Page 39 of Them Bones

“I’ve missed you,” he said.

“I can tell,” she responded wryly.

“Smartass,” he scolded.

“Dumbass.” She stuck her tongue out at him.

He choked back a laugh, and leaned back in his seat, staring at the ceiling.

“You’re staying with him, aren’t you,” she said. Not a question. Her voice low and somber. “Moving in with Jerry.”

“Yes,” he sighed. “But… I don’t want it to be like this. Like how it’s been. I want to be around, more, somehow. I want us to be, you know… friends. Spend time together.”

She arched an eyebrow again. “Friends don’t usually suck on each other’s body parts, Shane,” she said.

He suppressed a full body shudder at the thought ofsuckingandbody parts.

“Yeah, we should probably… you know… keep the sucking to a minimum.”

“Wait, you’re being serious right now?” she asked incredulously. “I can hear your heartbeat from here! Don’t you dare tell me this is all in my head!”

“No,” he said quickly, looking her dead in the eye. “It’s not in your head.” Her anger gave way to confusion, and he decided to help clear it up. “It’s embarrassing, how much I want you, okay? Like, in aI am embarrassing myself because I literally can’t think of anything elsekind of way.” He touched his sternum, the first place she’d ever kissed, and the motion wasn’t lost on her. “It’s not in your head,” he repeated.

She gaped at him, clearly not having expected him to say that.

“Fish face,” he said with a smirk.

She closed her mouth and cleared her throat.

“So is this the part where you tell methis won’t happen again?”Shane winced at the words thrown back in his face.

“We both know I’d be lying,” he said.

Her eyes opened so wide he could see the whites all the way around her irises. But then they darkened, the storm brewing again, and she reached for him –

He caught her hand in his, shaking his head. Her face fell, and he flipped her hand over and kissed her wrist gently, to soften the blow, before he dropped her arm again.

“You’re too young." She looked outright offended. “I’m not saying no,” he said gently. “I’m saying… not yet.”

She looked at him for what felt like eternity. And then slowly, she steeled herself, and nodded once.

Okay.

They sat in the car, side by side, and stared out the windshield (which to Shane’s embarrassment was a little foggy) and tried to let the tension drain out of their bodies.

Twenty minutes later, Laney stretched, and reached for the car door handle.

“I should go,” she murmured.

Don’t go don’t go don’t go don’t go don’t go –“Yeah,” Shane said with a cough.

“So… We’re friends? That’s what we’re going with, for now?”

“Um… yeah. Friends.”

It sounded stupid. They both knew it sounded stupid.

“Friends can ask friends for favours, right?” she asked.

---