“I want to break the deal,” I say, calm and sure. “I don’t want any more conditions attached to me staying at Bristlebrook. I’ll stay because I deserve to be there. Because I contribute as much as anyone, and it has nothing to do with sex.” I don’t even stumble over that word anymore. What a wonder two weeks can work. “No more lies. No more hiding things. Not ‘going forward.’ From now on, I’m there because I want to be, and because you want me to be, and for no other reason.”
