Then she slid up him.
He took her mouth.
It was slow and warm and wet, and it lasted a long time.
And he couldn’t believe it was him who did it, but it washim who eventually ended it and said, “Ready for bed?”
“Yeah, baby.”
They grabbed the drinks they didn’t fully drink, the pillowsand the lamp.
They took turns in the bathroom, her last, and he was in herbed, which was a mattress and box spring on the floor with some kind of carvingon the wall at the head, a fitted sheet, no top sheet, and a ton of pillows andblankets.The nightstands were wooden trays on the ground on each side.
He was in his boxer briefs.
She came out in a tank and panties.
He’d turned out all the lights but the one on a tray by thebed.
She left it on when she slid into him, so he pulled herclose, rolled into her, reached and switched it off.
You could hear the traffic on Colfax, city lights werecoming in the windows, but Archie pulled the covers up over their heads andsuddenly, they were alone in the world.
“Locked here, with me,” she whispered.
With her words, it felt like his entire chest was bandediron tight.
But the second he had that feeling, it released.
So Jag tangled up with her, kissed her shoulder and settledin.
“Sleep, Archie.”
“Okay, baby.”
She shoved her face in his throat.
And as she drifted off to sleep, Jagger wondered.
He wondered if his dad laid awake with his mom pressed closeand he thought, being just like that with her, that the world was completelyright.
And he really hoped his dad had that.
Even just once.
He hoped his dad had that at least once.
Before he died.
Chapter Six
Since Eternity
Archie
The next morning, Jagger turned and sprawled overonto his back when Archie slid away from him in bed.
She sat on the side and took him in.
