It usually started with the hollows of a particular collarbone—the professor’s, the nutritionist’s, the editorial assistant’s, anyone’s other than my actual partner’s—growing into a full-fledged obsession with whomever they belonged to. In an attempt to escape my thoughts, I’d solicit and seduce others to the point of mental annihilation, only to wake up the next morning with my obsession fortified. Alcohol made it worse. So did drugs. Exercise, especially when combined with a playlist, was nearly lethal. And the factors that elevated the behavior from “bad crush” to addiction were time and
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