"You know what I mean."
I pull a towel down from the wall behind me and hand it to her.
She narrows her eyes, reaching for it slowly. "This better be fucking clean."
I shrug. "I don't know what you're talking about. Of course it's clean."
Saige wipes her face with the towel and then lies on the tile floor, using it as a pillow.
"What'd you take?"
"I didn't take anything," she says. "We drank a lot of tequila, smoked a little weed in the backyard, but then I saw that guy again, and we went back inside."
"Then the weed was bad. It was laced with something."
She makes a face. "Don't blame the weed."
Then you're making it up.
Saige closes her eyes, and I sit there, watching the rise and fall of her chest as she breathes. Her left tit is about to spill over her bra. In my head, I reach behind her, unhook the strap, and let it fall away from her chest.
I shake the image from my mind and look away, my eyes settling on dried blood on her scalp, near her left temple. "How's your head?"
"You mean from the tequila or…"
"I mean from earlier—when you fell."
She sighs. "What does it matter? You don't care. Why are you still here?"
"I don't know," I tell her. "I think I like being around you; you're like…my comfort victim. I particularly like you like this."
"Like what? Pathetic?"
"Yes. And beautiful."
"What?"
"I think you're really fucking beautiful, Saige. I think you're especially beautiful like this. Is that terrible?"
"Well…yeah, Elias, it is. It's really fucking terrible. Why would you say that?"
She looks at me with disgust, and I throw my hands up and sigh. "I don't know. I was just being honest." It might be the most honest thing I've ever said to her.
"Well, it's terrifying. If the room weren't spinning, I'd run out the front door. People like you shouldn't say their honest thoughts out loud. Keep that an inside thought."
"I'm tired of inside thoughts."
"Yeah, I believe that. I'm sure your inside thoughts are very tiring. I don't suppose there's any chance you'd bring me something to wear, is there? You know, since you like being around me so much."
Damn it. And I was really enjoying the view, too. "Yeah, I will."
Sighing, I get up and walk back to my bedroom. I flip through the t-shirts in my closet until I find an old hockey shirt with my name and number on the back.
If I have to cover the object of my obsession, it might as well be in this. Then I go downstairs, grab a pair of her shorts, and fill a glass of water before returning to the bathroom.
I set the clothes down beside her, and then she sits up to grab the glass. After drinking almost the entirety, she sets it aside and picks up the shirt. "Really?"
I shrug, sitting against the wall again. "I did what you asked."
