Page 72 of Breaking the Sinner

He smirked. “Nah, there’s plenty I haven’t done. Trust me.”

“Name one thing.”

He groaned, burying his face in her hair again. The silky threads calmed him. He never wanted to leave this spot—she was right. “Let’s not play this game.”

“Come on. Name one thing.”

He sighed loudly, then brought his lips to the shell of her ear. “Fine. I’ve never gone to church.”

She stopped swaying, twisting back to look him in the eye. “Seriously?”

Disbelief etched itself deep in her face. His stomach gave a warning twist. This might have not been the right place to start with the confessions. Maybe it would make her change her mind about him. Maybe he was testing to see if she’d accept him anyway. “Yep.”

“Do you want to go?”

He shrugged. “Not really.”

She turned back to the sunset, smoothing her hands over top of his. They resumed the slow sway, and then finally, she said, “Yeah. Me neither, anymore.”

“Haven’t you been to church every day for your entire life?”

“Basically.”

“So why not anymore?”

This time, Gen sighed. “I don’t know if it’s right for me. I’m having a crisis.”

“Yeah, I saw that when you borrowedThe Infidelity of the Bibleat the library.”

She laughed, swatting at him. “Don’t judge my book choices.”

“Not judging.” He hid his grin in her hair, cinching her tighter against him. “Just saying.”

A few moments of comfortable, perfect silence passed. True silence. The kind that calmed the maelstrom that roared almost 24/7 in his head. When Gen spoke, it startled him.

“Do you believe in God?”

She’d tilted her head to look up at him, crystalline honesty shining in her eyes. He stopped swaying.

His stomach turned into a stone. “No, Gen. I don’t.”

She frowned and looked back out over the cityscape. But he could tell that he’d disappointed her. A heaviness settled between them. One that felt like he’d stepped in wet sand.

“You’re the first person I’ve met who doesn’t,” she said quietly.

“Well, I think there are a lot more of us in the world.”

She surged forward suddenly, disconnecting herself from the warm seal of their bodies. She exhaled loudly, turning to him with a bright face.

“I know what we need to do now.”

The dopey grin returned. He could feel the silly curve of his lips. “What?”

She leaned close, pressing her lips to his while she mumbled, “I want to smoke weed.”

“You’re shitting me.”

She shook her head softly, so it didn’t break the brush of their lips. “Nope. I want to.”

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