Page 119 of Bend
“Why do you ask?”
“Because we had five minutes of small
talk after that. So, you know, I kind of left thinking about what happened after. In Deacon’s car.”
“You can tell me.” He rubbed his upper lip again.
I saw his watch peek past his cuff, hanging on his wrist. He had nice wrists, angled and wide. Masculine. I narrowed my eyes, willing his cuff back so I could see more.
“I don’t want to tell you now. Your loss,” I said.
“Your parents came to visit last night. How did that go?”
I shrugged.
“Your father’s an interesting guy.”
“How so?”
“He married your mother quite young.”
I sat ramrod straight, and I felt my hand want to go up, as if fending him off. That was sacred territory. He could psychoanalyze me all he wanted, but my family was off limits. “They’re still married eight children later. I don’t see the problem.”
He said nothing. As much as I wanted to scrape his pretty little face off for it, I wanted to prove myself even more.
“You going to hypnotize me again?” I asked.
“If you found it helpful last time.”
“You ever going to take a stand on something you want, Doctor?”
He stood. “Not in this room, no. In this room, you’re the boss.”
Well, if that was how it was going to be, I would take it. I could be the boss of this tiny, half-lit room. I threw myself on the couch. Elliot followed and sat behind me. I heard the rustle of him crossing his legs.
“Counting backward from five,” he said.
“Okay.”
“Five.”
***
His car is huge, and he smells like peppermint. He doesn’t say anything, and my chest winds up with tension. Is this a mistake? He doesn’t look like a serial killer, but maybe he’s not interested in me. Earl is a good enough fuck in a pinch; that would be better than nothing.
“Got a name?” I ask, trying to get my shirt buttoned.
“Yes.”
“My name’s Fiona.”
“I figured that out.” He turns his head a little. “I’m Deacon.” His eyes drift down to my exposed tits then back to the road.
“Should I bother buttoning up?”
“Yes.”
I shake as I finger the buttons. That wasn’t the answer I expected, and I’m suddenly ashamed. But when he flattens his hand on the wheel and turns it with pressure on the heel, my nipples harden through the white shirt, and the rings piercing them stretch the fabric.
