Vixen felt uncomfortable and a bit angry. Why did he have to make it sound like it was so wrong?
Like just because he had been her babysitter, it was infeasible for them to ever be together? That it was unthinkable that she could ever have any such feelings for him?
It was utter nonsense! How could he even think for one minute that him being her babysitter made it so that she could not think of him as a man? Quite the opposite!
How could her young maiden heart not have been moved at a tender age by the fact that this slightly older boy would go out of his way to defend her from anyone? It was perfectly normal that he would be her ideal guy, wasn't it?
And what was up with him saying she would have difficulty kissing him? When she had dreamed about it at length before? Ugh. One day she was going to kiss him senseless and then see what he had to say about it then!
She wondered how he would react when she did so. She had no idea really how it would affect him. Would he realize he liked it? Would he finally realize fully that she was no longer a little girl but a full-grown woman? Or would it, as much as she hated the thought, just really weird him out?
She turned to look at him and regarded his features thoughtfully. He might not be the most handsome man she had ever seen, nor the strongest. But he was the one she wanted and that she found most attractive. The very thought of marrying him made her toes curl in excitement.
How could she ever let another woman have this wonderful, somewhat sharp-tongued man?
As she continued gazing at him, wanting him to actually take her seriously, she realized that he looked morose. His lips had turned slightly down. More than that though there was an anguished look in his eyes.
Seeing his expression, she felt a jolt of concern. Worried about him she leaned towards him, and asked him if he was okay.
He jumped at the sound of her voice, sitting up straighter. But then he smiled at her, "Just thinking a bit. About life and whatnot."
"Would you like to talk about it? You looked upset."
"Nah, I'm good. It's nothing much." He shook his head as if ridding himself over whatever he had been thinking of and smiled at her. "Now, sit properly. Don't want you falling and breaking your skull open."
She sat back up straight. "I think it would be more likely to break something else…"
"Try not to break any bones. We might have a priest nearby but that doesn't mean you can just be careless."
"Lowks…. I don't go out of my way trying to get hurt!"
"Well, that's good. I would worry about your brain if you did." A slight hint of a smile had come to his face.
Vixen felt relieved seeing him looking happier. Even if she was vexed that he didn't look at her the way she wished him to, she still couldn't bear seeing him look unhappy.
She bit her lip as silence fell between them again. He had turned his head away with the softest hint of a smile still on his face.
She took a deep breath and then spoke as nonchalantly as she could manage, "Lowks, you're wrong."
"I am? About what?" He turned in his saddle to look her in her eyes.
She gave him a smirk, "You aren't the last man alive I would want to marry. That would be your father. That would weird me out. The thought of marrying you doesn't."
Lowks stared at her for a minute, his mouth twitching. And then he burst out in loud laughter. he turned away from her, covering his mouth as his shoulders shook.
She was aware that several people turned and looked weirdly at them. Probably because Lowks was usually rather quiet.
It took him a few minutes to get himself under control. Then he looked back at her, still a little doubled over. He was still laughing just a little. "I should hope that you wouldn't want to marry any man that was already married."
"Of course not. But your father would be the weirdest. Not to mention your mom would kill me."
"Good. Of all the people you've flirted with it's the married men that make me worried about you the most."
She just grinned at him. Then she turned away. She felt just a bit happier now. At least he hadn't said anything more about how they couldn't work. This chance that had been handed to her? She had no plans to waste it. She felt rather happy with Tira. At the very least she had this one shot now, right?