Faster We Burn

Katie and me some alone time. We went back to my place to clean up and make up the couch for Trish so she would have a place to sleep.
    “I’ve never seen Trish like that,” she said. “She’s always so strong.” Appearances could be deceiving.
    “Yeah, she’s not good with death.”
    “She was great when everything happened with Dad.”
    I took a breath and tried to explain. “That’s because she didn’t really know him. It’s weird, but I think it’s because Ric was so young…” I couldn’t finish.
    “Are you going to talk about it now?”
    I shook my head. I was completely sober now.
    She gave me a little smile. “Do you want me to get naked so you can draw out your feelings on my skin?”
    As absolutely sexy and tempting as that was, I couldn’t.
    “No. I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
    She slid her finger down my face and circled it on my chest. “Why not? What does Ric have to do with us?”
    More than she knew.
    I pushed her hand away. “Look, I don’t want to talk about it. I just had to deal with Trish and I just don’t want to deal with any more.”
    “You’re getting asshole-y again.”
    “If only it would work.” I tried to move away from her, but she wouldn’t let me.
    “I don’t scare easily,” she said, straddling me as I sat on the couch.
    “Don’t.” I put my hands on her hips to try to lift her off, but that was going to be easier said than done. She wiggled just a little, and my body responded. Her body was a tune my body couldn’t resist.
    “I’m not doing anything. I’m just sitting.” She might be just sitting, but everything she did turned me on. She could be just breathing and I’d want her. It was unavoidable.
    “Katie, please.”
    “Okay, fine.” She got off me and sat on the other end of the couch, grabbing the remote and turning the television on, flicking through the channels.
    “What are you doing?”
    “I’m watching TV, what does it look like? Oohh, I love this show.” She stopped on what looked like some sort of crime show. A lawyer was screaming in a crowded courtroom about something we’d clearly missed earlier in the episode. She checked the guide and saw that there was another episode after this one finished.
    I looked at her, but her eyes were fixed on the TV. This must be some sort of twisted way to get me to cave in and talk, but I had no idea how she thought she was going to accomplish that by ignoring me.
    We sat side-by-side as the show finished and the credits rolled. I crossed my arms and tried to think of anything but how much I wanted her and how much I hated myself for thinking about her when I should have been thinking about Ric.
    The next episode started and her eyes stayed locked on the television. The minutes dragged by as the body was discovered and the cops were called in. I’d always found it amusing how cops on television were almost always extremely attractive. The cops around campus all had hardcore donut habits, and there wasn’t one lady cop to be found, least of all one that looked like a Russian supermodel.
    “I will make you a bet,” she finally said when the cops started interviewing various suspects. “You pick who you think killed her and I pick one and whoever is right has to buy the other one dinner.”
    “I already owe you a dinner from the pie-eating contest at Thanksgiving.”
    She looked away from the TV for a second, her facade dropping for a second. “Well, then I guess you’ll just owe me two. Pick your perp.”
    “Okay…Um, that crazy guy who lurked in the alley was definitely suspicious.”
    She scoffed.
    “Please, it’s obviously the teenage daughter.”
    “What? After she cried like that? You’re crazy.”
    She turned to face me.
    “Wait and see.” She smirked and went back to the television.
     
    Katie
     
    Of course I was right. The teenage girl turned out to have some weird attraction to her dad and when she saw him with his mistress, she snapped. It was sick and twisted, but it was clear from the very beginning that it was her.
    “There’s another one on,” I said, getting up and stretching my arms over my head. “Want to lose another bet?” I’d been right in telling Stryker that I was making this up as I went along, but Law and Order marathons had always worked for me, so why not him?
    There really needed to be a manual for this sort of thing. Sure, there were plenty of self-help books, but I didn’t think they mentioned anything like this.
    “What are