Chapter 31

“Because I think I’m a pervert,” Eitan said, waving his free arm as he pressed his cell harder against his ear.

“Well, that does add a little spice to it,” Akemi said.

She giggled; she never giggled, Eitan realized as he listened on the other end of the phone. “Are you flirting with me?”

“Flirting with you, Eitan? No, you are much too serious for that,” Akemi said. Her giggle turned into a laugh. “I’m jerking your chain to keep you on your toes. Maybe you will get it this time.”

“Forget what ‘it’ is for the moment,” Eitan said before swallowing, “If we are so close that we should have been banging away for years, why didn’t we bang in high school when we had the time, the place and the privacy?”

“Nikki and Joseph asked me not to throw you down and ravish you,” Akemi said. “I was pretty aggressive then, you know. I was like a spider sucking my victims dry.”

“Then?” Eitan replied, shaking his head and rolling his eyes at the same time. Then another thought occurred to him, “victims?”

“Yeah, that’s why our parents told me that if I loved you, then I had to let both of us grow up before we ripped the bedsheets together. Eitan, before you perforate your guts from the inside out, Nikki and Joseph promised me that they would sit you down and give you the talk when you were ready. They double downed on their promise just before Whitcomb pulled his stunt and everyone had to flee. The entire family has just been trying to hold our shit together ever since while the world goes kablooie and the three of us ... change. The people who know us best still believe in us.”