Page 57 of The Last Man on Earth
“I get that,” I say with a nod. “Might be a woman thing.”
“Must be.” He narrows his eyes. “You feel guilty?”
“A little.”
Without responding, he turns his attention back to his work.
“Do you?”
“Feel guilty?” he says. “Fuck, no. Not even a little bit.”
That makes me laugh softly. “Of course you don’t.”
He stands, wiping his hands on his basketball shorts. “Can’t nobody blame us for this shit, Ari. You put two fine ass people alone in a situation like this andanybodywould fold. It can’t even be considered cheating. We’re surviving. Tryna stay sane out this bitch.” He gestures around us at the trees, the dirt, toward the endless ocean a few minutes away. “And what the fuck else we supposed to do out here besides be bored and depressed?”
“I see your point.”
He takes a sip from his water bottle. “When was the last time for you?”
“Three whole months,” I say with a sigh.
“Damn. Was it your boy?”
“Luca? No. We haven’t slept together yet.”
I don’t know why he’s smiling so hard at that. “You serious?”
“I told you,” I say, pulling at a loose thread at the hem of my sundress. “Men aren’t always genuine about getting to know me, so I make them wait as long as I can.”
He stands up a little straighter and smirks. “Glad I made the cut.”
I roll my eyes. “Don’t get cocky. It’s like you said. We’re trying to survive. We’re in a situation that…” I trail off, searching for the words, realizing they’re lies.
“Okay. It wasn’t the situation that made me fold,” I admit. “It was you.”
He blinks, looking almost boyish for a second. “Little old me?”
His charm makes me smile. “I thought you were immature and obnoxious on the plane.”
He nods. “I was.”
“You were. But I’ve seen you grow up a lot since then. Over the past few…” I pause, counting in my head. “How long have we been here?”
He rubs his chin. “About a week, I think. Fuck. The wedding would’ve happened by now.” His voice dips lower. “My son gotta be askin’ questions by now.”
I stare at him, at the way his face softened when he saidmy son.
“I been tryin’ not to think about him,” he murmurs. “That shit hurts too much.”
“I’m sorry,” I say softly.
He nods. “You got kids?”
“No.”
“Youwantkids?”
I smile faintly. “I think so. But just like true love, whateverthatis, kids might not be in the cards for me.”
