“Then stop being a butthole,” she poked his chest with every word, laughing and smiling just a little. Teasing each other was easy and fun and the way he was looking at her – whilst a little scary – was incredibly fun. Abi loved how he spoke with so much of his wisdom and years and yet seemed so youthful in his reactions to her.
She considered his words on Wuthering Heights and nodded in agreement again, leaning back a little as she realised they were almost in each others’ laps. “Anti-romanticism is a breath of fresh air amongst Victorian writers, yeah,” she cleared her throat a little, checking the clock behind his head. She had some time before dinner would be ready. “I love all the stuff around the suffragette movement, empowered women taking a stand for their human rights. Really stuck it to the douchebags who thought women were idiots.”
Abi giggled and wrinkled her nose at his use of the word interesting. It was definitely that. “Maybe you’re just led by the counter-culture. Forever a rebel?” she asked, shifting her legs so she was more comfortable.
“Midwestern America, the heartlands,” she said with a small smile. “You lot were just adorable, really. Ranchers and farmers, huh?” Abi loved teasing him, getting that little rise was an achievement she earned well. “It’s so fucking weird to think you had to have a chaperone. It seems so... un-you. When I was 16, I think it was, before my Gran got sick, I used to sneak in and out all the time, bringing boys back to play tonsil hockey. It was fun and taboo, you know? I only liked it because it was a thrill.” Abi bit her lip. She knew all about his mother but certainly wasn’t going to bring it up. “You sound like you were a typical teenager to me, especially a midwestern one. Guns are incredibly phallic symbols...” her eyes instinctively flickered down to his crotch and back again as she licked her lip.
Abi really did not want to imagine him at war. It just seemed like a deeper conversation for another date. “So you like a girl in uniform, huh?” she asked, trying to keep the tone a little lighter. “You know women love men with scars, don’t you? Maybe it was a good thing you ended up there, surrounded by the written word. It probably stopped you from getting in trouble, and you know, getting a girl in trouble.”