I swallow, recalling the image of his length.
“How’s that feel?”
“Uh, great. Yeah. It’s uh . . . sturdy.”
Sturdy? What the fuck?I cringe at myself.Why did I say that?
“Ready?”
My mouth is too dry to speak, and I clearly can’t have a normal conversation, so I nod.
“And . . . release.”
His breath hits my ear, breaking my focus. I turn my elbow the wrong way, strike something hard, and it cracks.
“AGHH!”
I spin to find Caleb holding his nose and bent over. My hand flies to my mouth in shock. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry! Did I hit you? Let me see!”
He backs away from me, holding a hand out.
Nice going, I think to myself. Now he probably assumes I’m a monster, and I did it on purpose.
“I think you might’ve broken my nose.” He pulls his hands away from his face, dabbing his nostril lightly and inspecting hisfinger to see if there’s any blood. Caleb panics. “Ah, fuck. Am I bleeding?” He lifts his head.
I squint, leaning in to get a closer look. There’s no blood, no signs it’s broken. It’s red, so he’ll have a good bruise, but that’s it. What he is, is dramatic.
“Uh . . .”
“What?” More panicking. “It’s broken, isn’t it? I knew it.”
“No, it’s not broken.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’m sure. I think you’re going to live.” I giggle but immediately cover my mouth.
To my surprise, his sense of humor shines through, and he laughs halfheartedly. “Oh, you think this is funny?”
I can’t contain my laughter anymore.
“I try to show you how to shoot, and you elbow me in the face.”
I’m waving my hands in front of me, trying to speak between my laughter and deny that I find it funny when clearly, I do. I’m gasping for air. “I’m sorry, I-I can’t.”
Now he’s laughing. “It’s my fault for giving you a weapon.”
“Are you okay? Actually?” I ask through my laughter.
“You know if you wanted to fight me, you could’ve just asked. I would’ve taken you up on it,” he says.
“As if I need permission to kick your ass. I’d have you on your back in seconds.”
“Oh really? You think so?”
“I know so.”
“Care to find out?”
