Page 85 of David

A smile tugs at his lips.

“Brutal. But I loved it. I was younger, so it fit me.”

A few moments pass.

The house smells like hot chocolate and fall.

“Are you sure you don’t want a hot drink?” I say, picking up my hot chocolate from the table.

“No. I need to go, anyway.”

I take a sip and think of ways to make him stay a little longer.

“Thank you for your help. I didn’t think you’d show up. And I never expected you to do this either, to be honest.”

“I had to come back,” he says. “Otherwise, I would’ve lost sleep.”

I can’t tell whether he’s joking or not.

He probably is.

“I, um… You know you have a reputation,” I say, leaning back into the pillows with my fingers wrapped around my drink.

“No kidding? I do?” he says, amused.

“Yes.”

He tilts his head to the side and lifts an eyebrow, a smile slowly creasing his lips.

“You know a lot about me,” he says.

“It’s impossible not to. And that’s precisely why I need to stay away from you.”

He laughs quietly, tilting his gaze down as if thinking about something.

“Nothing says more about staying away from me than this.”

Slowly moving his hand up between my legs, he makes my skin react with a flurry of goosebumps.

“We can be friends,” I say, and he chuckles, entertained.

“Sure… We can be friends.”

“You’ve never been friends with a woman?”

“I’m friends with women all the time.”

“Not real friends, though.”

He moves his eyes to me. They’re sharp, in focus, and tinged with rare, exquisite candor.

“Do you think we can be real friends?” he asks.

“See. That…”

I point my finger to him before lifting my drink to my lips again and taking a sip.

“What your question says to me is that you’ve never been real friends with a woman.”

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