they know what you went through?”

“God no,” she says, shaking her head. “My parents would have lost their minds and demanded I come home.”

“Would that have been a bad thing?”

She tilts her head side to side. “Yes and no. Don’t get me wrong, I love my parents and I know they love me. They are disgustingly supportive, but I know if they even sensed trouble,they would have me on the first flight to wherever they are so they could take care of it.”

“I can’t imagine what that’s like,” I say softly.

Sympathy fills her eyes. “It’s pretty great, honestly.”

“But you decided to stay with Alexei?”

At the mention of his name, her face transforms. “Yeah, I did.”

“Are you two, like, together?”

“Alexei and I are hard to explain,” she says after a beat. “We care about each other, though.”