Page 566 of Call Me Baby 2: Side B

“Body goes feral for it.”

“Allison, I’m beggin’ you. Let’s not.”

An empty smile finds my cold lips, and I wave the bottle between us. “So the way I feel about you? It’ll quite literally fade. Our bodies are naturally meant to always look for something new, different. There’s nothin’ you can do about it. So I’ll be okay. I’ll be just fuckin’ fine, actually.”

Another gust of wind cuts across the terrace.

I take another long,

burning chug from the bottle,

then swallow hard, my hand trembling,

so I dig my fingernail under the label,

keep my eyes in front of me.

“So you can go now.”

His brows lift⁠—

half pissed, half disbelief.

“You’re actin’ like new is magic. But new was a morgue for me. Different pussy, same dead feelin’. So no, Allison. You’re actually dead fuckin’ wrong,” he says it, not a word out of place. “And I’m not goin’. I’m not leavin’.”

I laugh into the bottle. “Yes, you will.”

He leans forward and slaps his palm with the back of his hand, staring right at me. “No. I fuckin’ won’t.”

“Yes. You will. ‘Cause I’m tellin’ you to,” I finally say, standing up fast, and then I’m toe-to-toe with him. I can feel the warmth of his breath. I can smell his fucking cologne on his neck. My fingers tighten around the neck of the bottle. “I want you out of my life, Drew.”

I rip away from him, stride inside,

toss the empty bottle into the trash,

and yank my hoodie over my head.

I’m burning up now,

hot and sweaty from the inside out.

I grab all my loose hair clinging to my damp neck, pin it to the back of my head with a claw clip as I stand at the kitchen counter in nothing but a sports bra.

He trails in right after me,

reaching back for the door handle.

“Leave it,” I hiss.

Andrew stops,

his intense gaze tracing my face,

my collarbone,

my pulse.

Slowly, his hand slips away. “This is so fuckin’ you,” he says, ripping off his jacket, pushing up his sleeves. “Swear—you got your heart in one hand and a shiv in the other. Like, ‘here, Andrew, take it. But make one wrong move, and I’ll gut yours first.’”