Something Wilder

by Christina Lauren

Beside Bradley, leaning awkwardly against the window and wearing an ancient green T-shirt that read MIDDLE EARTH’S ANNUAL MORDOR FUN RUN, Walt remained blissfully comatose, snoring softly.

With him she’d been standoffish at first, pushing him away, almost—he’d realized in hindsight—to test the strength of his attraction. But once she’d given in, she’d been as vulnerable and wide open as the sky outside. She’d given him everything without hesitation: her body, her innocence, her trust.

He’d loved Lily so deeply that it changed his biology.

“This tiny town represents what I fear my entire future will be: dry, dusty, and decrepit.”

She wondered how good it would feel to have that smooth honeyed skin pressed all along her front. She wanted him for a blanket.

Tonight-Lily wanted those full lips on hers. But Tomorrow-Lily might wake up feeling unsteady and unsettled all over again. In her experience, nighttime hunger had never been a good mix with daylight rational thinking.

Sex was sex, but love was a different language, and Leo hadn’t spoken it in ten years.

He wondered if, looking down, the stars ever felt like falling, lovesick, onto the planets.