“Do you remember when we first met?” he asks. “You said I was more charming when I was unconscious.” Elian laughs, and he’s so close that I feel his body shake against mine. I can see every scar and freckle of his skin. Every streak of color in his eyes. I lick my lips. I can almost taste him. “Ask me again,” he says. His forehead presses against mine, breath ragged on my lips. I close my eyes and breathe him in. Licorice and ocean salt and if I move, if I breathe, then whatever fragile thing it is between us will disappear with the wind. “Just do it already,” I say. And he does.
