Adam clears his throat and I toss my gaze right down to myhandbag, where I’d left it in a plop on the step. Before I can grab it, Adam says, “Sky.” His voice is husky in a way that makes the blue moths, all one hundred billion of them, return to my stomach instantly. I glance at him, and his breath is slightly heavy, as though he’s nervous, or…aroused? “Sometimes, the way you look at me…” He trails off and shakes his head.
“Yes?” I ask.
“Never mind. It’s nothing.” He angles his head toward his car across the street. “I’ll drive?”
Inside his car, he taps his fingers on the steering wheel at red lights, seemingly lost in thought. I want to ask him what he means, about the way I “sometimes” look at him. I’m well aware I was staring at his mouth too long. Does he think I want to kiss him? If so, I’ve caught him looking atmymouth with even more frequency. Does that mean he wants to kiss me?
In a stunning turn of events, I realize I am much too shy to ask for clarification. Normally, I don’t care about hurdling over codes of social decency if it means I’ll understand what the hell is happening. But not today, Satan. Not today.
We get out of his car—Adam rushes over to open my door wide for me—and take in the scene. The main parking lot of the church has been turned into, for all intents and purposes, a carnival. There are rides, including bumper cars and a small Ferris wheel, and loads of vendors selling treats like fresh caramel popcorn, candy apples, churros, and elephant ears, both of the latter covered in mountains of powdered sugar like snow. The smell of fried food surrounds us like a cloud of deliciousness.
“Where do you want to start?” he asks.
I smile. “Well. Iamstarving, if I didn’t mention that earlier.”
“Food it is.”
Adam insists on buying me my dinner of choice—nachos,covered in radioactive, glow-in-the-dark spicy cheese dip. He gets a turkey leg for himself, and we sit on a bench right in front of the Ferris wheel, watching the blue, purple, and green lights of it twinkle like dancing UFOs in the oncoming night.
“So, is anything new with you?” He raises an eyebrow at me. “Besides dancing in the woods with pelicans and dolphins—”
I laugh. “Okay, neither of those live in the woods. But…” Now I’m the one clearing my throat. “I think I met someone.”
Adam immediately drops the pile of napkins in his fist. “Shit.”
I jump up to help him collect them. I pull out the hand sanitizer, and after we are germ-free, we return to our food. “So you met someone,” he says, and then he attacks his turkey leg with what can only be described as violence.
I furrow my brow at him. “I mean, maybe. He seems interested in me. And…he’s definitely sexually attracted to me.”
Adam frowns. “What do you mean, definitely? He told you that this early on, but you don’t even know if he’s a romantic prospect yet?”
I shrug. “Sometimes you can just tell if someone wants you or not. You know?”
He doesn’t respond, instead opting to tear another slab of meat from the poor turkey leg.
“Anyway, I was just thinking. If he and I…ever…you know.” I raise my eyebrow as Adam frowns at me again, even deeper this time. “I was wondering, since you’re a man. And I’m interested in a man’s perspective and experience. What’s the best way to give a man a really great orgasm?”
Adam’s mouth is super full, so it takes a minute before he can speak. “Uh. Are you sure you’re okay talking about something like this with me?”
I shrug. “I guess, I thought we were supposed to be friends.Don’t friends give each other advice on stuff like this?” I blink. “Unless—oh, I’m so sorry. I didn’t think that you’d be uncomfortable with—okay. Subject change. Ummm.” I force my brain to come up with something else to talk about, quickly, but all that comes out is a jangle of words. “Duck confetti. Tree mothers. Knitting! Knitting. You like knitting, right?”
Adam smiles. “All that. Everything you just said. Especially the duck confetti. All ways to give a man an orgasm he’ll never forget.”
I stare blankly for a moment, and then I snort-laugh. I laugh so hard, I have to bend over a little bit. Just imagining seducing a man with…duck confetti? Whatever the hell that even is? I double over entirely, imagining shiny little duck papers flying down from the ceiling of my bedroom in front of some bewildered man. I’m wiping my face by the time I am able to get myself upright again.
“Jesus.” He looks at my face all over, as though he’s seeing me for the first time. “I feel like I would do anything to get you to laugh like that.”
Before he can say another word, a man and a woman walk up. “Adam!”
Adam stands, doing a strange half hug with the man, and then a real hug for the woman. “Hey, Doug. Fatima. How are you guys doing?”
After a moment of small talk, he turns and introduces me. “You all know Sky.” It’s not a question, given the smallness of our town and the largeness of my reputation. I’m glad Adam says it with warmth, even smiling at me as he says my name.
Fatima also offers me a big smile, but Doug blinks at me, as though he isn’t sure what to say. “Huh.” He turns back to Adam and keeps talking as though I’m not there.
I sort of expect Adam to redirect me into the conversation relatively soon, but maybe it gets a bit too difficult, because all of a sudden, a big group of people find their way to us, everyone weaving in and out to greet Adam, loudly and drunkenly.
I don’t mind being on the outside looking in at times like these. Most of these people seem…I don’t know. Superficial, I guess. They don’t seem to know Adam. They don’t know that Adam is the most gentlemanly man in the whole town, someone who will grab your groceries or open the door even if it’s clear you don’t need help. They don’t know that when he laughs, his eyes sparkle, like they’re made of sapphires caught in riverbeds in Montana or something. They don’t know that he always checks in on his grandfather, even if William is feeling just fine.
