Fallout (Crank 3)

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