She issodone with me. “I was beingExtracted, Tyse. I was dressed up, OK? This is the lingerie they gave me for the occasion. And”—she twists, peeking at her ass again—“it’s… I dunno. Just normal underwear for Spark Maidens. If you don’t like them, don’t look at them.”
“Oh, I never said I didn’t like them.”
Her eyes find mine and she presses her lips together. “I’m not sleeping with you.”
“Because it’s more than ten, isn’t it?”
“I don’t even understand what you’re talking about there. Seven. Ten. Whatever.”
“How many dates did what’s-his-name take you on before you slept with him?”
“That’s none of your business. My private life is none of your business.”
“It was eleven, wasn’t it?”
She’s about to yell at me, I can see it coming. But she catches herself before any words come flying out. I watch as that same composure she used to dismiss me earlier comes back into play, and again, I am reminded that she is not just some ordinary somebody. She is a very special somebody. “It was…” Her eyes roll up as she thinks. “A hundred and seventy-three.”
“What?” I guffaw at this number.
But the laugh stops abruptly when up-city Clara Birch walks right up to me and places her hand flat against my bare chest. “A hundred and seventy-three.”
“That’s impossible. No man would wait that long for a woman.”
Clara smirks up at me. “He was my childhood best friend, Tyse. We grew up together. We spent every bit of our lives together. We’ve practically been in love since we were born. When we got old enough, we dated. And right before I was chosen for Extraction, we had sex exactly one time.”
“How old were ya?”
“Eighteen.”
“How old are ya now?”
“Twenty-eight.”
“You’ve only had sex once?”
“No. Don’t be stupid. We met up while I was a Spark Maiden. Every couple of months.”
“When was the last time you had sex with him?”
“The day I got here.” That smirk of hers turns into a sympathetic smile as she pats my chest. Then she turns to the bed and crawls up it, flashing those ruffles at me.
“I’ve got no chance at all, have I?”
She chuckles as she slides her legs under the covers and turns onto her side, hugging a pillow. “Not even a tiny one.”
Then she closes her eyes and puts me completely out of her mind.
Clara doesn’t stir when I get in bed next to her. Maybe asleep, maybe just trying to torture me with her indifference. But either way, she won this night.
Because the only thing on my mind as I lie there, looking up at the ceiling, is her.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
My dreams are filledwith those last few words of his.I’ve got no chance at all, have I? It even comes through in his voice.
And for some reason, these words bother me. Because in the dream we are clearly together. Laughing, and smiling, and sometimes even arguing like couples do, with the familiar sense that this person you’re with can take who you really are and you can be yourself with them without having to fear that they will misread you, or, worse, give up on you.
It’s a good dream, but kinda sad too. And I’m not sure why. My mind is spinning with scenarios when I catch the sound of coins clanging against glass. I open my eyes just in time to see Tyse—shirtless and wearing only a pair of boxer shorts—reaching into the jar where he keeps his tip money. When he turns, his eyes meet mine, but he doesn’t say anything. Just walks over to the door where a man is waiting and he trades the coins for one of those phones he uses to receive messages.
