Helena is right. She cannot dance to save her life. I can’t help but feel like it’s the cutest damn thing I’ve ever seen. I spin her around and she bursts out laughing, tits bouncing up and down. Come on, I have to look.

What I would give to feel up her shirt…

But I keep myself in check. I’m a good boy. Even though, I’m feeling a little drunk, I only had one pitcher. I’m not a full-blown idiot… yet. I spin her around once more and pick her up into my arms, circling over to Halloway and Judy. She squeals loudly and I set her back down gently.

“Oh my God!” she screams with a smile on her face. “Don’t do that again, Addison.”

The way she looks at me though, I know she wants me to pick her up again. She likes how powerful I am, how big and strong I am. Deep down, she sees my SEAL tattoos and it gets her wet as the Baltic Sea. She wants me to pick her up, to set her back against the wall, and to plow her until I fix her wetness.

The song ends and we all walk back to the seating area. “Hey, you want to check out the town?” I ask her.

“What do you mean?” she asks. “What’s there to check out?”

“There’s lots of things,” I shrug. “You know, we got a Hardee’s on the corner, down the way a bit. There’s a McDonald’s a few blocks up too. Oh! There’s an old Blockbuster Video nearby. Remember those?” I joke.

“A Blockbuster, huh?” she laughs. “Wow. Such luxury. I never knew Canton was so exotic.”

“Welcome, darlin’,” I say, walking away.

“Where you going?” she asks me.

“I’m taking a walk with or without you,” I shout. “I’d like you to come. That is, if you feel so inclined.” I’d like to make her come. That’s the real truth.

She looks over to her friend because women always need the approval of other women before they go out with men like me. Judy’s eyes go wide and she motions for her to come with me, saying, “I’ll be fine,” while she dances with Halloway. I swear, he’s on the verge of blacking out. That woman didn’t see him drink down his flask earlier. His eyes are half closed now, but that woman is looking fairly drunk herself.

“Fine!” Helena shouts. “I’ll come with. I need to get acquainted with the city, anyways.”

We walk outside the fair grounds and I put out my arm for her, trying to be as much of a gentleman as I can. Truth is, I’ve never been a gentleman. I’m a lowly repairman, ex-SEAL who fought in the last war overseas. I’ve seen too much to be a real gentleman, but for this woman, I’ll try my damn hardest.

“Let’s get some beers,” I tell her. Her eyes light up and I know she’s down. I walk into the nearest convenience store and pick up a six-pack of some lager. I run out with them in my arms. “We just made it. Alcohol gets shut down early out here.”

“Thank God!” she exclaims. “Where are we going?”

I shrug and laugh. “Hell if I know. But walking feels nice right about now.”

We walk straight and there’s not much, except for some big fields and the occasional row of houses. “So, Helena.” I break the silence. “Tell me all about wherever it is that you’re from.”

“New York City?” she laughs. “What do you want to know that you haven’t already heard?”

“Shit, you’re one of those girls?” I laugh. “I should have known you were a New Yorker. I guess you have a little bit of an accent.”

“One of those girls?” she asks, pursing her lips and squinting her eyes at me. “What’s that supposed to mean?” She looks so damn cute when she gets angry with me. It’s punishing to be around her. I just want to take her home with me.

I crack open two beers while we walk, and hand one to her. “Cheers,” I say, clinking our bottles together. “I didn’t mean anything by my comment, by the way. It’s just that the city women who come here don’t stay too long. It’s a pity ‘cause they’re all so damn beautiful.”

“I don’t know whether to take offense to that or not,” she says, taking another sip.

“It’s a compliment,” I say.

“You calling me beautiful?” she asks.

“Sure am, ma’am,” I smile.

“Ugh, don’t call me that,” she says, squinching up her face again.

“Sorry, habit of the job,” I tell her, honestly. We make our way to a large park and I turn left into it. “Follow me. This used to be my favorite spot in all of Canton.”

“It’s all slush!” she says.

“You got boots on. Don’t worry. You’ll be fine,” I tell her. “It snows in New York, right?”

The park lights are lit up and I see her roll her eyes at me, which only makes me smile bigger. We finally get to a park bench and I take off my jacket and set it down for us to sit.

“Thanks,” she says.

“So do you really want me to fix the lights in your house, or was that a weird way of asking me out?” I ask her.

“Don’t get so cocky,” she says. “I really have a broken light switch.”

“That’s too bad,” my hand falls next to hers and for a brief second, I can feel the electricity coming from both of us.

“Are you used to women coming on to you through the job?” she asks me.

I have to laugh at that one. “You have no idea,” I tell her. “Only thing is, most of these women are over the age of 60, so…”

“So obviously, you’re excited, right?” she jokes.

“Yeah, obviously,” I laugh. “Take today, for example. This woman invited me into her place to fix her sink. Turns out her sink is completely fine, brand new even. I turn around and she’s wearing lingerie. I had to run before she took me hostage or something. Not many people know how dangerous this job can get.”

“Sounds horrifying,” she says, though I don’t think she believes my story. “But you were like in the Army, right?”

I laugh a little. “No. I was a Navy SEAL. Special Reconnaissance,” I admit, nodding. “That was a lifetime ago though.”

“Were you both in it? Halloway too?” she asks.

“Yep.” I keep nodding. “We fought overseas. Wasn’t exactly the best time of my life either.”

“You’re not all patriotic?” she asks. Normally, I don’t like this type of questioning. There’s a lot I saw over there that I don’t want to think back on. Still, I know she’s got good intentions. She’s just being curious. Besides, maybe it’s a good thing to talk about what happened over there. Maybe it’ll help me cope a little better. I don’t want her to know about the flashbacks, though. I don’t want her thinking I’m out of my damn mind.

“Heh,” I fake a laugh. “That depends on what you mean by that. If you mean, do I fly my flag every 4^th of July, then yes. But you won’t see me casting any ballots any time soon.”

“Fair enough,” she says, rocking her heels against the mud.

We drink some more and suddenly she drops her bottle and runs off, jumping around the snow. “You’re going to catch a cold!” I tell her, but she’s not listening. I run after her, but I’m a little drunk as well. As I chase behind her, I stare at her body. It’s wonderful. It’s that city living that does something to some women, and I fucking love it.

She stops, grabbing a tree stump, catching her breath. “It’s nice out here,” she says, almost as if it’s a revelation.

“Sure is,” I whisper, seeing the cold fog come from my breath.

“Think you’ll ever move away?” she asks me, turning around and staring into my eyes. She’s got that hazel eye color, the kind that changes depending on the light surrounding it. Right now, it looks dark green. I’m intoxicated, but more so by her than the alcohol. I don’t know how to explain the feeling, other than I am just grateful for her riding into me the other night.

Her cold breath touches against my lips and I’m hooked. I need her. I need to kiss her, to taste her, to feel her against my body. ‘Cause lately this cold world has been hurting my bones and bringing me down.

I need a little something to bring me back to normal, something to bring me back to how I used to be around people. The only reason I hang around Halloway so much is because he understands all the shit I’ve been through. He was right next to me when the bombs fell, and the bullets rained down like hellfire and brimstone. But I don’t want to bond over that shit anymore. I want kisses, flowers, puppies, and all that other frilly crap. I want to feel good for once in my life.

“Move from here?” I repeat her question. “I’m thinkin’ I might stay, now that you’re here.”

“Is that right?” she smiles, though there’s some hesitance in her eyes.

Fuck it.

I kiss her. I reach forward and grab her by the waist. The cold air envelops us and I swear, snow starts to fall on top of our heads. It’s fucking magical. Our lips crash and the waves of emotion ricochet right through me. This woman is captivating.

Only, when we pull away from each other to look into the other’s eyes, she starts breathing crazy and looks away from me. “What’s the matter?” I ask, but she’s in her own head.

“I, uh, I gotta go,” she says, walking away from me.

“Hey, wait!” I yell, stomping against the cold snow. “Hold on a sec.”

“I’ve got class in a few days. I need to prepare the syllabus,” she says, walking off.

“At least let me walk you home,” I insist. “It’s cold. I don’t want you hurtin’ yourself.” The excuses for me walking her home run out pretty damn fast. It’s apparent. She doesn’t want me. She made a mistake. She should have never kissed a man like me.

Well, I’m stuck on that wet park bench, my jacket soaking wet. My arms have goose pimples and I start to shiver as the alcohol quickly moves out of my system.

There’s nothing, except for the faint screams of children riding roller coasters and families eating cotton candy.

“Shit,” I sigh. Tonight fucking blows.