I love you.”
I EXPECT HIM
To laugh. Snort. Push me
away. What I don’t expect
is for him to knit his fingers into
mine and say, I love you, too.
God, Summer, don’t you realize
how hard it’s been to feel like this
about my best friend’s girl? How
it hurts to see you with him?
It’s torture. I’ve wanted a day
like today for a long, long time.
One hand rises to touch my still
exposed right breast. This time
he is gentle. I close my eyes, give
myself to the dizzying sensation.
“So what are we going to do?
About Matt, I mean.” The hand
falls away. We tell him. Tomorrow.
You’re mine now. Nothing can
come between us, especially
not Matt. Understand?
SUDDENLY I’M UNCOMFORTABLE
But it’s not the tone of his voice—
inflexible, with jealous undertones—
that makes me that way. It’s how
I’ve been kneeling, legs spread
across his lap, for twenty minutes.
When I try to move, he stops
me. No. Not till you say you