Page 120 of Stags

“Neither am I,” said Eiren. “Do you really think people are afraid of you?”

Tawny looked back and forth between them and Rora watched something vulnerable cross her expression for one moment. But then, just as quickly, it was gone. “No, I guess that’s ridiculous. Anyway, if people would just get themselves together and not fuck up, I wouldn’t have totell themthat they fucked up.” She shrugged. “It’s obviously their fault. It’s obviously Athos’s fault.”

“Okay,” said Rora.

“Well, it’s been a while,” said Eiren. “Maybe you’re pregnant already.”

“Maybe,” said Tawny. “But I can’t seem to take a pregnancy test.”

“What do you mean?” said Eiren.

“Like, I try to buy them at the store, and I just can’t seem to make myself put them in the cart,” said Tawny, making a face.

“Why not?”

“I don’t want to talk about me anymore,” said Tawny. She rounded on Eiren. “Let’s talk about you and the wolf.”

Eiren raised both of her hands in surrender. “Hey, I am fine. I don’tneedto talk.”

“It’s just an arrangement,” said Tawny.

“Yes,” said Eiren very pointedly.

“And you’re just fine with that.”

“Yes.”

“Forever?” said Tawny. “Don’t you want to settle down at some point?”

“We both like true crime documentaries,” said Eiren, shrugging. “We both work at home and we both are alone a lot of the time and—and the sex is molten-level hot.”

Everyone laughed.

“Does a person have to settle down?” said Eiren.

“No,” said Tawny. “If you don’t want to, you don’t have to, obviously.”

“So, maybe I don’t want to.” Eiren took a very big gulp of her drink.

It was quiet.

Then Tawny shrugged. “Fine. You’re happy. I’m happy. Rora will eventually get over this and she’ll be happy. We are allfine.”

“Damned straight,” said Eiren, perhaps a tad too forcefully.

Rora furrowed her brow. Had this girl time been very helpful, actually?

BRUIN WAS STUNNEDwhen Rora appeared at the door to his apartment one Saturday morning. He kept telling himself to stop texting the poor girl. She wasn’t responding to him, and he knew that was a sign he should leave her be. But he kept feeling as if what had happened with Stockton was his own fault.

As a parent, he knew he could not fix everything for his child, but that didn’t mean that some stubborn part of him didn’t feel compelled to try.

When she arrived, he thought she might be there to tell him to lose her number.

But she asked if Stockton was there.

“He’s in his room,” said Bruin. Where Stockton had been now, for nearly a week. The boy had finally roused himself, over the past few days, to return to his internship and to his classes, but Stockton seemed numb and almost hollowed out, like he’d been dealt some kind of crushing blow and he didn’t know how to even stand up straight anymore.

Bruin didn’t want to be one of those old men, the kind that railed about how the younger generation was too soft and too sensitive, but he couldn’t help but think that when he was his son’s age, he would have been too ashamed to show his own weakness to have behaved in this manner.

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