“Awww I’ll flirt with them…” he informed her between huge mouthfuls of burger, “but that’s it. No more than that. They might be nice to look at but they’re just little girls really. Way too young for me. But you know, if you wanna wrestle me or anything cos I been looking, I’d be up for that.”
He liked this girl. She made it easy to just be himself, however annoying that could be. And he knew he was annoying at times but this was just his way of dealing with things that could crush him otherwise. Like the answer to her question about how he became a Watcher.
“My dad was one. Drove my mom away with his obsession with his job. We lived in Scotland then but my dad came over here when I was a kid to take a job. He wanted me to follow in his footsteps and become a Watcher like him but I was having none of it. I was gonna be a movie star or a rock star…or maybe just a mechanic. So I fought him all the way. I knew what was out there in the dark and I was careful but there was no way I was gonna give up my life like he had…and ruin other peoples’ in the process. But…” He paused, his voice faltering as he remembered Emily. “When I was in my teens, I got to be best buddies with this guy in my class, Warren. Anyway, he had this cute kid sister. Emily. She was six then and the cutest little thing you ever saw…and not annoying the way little kids can often be. She…well…she…” He cleared his throat and closed his eyes for a moment. “She was out playing one day and her ball ran into the woods. There was barely enough left of her to bury. Warren’s family fell apart. He killed himself less than a year later. After that, my dad got his wish for me. I can’t and won’t do anything else now. Not after Emily.”