Page 16 of Them Bones

“Justbecause, okay?”

She sat up. “You afraid you’re gonna poke my butt with your dick, or something?”

He opened his mouth, and closed it, and opened it again. No sound came out.

She scoffed. “You should be so lucky, you know. My butt isgorgeous.”She threw back the blanket with a flourish and stood, her giant tee sliding off her shoulder, his panic ratcheting up to ‘terror’ as his pulse hammered in his ears at her exposed skin.

Dustin suddenly appeared in the doorway. Shane tried opening his mouth again but still, words were not a thing.

“Dinnertime?” Laney asked, wincing as she yawned.

Dustin studied Shane. “Fish face,” he said, before disappearing back down the hall.

Yup. I’m fucking fucked.

LANEY

Laney had never seen Dustin take to anyone the way he took to Shane. None of them said much that meal, speaking almost entirely in single-syllables like “no” and “good”. More was said without words than with them as they tentatively made space for each other to communicate. It was a little unnerving, both Dustin and Laney sharing furtive looks as Shane volleyed between nonverbal and verbal responses, not as practiced as the two of them. But he’d caught on like it was nothing, and it felt… nice. To share their secret language with someone else.

She watched with glowing satisfaction as Shane methodically devoured three plates of Dusty’s chicken stir fry, wondering how long Dustin had been helping supply him with food.

Shane’s hair was flat on the right side where it’d been squished to the pillow. She’d been pleasantly surprised when he wrapped himself around her like a barnacle, even if he was unconscious at the time. His skin was oddly cold, like it had absorbed all the damp of the fall season and hadn’t shaken it off yet. But he was so big, dwarfing her body with his, and he smelled like something woodsy and cold and sharp. It reminded her of fresh snow in February.

After dinner, Shane had swiftly cleared up their dishes and the pots and pans, wiping down the counter and washing out the sink before thoroughly wringing out the dishcloth and hanging it over the kitchen tap. Laney and Dustin shared a look, entirely unaccustomed to any kind of help with the house.

He cleared his throat, running his palm over the back of his head (clearly a nervous habit) and she actively fought the blush trying to creep up her neck. Even with overgrown bed head, his clothes rumpled from sleep, he made her mouth water.

Cute,she thought.He’s… really cute.

It wasn’t the right word. Not really. There were some boys in her class that werecute.Andsexydidn’t feel right, either. To her annoyance, he was distinctlynotvibing at herthat way, and she was well versed in the difference. But there was something there, a raw appeal that drew her in more than his smooth skin, tense jaw, and bottomless eyes. He was like his own planet, foreign and immeasurable. Not quite a man – not like Jerry, or Ma’s boyfriends – but definitelynota boy.

They watched tv in the living room, a cool new show she was obsessed with calledBuffy the Vampire Slayer.Shane was sitting stiffly in the ugly brown recliner, Dustin on the floor against the window with his freshly sharpened pencils, and Laney draped across the navy-blue sofa.

She could feel his eyes on her but every time she looked at him, he was steadfastly watching the small tv, gaze straight ahead. He seemed skittish, like he was mentally preparing himself to take off, but as the clock ticked later and later she realized that while he may have found itweird,he also probably found itwarmand that might not be so easy to walk away from.

Later, she felt herself being lifted off the couch and groggily tucked her face into his shoulder at the crease of his armpit. Feeling greedy, she snaked her arms up around his neck. She could feel his pulse hammering but he didn’t push her away,and she wished their house were bigger so that it would take longer for him to get to her bedroom, longer that she could hold on to him.

He jostled her weight, holding her awkwardly with one arm – surprisingly strong – and pulled back her blanket, before circling her with both arms again and gently laying her down on the bed. She didn’t want to unlatch her hands, but his cool fingers reached back and gently pried them loose before tucking them in front of her chest and pulling the covers up over her.

He hovered for a minute in the dark.

Get in with me,she thought.

He didn’t answer, but it took him at least forty-five seconds to back away from her and softly shut the door.

She smiled to herself. She never would have guessed breaking her face would be the highlight of her year so far, but she meant what she’d said in the bathroom – he was worth taking a punch for.

SHANE

Shane didn’t think he slept that first night so much as blacked out. He knew he shouldn’t be getting comfortable - that Laney’s mom or brother were bound to show up any minute and kick him to the curb - but he couldn’t help himself. It had been the best day he’d had in what felt like forever.

He was clean, and warm, and sleeping on an actual bed in a building with actual climate control. Waking up without the raw edge of hunger churning in his belly and making his head swim, he almost felt like a human being again. He literally couldn’t remember the last time he’d woken upnottired.

It was still dark out, and Shane - having spent too long in precarious sleeping arrangements - had trained himself to be the first to rise. So he was surprised when he padded quietly down the hall in his thick athletic socks to the smell of coffee.

His palms began to sweat, and his stomach lurched.Must be her mom.He stood rooted to the spot in the hall, unsure whether to return to the bedroom and hide like a coward, make a break for it like an even bigger coward, or just announce himself and hope that he didn’t get shot for punching her fourteen-year-old daughter in the face and then promptlyspending the night.

But before he could decide, Dustin’s head popped out of the entrance and into the hall.

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