The pattern varies from brushing back and forth, to tracing circles. Easing my constant worry, solidifying friendship by seeing me in ways others don’t, and confirming that Alice makes me feel more than anyone I’ve ever met—all with the pad of her thumb. I know this is completely platonic on her part—it’s just Alice being Alice—but for a loner like me, there’s intimacy in weaving my fingers with someone else’s. It’s a union that feels naked and vulnerable, intrepidly sexy. Which is why I always choose the emotionally boundary based, I’m-not-letting-you-in palm to palm, non-finger-weaving grip.
