Deep End

by Ali Hazelwood

“What I like is being on the couch feeling my atoms rot as I succumb to entropy.”

Scarlett: Do you really want to be reminded of my computational superiority that often? Unknown: I do. I have a thing for women who are smarter than me.

“Oh, sweetheart.” My belly swoops at the endearment. His tone lives somewhere between sympathy and amusement. “If you don’t think that I’m very aware of your presence, always, you have no idea what’s going on.”

“You’re fucking adorable,

Another kiss, this time on the tip of my nose. “It makes me want to wreck you.”

He guides me out, fingers pressed against my upper back. My world coalesces to five points of contact.

“Scarlett.” His fingers come up to my chin. Grab it gently, but tight. “The only time wasted is time we are apart.”

Sometimes, when she’s in deep sleep, a thoughtful little frown furls on her brow. Lukas cannot physically get out of bed until he has smoothed it over with his lips.

Scarlett: I hate bones. Lukas: I hate bones, too. Scarlett: Why do you hate bones? Shouldn’t you hate brains? Lukas: Bones steal you away from me. Brains keep me entertained when you’re gone.

Whenever you open this, I’m probably thinking of you.

Scarlett, he thinks. You have no idea.