Page 81 of Follows with Intent

Jadon bumped him. “Subjectivity is truth. Who knows? Maybe those parents are having a great time.”

Nico doubted it; the mom was crying into what appeared to be a burrito wrapper while the dad shielded himself from a barrage of blows from the daughter.

Instead of heading to the car, he and Jadon walked to look out over the river. He found himself thinking about the museum, about the catenary curve of the Arch, the white-hot band of it like something out of a book or a movie—a portal to another world. And that’s what it was meant to represent, after all. A gateway to a vast unknown. And then Nico corrected himself. Not another world. More of it. Whatever came next.

The sound of vast waters, the toot from a barge, the cry of a gull. The wind shifted into his face, and his eyes stung. Light splintered on the water, and he thought of the morning he had seen the Jewel Box, how it had become a prism, breaking everything and making it more beautiful. Subjectivity is truth; he had said that, and Jadon had remembered. They had talked about Kierkegaard. And about love. About what it meant to love someone, truly love them. Responsibility. Commitment. Choice.

Jadon’s arms slipped around him, and in the lee of his body, he was warm. Jadon kissed his hair. And he must have been remembering too (or, much scarier, reading Nico’s thoughts).

“I choose you,” Jadon whispered. “I’ll always choose you.”

Nico turned his head for a kiss. “I choose you too.” And then horror struck: “Oh my God. I’m going to have to introduce you to Emery.”

The Kiss Principle

Keep reading for a sneak preview of The Kiss Principle, the next book in Hazardverse: Sidetracks.

1

“Keep it simple, stupid.”

Augustus sounded like he was trying not to laugh. “That is a terrible name for a life plan.”

“It’s not a life plan, sugar-tits.” It took me a moment to come up with: “It’s a life philosophy.”

“It’s terrible either way.”

“Sorry, Augustus. Not all of us had the opportunity to enroll at Dong Knockers University.”

“I have no idea what that means, but I’m going to take it as a compliment.”

“It’s not. It’s a dig about you being a dong knocker.”

On the other end of the call, Augustus sighed. Then his voice changed, and he said, “I’m talking to your Uncle Fer.”

“Is that Lana? Put her on the phone.”

“You want to say hi?” Augustus said, still speaking to Lana. “I don’t know, sweetheart. He’s pretty busy.”

“Give her the phone, monkey balls!”

“All right, here you go.”

Fumbling and scraping noises came, and then Lana said, “Hi, Uncle Fer.” Her voice was flat, but even the diminished affect couldn’t hide her excitement. It made me smile. “Papi’s taking me snorkeling.”

“Swimming,” Augustus said in the background, and I could hear the smile in his voice.

Lana then launched into a convoluted explanation of...something. It had to do with the pool and with another girl and I thought maybe there was something in there about Finding Nemo. Finally, Augustus’s voice came closer as he said, “Okay, let me talk to Uncle Fer now.”

“Bye, Uncle Fer!”

“Bye, princess.”

“You never had a cute nickname for me,” Augustus said.

“What’s a cute nickname for a crotch fungus you can’t get rid of?”

In the background, Theo said, “Did I hear ‘crotch fungus’?”

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