Cherry had one more discordant moment when Russ slid into her. AnotherTom! Tom! Tom!moment—
Cherry wasn’t supposed to bedoingthis with someone else! No one else was supposed to be inher bodylike this! Shebelongedto someone!
But he was gone.
Tom was gone.
“Cherry,” Russ said. Between her legs. Holding himself above her torso. His eyes were half closed. “You’re so...”
“Russ,” she said, arching up into him.
Russ looked gorgeous. Flushed. Alive. He was already thrusting into her with purpose. It felt amazing.
Maybe the universe knew that Cherry needed the most desirable man in her personal history to fuck her back to life again. (“Stop saying ‘the universe’ when you mean God,”she heard Honny say again. But would God have sent Russ Sutton to have sex with Cherry? Hedidmove in mysterious ways...)
Russ’s head was hanging over hers. He still looked like Bono. Hegrinned down at her, and Cherry grinned back. Both of them were panting.
He reached down between their bodies, but there wasn’t room for his hand. He lifted up to make space. Found Cherry’s clit again, rubbed it. His forearm was pressed into her belly. He said, “What do you need, baby?”
Cherry froze.“What?”
Russ’s hand stopped moving. “Does that hurt?”
“No. No, it’s good.”
He rubbed her clit again, more gently. “You feel so good... I want you to feel good.”
“I want...” Cherry said. “Can I come after?”
Russ smiled. “You can come whenever youwant.” He pulled his hand up and dropped onto his elbows, rocking his hips forward. His flat stomach pressed into hers. Cherry felt bigger than him in every way like this—but she felt good. She moved with him. Held him.
Russ was still sweet, even now. Looking in her eyes. He raised his eyebrows like,Isn’t this great?and Cherry nodded.
Once, back in college, they’d all gone to the grocery store together, and Stacia had left Russ and Cherry in the freezer section to pick out ice cream while she went to get tampons—“Stay with Cherry, I need to do some lady shopping”—and a Billy Joel song had started playing over the store speakers. “Leave a Tender Moment Alone.”
Russ had grabbed Cherry’s hand and pulled her close, wrapping his other arm around her waist. They knew each other so well by then that Cherry didn’t even ask what he was doing. She just smiled up at him as he rocked her back and forth to the music. She loved the way Russ moved. She loved the way he moved her. He swept her all the way down the aisle, to frozen vegetables, and Cherry was completely at ease when he tipped her back over his arm into a dip.
“I wanted this so bad,” he said now. He was breathing harder.
Cherry nodded again.
“I wanted you,” he said. “From the moment I saw you.Cherry.”
Cherry touched his face.
He kissed her wrist, then lifted up onto his hands. “Did you... Tell me you wanted this, too.”
“I...”
Russ’s face was flushed. His hips were insistent. “Tell me you wanted it.”
“I wanted it,” she said.
“Tellme.”
“I wanted you.”
He shook his head, like he was trying to hold back. “From the moment I met you, Cherry.”
