Out on a Limb

by Hannah Bonam-Young

Is there someone who would deck me for checking you out the way I just did?”

Bo tilts his nose toward it, and his eyes close briefly as he breathes in.

He’s losing his mind over me.

She jokes back, disturbingly, about how she earns her lifestyle in the bedroom.

“Do you think he’d let me borrow this?” Caleb asks, emerging from Bo’s closet wearing a knight’s armour chest piece and helmet.

“My dad says the moment he saw my mom, he just knew. He took one look at her and watched the rest of his life play out.”

If I had it my way, you’d quit your job, put your feet up, and relax for the next few months.”

“Sarah only referred to me as Darth Loser for a month. A month.”

I cover my mouth, but not in time. “Win!” “I’m sorry! It’s funny! You have to hear how fucking funny that sounds.”

“Hey, Jer, I have cancer—shrug emoji. Going to need some time off. Maybe forever—question mark emoji.

You’re brilliant, I want to say.

“Vindication!” she shouts, her hands like claws pointed at the ceiling.

You must be dying to fog up those glasses of his.”

Bo’s face lights up as he pouts his lips in an effort to not smirk, nodding like a bobblehead. “Oh, really?” he says, elongating each syllable. “So we would have dated, huh?”

I miss him, even though he’s right in front of me.

“I haven’t had a drink since you told me about the baby. Solidarity, you know? But I think I’m a lightweight now?”

Caleb, of course, voted with his heart.