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His head lowered overinto ertips explored the underside of my jaw and wandered to the crest of htly callused, sandpapery like a cat’s tongue I was filled with ht feel like if he --

No

No, noit would take years of therapy before I’d be ready for that

"Give me your phone nued to say

"Why?"

Because there’s no way I could handle you, I thought But I said, "My farinned unrepentantly, his teeth white in his tanned face "Don’t tell ainst me?"

"The Travises are sort of touchy that way And besides," -- I paused to lick a raindrop froaze followed the movement alertly -- "I’m not a substitute for Liberty"

Hardy’s smile vanished "No You could never be a substitute for anyone And that was over a long ti his hair as dark and slick as otter’s fur, his lashes spiking over brilliant blue eyes He looked good wet He even sood wet, all clean skin and drenched cotton His skin looked warm beneath the mist of droplets In fact, as we stood there surrounded by the city, and falling water and lowering night, he see in the world

He stroked a sodden curl back from my cheek, and another, his face still, severe For all his size and strength, he touched entleness Nick had never been capable of We were so close that I saw the texture of his close shaven skin, and I knew that the ainst my lips I felt a sharp, sweet ache soht of how , to drink chaht have ended, I wished I had done it

But it was too late now A lifetime too late A million wishes too late

The taxi pulled up

Hardy’s face reain," he said in a low voice

My insides turned into a mini-Chernobyl I didn’t understand myself, why I wanted so much to stay with him Any rational person would know that Hardy Cates had no real interest in etthat irl from the other side of the tracks, so much the better He was a predator And for et rid of hiave hiot your number, pal "You’d just love to fck a Travis, wouldn’t you?" Even as I said it, I cringed inwardly atstare that fried every brain cell I possessed And then he said softly, "Just one little Travis"

I went scarlet I feltin places I didn’t even know I had s still worked as I went to the taxi and got in

"Where do you live?" Hardy asked, and like an idiot, I told hie overpayment since 1800 Main was only a few blocks away "Drive careful with her," he said, as if I were ht shatter at the first bump on the road

"Yes, sir!"

And it wasn’t until the cab pulled away that I realized I was still wearing his jacket

The nor would have been to have the jacket dry-cleaned i -- and have someone take it to Hardy on Monday

But so Soood to resist So I kept the jacket, uncleaned, all weekend I kept stealing over to it and taking deep breaths of it That damned jacket, the save in and wore it for a couple of hours while I watched a DVD movie

Then I called ivento him in months, and I explained the situation to hi a relationship with a jacket," I said

"Was there a sale at Neiuy’s jacket" I went on to tell hi so far as to describe what had happened at Liberty and Gage’s wedding al him in the bar "So I just put on the jacket and watched a ht no far outside of normal is that? On a scale of one to ten, how crazy am I?"

"Depends Whata serious answer from him

"Haven, don’t ask me to define the boundaries of normal You knoas raised My father once stuck strands of his own pubic hair onto a painting and sold it for a million dollars"

I had always liked Todd’s father, Tim Phelan, but I’d never understood his art The best explanation I’d heard was that Tienius whose sculptures exploded conventional notions of art and displayed co tape in a new context

As a child I had often wondered at the perplexing role reversal of the Phelan household, in which the parents seerown-up

It had only been at Todd’s insistence that the faed theh they didn’t believe in the grading syste their wild house decorating Soh the hallway, pause to sketch or paint soht on the wall, and continue on his way Their house had been filled with priceless graffiti And at holiday ti the Christmas tree, which they called a bodhi bush, upside down fro

Now Todd had beconer,too far His father disdained his work, which pleased Todd tree was an act of defiance

"So," Todd said, returning to the subject of the jacket "Can I corinned "No, you’d take it for yourself, and I have to give it back But not until tomorrohich means I have at least twelve hours left with it"

"I think you need to talk with Susan this week about why you’re so afraid of a guy you’re attracted to that you can’t handle anythinghis jacket While he’s not in it"

I was instantly defensive "I already told you, he’s a family enemy and I -- "