get you

m o

son in the world who looks good under fluorescent lights. They enhance his somberness, the m

g, so I clear my throat and try to

. "You'

ian's girlfriend. H

smells like rich vanilla and oaky musk. The watch on his wrist

. childhoo

when he was a boy. He doesn't-um, he did

ot sur

ng there in an uncomfortable silence. "What wa

noy

ow, I'm okay with that. I'm not sure a smile would even suit him. Every line on his chiseled face looks like

start cleaning up. I think of asking her to wait, but then the commingled scent o

es. "Someth

as I fight back the waves of my roiling stomach. "Bu

He goes perfectly still, and the blue of his eyes seem to split and shatter.

s a question only in t

out recently. So recent in fac

"Come with me." He takes my elbow and helps me o

are we

rom the

pools of violet shade. He leads me to a bench tucked beneath one a

I'm seated. He arches one eyebr

out here." When his eyebrow stays arched, I blush. "You smell

ks without inflection or a smile. It makes me fe

pering of mourners was weirdly grating. Out here, the same kinds of abstra

the cut?" he

it until other people mention it. "I wal

door have

Yes," I whisper, because I know instinctively that

H

n rises up in my throat out of nowhere, hot and thick, choking me. I swallow i

ka

eath. "Were you

wers vaguely. "We grew

m the moment we met. It ought to be unsettling, but for some reason, it's the exact opposite. "Can you

ed to climb. Trees, buildings, rock faces. I used to tell him that on

out it. The material of his suit is soft as butter. I let go a

eriden Motel. Busted right through a lattice and tore his knee to ri

hat Adrian was a boy once. A reckless boy, by the sound of it, but

ut that," I murmur. "There are so man

l, but something sort of like that. Then he stands and straightens his cuffs.

ng." I'm oddl

eight. The sun is at his back and filtered through the willow branches, so his face is dapple

se, in the context of today, it's appropri

able of it-but his features do soften a little. Then he inclines

d resting on my belly and the

ole point of motherhood is that I'll never be alone again, right? I try to find s

's a single light aimed at the stage. Light music plays in t

'm da