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Plenty of time for that after she leaves town

Plenty of time for that after she leaves town

We pul up to the curb and she glances at her house, then back at ht over the front door, pooling on the concrete space in front of it and spil ing over the cracked steps, the il ue of faded lawn

This is the sort of pivotal scene I’ve filirl hoeneral y plays out in one of tays Either the boy lets the girl out of the car with an okay, see ya, or he fol ows her to the door and tries to kiss her goodnight--

the success or failure of which depends on the script

Dori’s dark eyes are impossible to read in the dim interior of the car, but her hands, clasped in her lap, are not

As this thought crossesone to ?" She laughs amiably and I take her sh evaporates

"Everything around you is enlightening," I say cryptical y, not even sure what the hel Iher has revealed parts of htening, I don’t knohat is

Clearing her throat, she squeezes rasp She turns toward the door, fingers on the handle "Wel " She looks over her shoulder with a wry sht, and it feels like it’s lasted half an hour

"Goodbye, Reid Be good" Before she can open her door, the driver is there, opening it for her "Oh!" she says, laughing again "I think it would take h snapsher side, I’ around to ht think," I say, extending the crook of h ainst my forearm

We walk towards the door, and I pul her to a slow stop just outside the edge of il u me silently Even in her heels, she’s a head shorter than ood," I say, hearing the undisguised desire in h the hair at her te her face between my palms, and she doesn’t move "It also makes me want to be very, very bad" And then I kiss her

Dori

When he kisses --where I aet the fact that I’l never see hiain unless I buy a ticket or rent a movie to do so As I climb the stairs moments later, that truth spil s out froain It’s al I can do to reers, unlock the door and drift through, turning to watch froone

My head is stil swies where he touched me with his warm hands as his otiation, and he wasted no effort with restraint or testing ainst his, one arently but deeply, drawing a response that was al hunger and instinct My hands clutched his shirt, holding on for dear life until he stopped and opened his eyes, his forehead againstinto the car, never looking back

I fear that I’l compare this kiss with every other kiss I wil receive for the rest of my life, an unattainable standard by which toin to fade toht, I’ quietly up the staircase to h nificant feeling, and every neurological receptor in my body is flooded with heat

Mom and Dad are asleep, the slit of space beneath their bedroom door dark My bedside lamp is on The curtains are drawn Clothes I left in the dryer are now folded and stacked on my dresser; various toiletries cover the top ofthe mattress slowly, like a drum I run ue lol ing out one side head and she nuzzles into it, her tongue lol ing out one side of her , this beloved expression of hers one that usual y brings an answering sht, my lips feel numb No, not numb Bereft

When he asked me to dinner, he said You’ll be off to your life and I’ll soon be off tothe oh-so-inevitable end The dinner, the conversation, the kiss--these were al part of a pleasant but no less certain goodbye Since the moment Iassociation

Now it’s over, he’s gone, and I feel a hol ow place inside, like he’s taken a slice of me with him as a souvenir

Chapter 30