Page 83 of Scrimmage

“Could you not use a fork?”

“Nope.”

“It wasn’t a bad thing. Not exactly.”

“You’re still making it sound bad,” I point out.

“I just don’t understand it, is all. You live in disarray.”

“I’m surprised you even know that word.”

“So, now that I’ve told you my shit. Are you a sex addict or not?”

“I didn’t think we were supposed to talk.”

“You’re great at asking questions, but when it comes to answering you divert the conversation.”

I roll my eyes and sit up onto the counter, which doesn’t seem to bother him. “I love sex. People are allowed to.”

“Some people love it too much.”

I blow my hair out of my face. “It’s how I communicate.”

“Fair enough." He nods, grabbing plates from a cabinet. “Did a therapist tell you that?”

“She did. Among other things. It’s not my fault that I’m overtly sexual or something. Circumstances. Blah, blah, blah.”

“But you seem to communicate just fine with Penny.”

“Penny is my best friend. Dick is an object.”

“So you’re objectifying men?”

“If that’s how you want to take it, you can.”

“What about Cole? Is that how you communicate with Cole?”

I laugh. “Ah, the root of the question. You don’t care if I’m an addict as long as I don’t fuck Cole.”

“Have you?”

“Are you jealous?” His jaw tightens, but he stays silent. “I don’t have sex with Cole. I don’t communicate with him either.”

He pulls two plates from a cabinet. “Then why does he hang around?”

“Not sure, really. I treat him like shit, but he never goes away.” I reach into my pocket and pull out a blunt and a lighter. He looks at me, sort of angry, sort of curious. “Gonna bother you?”

“No, that shit is just bad for you.”

“Everything is bad for us. Y’all smoke to enjoy it. I smoke to die.” He looks at me like I’m crazy. “Alaska Young?” Still nothing. “Looking for Alaska? The book?”

“Not much of a reader. I like non-fiction.”

“Figures.” I light the blunt and take a deep breath, blowing it into the air. “So, why did you kidnap me?”

“Is that what you told Penny?”

“Yeah.”

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