Page 521 of The Sinner: James

He gestures dismissively.

“Yes. My heart has never been on the line.”

“Has it ever? With anything else?”

He looks at me, his smile gone.

He shrugs.

“I don’t know. But for sure, it hasn’t been with girls or women. Never,” he says, shaking his head. “Things are better that way.”

Again, he speaks with the conviction of someone who doesn’t know the set–in–stone beliefs are the first to go out the window when life punches you in the face.

I look at him in silence.

“Isn’t it better?” he asks, somewhat surprised that I don’t appreciate his wisdom.

“I guess you’ll find out.”

He tilts his lips into a knowing smile.

“I’d probably change my mind if I met someone like Rain.”

“I’m sure you would, but you need someone to school you before you hook up with someone like her.”

His stare lingers on me.

“Don’t look at me, kid. A woman will teach you by ripping your heart apart and making you scream in pain before you know what you can and can’t do with a woman.”

His smile fades.

Seemingly, I got his attention.

“Really?” he murmurs, puzzled.

“Really. You need that kind of woman in your life, and then everything will make sense in your universe.”

He laughs cockily.

“I don’t believe it,” he says, amused.

“Believe it. It’s the truth.”

“Is that what happened to you?”

“Nope. But at one point in my life, I had the same beliefs as yours. I was bad––just a different kind of bad––and when my turn came, I’d already had plenty of bad women like me. They taught me stuff, but it wasn’t what I needed to learn. You, on the other hand... You only had good women.”

“How do you know?”

“Abby Newtown.”

He ponders.

“Okay. That’s one.”

“The stalker living across the street.”

“Who are you talking about?”

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