Gregory Ashe amerikai

“Bump his fist,” Tean said. When Jem shot him a look, Tean added, “That’s what you do with your friends.”
The look on John-Henry’s face almost made Jem lose it. “He’s serious,” Jem said, stretching out a fist. “You have to learn to roll with it.”
“Will you bump his fucking fist already so we can get on with this?” Emery asked. Then, to Tean, he said, “Name five reliable sources that I can use in future arguments about animals.”
The look on Tean’s face taught Jem that yes, he could actually be pushed even closer to the brink.
“Yeah,” John-Henry murmured as he rapped knuckles with Jem. “I know what you mean.”

13

“So,” Emery said, “tell the fucking story.”
When Jem had finished, Emery said, “How stupid are you?”
“Moderately,” Jem said. “I couldn’t read until I was in my twenties. Tean had to teach me.”
Emery opened his mouth. A scarlet fringe ran along his cheekbones, and he shut it again.

14

“It’s obvious, isn’t it?” Emery asked.
“Not to me,” Jem said. “Because I’m a moron, remember?”
The red in Emery’s cheeks deepened.

14

“Got him,” Auggie said. “He’s—oh, he’s cute.”
“Excuse me?” Theo said.
“Just, you know, objectively.”
Silence.
“Obviously he’s way too young for me.”
“Was that supposed to be a save?”

13

“Anger isn’t always a bad emotion. It tells us where we’ve set our limits. It lets us protect ourselves and the people we care about.

19

Sex could be a lot of things. It could be casual. It could be fun. It could be demeaning and alienating. And it could be this: another way to know someone, and, in knowing them, to acknowledge them as human beings, to affirm their worth, to take a moment of ultimate vulnerability and use it as an expression of love.

21

“I mean, he’s not wrong. He’s Emery fucking Hazard; when is he ever wrong?”
“I bet John-Henry keeps a list.”

21

“What’s going on with you?”
“We have to go back to reality.”
Jem smirked and took a bite.
“No,” Tean said.
He waggled his eyebrows.
“Not even close,” Tean said.
He shrugged.
“The sex wasn’t so good it transported me to some magical, alternate universe. The sex wasn’t so mind blowing that I feel transformed, like I’ve entered an entirely new existence. The sex wasn’t so good I can’t even comprehend going back to the life I lived before I met you. Whatever you’re thinking, that’s not it.”
“If you say so.”

21

“No,” Emery said, yanking his arm free. He drew another deep breath, and when he spoke, his voice was tight. “All right.”
“All right?” Jem asked.
“All right?” John-Henry said.
Tean hunched his shoulders and folded his arms.
“I acknowledge that my comment was an oversimplification. You are…not wrong. I apologize.”
“Now maybe you should fight him,” Jem told Tean.
Tean turned on him, horrified.
“Jesus,” John-Henry muttered. “It took me thirty years to get to ‘not wrong.’”

9

Shaw raised his hand.
“No,” Emery barked.
“One thing,” Shaw whispered.
“No.”
“One little thing.”
“No.”
“Your mouth is saying no,” Shaw said, “but your eyes are saying yes, so I’m going to say it anyway.”
“That’s his fucking idea of consent, by the way,” North said. “Try telling him you’ve got a headache when he’s drilling his boner into your leg.”

11