Page 104 of From Air

Slowly, I nod.

With a deep inhale, Will looks at the ceiling.

“But for what it’s worth, it never happened here.”

Will grunts. “That’s a relief, because that’s what the rule meant—don’t screw fellow roommatesinthe house.”

“Are you done?”

Will crosses his arms. “Why? You don’t want a girlfriend or a wife. You don’t want kids. So why risk having Maren and I pissed at you? Why risk getting kicked out of the house? Why take advantage ofour friendwho is ten years younger than you?”

All great questions. I don’t have the answers, but I won’t show Will that side of my messed-up psyche. “I’m thirty-five, not fifteen. I can navigate sex with a woman without it turning into a total debacle. It’s about setting expectations and boundaries. And stop making it sound like it wasn’t consensual or that I took advantage of someone who just turned eighteen.”

Will returns a blank stare. “She wears friendship bracelets and gets excited when there’s a full moon. She reads her horoscope. I bet she cries while watching Disney movies. There’s no way you two hookedup without herfeelingmore than your amateur attempt to make her orgasm.”

“Fuck you.”

He slowly shakes his head and walks toward me, resting his hand on my shoulder. “No, Fitz. Fuck you for standing here talking to me when someone attacked herdaysago.”

Chapter Thirty-Three

JAYMES

“Hey.” Melissa’s lips pull into a shaky smile while she slides from my desk chair to the edge of my bed. “Do you need more for your pain?”

“N-no.” I clear the frog from my throat. “I hate how it makes me feel.”

She hands me a glass of water and holds the straw while I sip. “I think the point is for younotto feel the pain.”

I wince, trying to sit upright. “My head.”

“It’s a miracle you only have a concussion and a broken nose. No missing teeth. No fractured skull. And you have one eye that’s not swollen shut, so there’s that.”

“I don’t feel miraculous. I feel like I’ve been asleep for days.”

“You’ve slept a lot. And they caught your neighbor late last night. I called to check this morning. His girlfriend is beside herself. She feels responsible. That baseball bat was meant for her, but she said she tripped, and you were just there.”

“Right place. Right time,” I mumble.

“Well”—Melissa’s nose wrinkles—“let’s not go that far.”

I gingerly touch my broken nose. “Let me see a mirror.”

“I think we should wait on that.” Melissa rolls her lips over her teeth.

“It’s still awful, isn’t it?”

“You’re a nurse. Do I really have to review the stages of bruising with you?”

“This is exactly why I didn’t want you to notify anyone.”

“And by anyone, you meant Calvin.”

“I meantanyone.”

She nods slowly. Too slowly.

“If you called him—”

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