Page 170 of Call Me Baby 2: Side B

His guarded gaze pins me to the quiet, waiting to see if I’m about to hand it all back to him.

There’s a searing ocean I’m fighting behind my eyes.

If I agree, it’s only him⁠—

a human who could change his mind,

walk out on me at any second.

If I don’t agree, I’ll never see him again.

I don’t know which one scares me more.

From the jukebox, piano trickles through the room, drums chasing after it, “Because the Night” rising from the corner.

My heart tries to match the beat of it to keep from skipping.

Or stopping altogether.

Time’s stretching.

My chest’s shrinking.

I look past Andrew’s shoulder, where a girl sneaks a picture, the back camera of her phone aimed at us.

I step back.

He stands taller. “Allison⁠—”

I step back again. “I just⁠—”

I scan the room.

All their eyes are clawing at my skin, peeling me off him in their heads.

“I need a second. Outside.”

Then I’m halfway across the building, my legs carrying me out from under his gaze.

I push the door open.

The cold rushes across my face—the iron, metallic taste of the Hudson laced in the air, with the smell of sausage and peppers from the cart on the corner.

“Because the Night” dies behind me,

fades away as the door closes.

I get two steps far when the hinges groan open, and the electric guitar balloons behind me again.

He’s already at my side,

sneakers hitting the concrete.

“Allison.”

Only my name makes it out.

He holds the rest in his mouth,