Because he is already broken.

And, maybe, I want him to break me a little, too.

“Can I ask you something?” he says to me, a little quieter this time.

“Sure,” I say.

“Do you actually believe in… you know, all this?” he asks.

I smile.

He asked me this sooner than I thought.

“Do I believe in God? Yes. Do I believe that you have to go to church every Sunday? I think it’s nice. Do I believe in the Bible? Most parts, sure.”

He looks me square in the eye.

There’s a glimmer of mischief to it.

“Do you believe in the whole no sex before marriage thing?” he asks.

I should have known.

He wants to make me feel uncomfortable.

I smile. He thinks he knows my answer.

He has no idea.

“You want to know what I really think?” I ask, moving my hand on the bus bench closer to his thigh.

“Sure,” he says.

“I think that I want to know what it feels like,” I tell him, my voice soft and slow, “to want someone as badly as they want you. To feel the heat of his body against mine.”

I lean in closer.

I lean in so that my lips are close to his ear.

I lean in so it’s our little secret.

“And I think I don’t want to wait for that any longer than I have to. Especially… if I find the right person,” I tell him.

I pull away from Rex.

He wipes the hair away from his forehead.

I think he may even be sweating a little.

“That’s—uh—good to know,” he tells me, fumbling for words.

I smile and look ahead to the front of the bus.

I don’t know what the hell I am doing.

But I know I don’t want to stop.

Chapter Three