Free Depths by Steph Campbell, Liz Reinhardt Page A

feels amazing.
    She doesn’t look into my eyes, there’s nothing sweet or gentle about what we’re doing, but if feels so fantastic. I pump into her and think of how she’s not Kensley; how it’s official that there is someone else, and I’m glad it’s her.
    It’s incredible. We fall asleep, she wakes me up kissing my neck, her hand roving down between our bodies, and it starts all over again. By the third time, I’m half-nervous I won’t be able to get the job done, but my recent hiatus doesn’t seem to have done any permanent damage to my sex drive. When she’s finally tucked by my side, warm and satiated, I notice the sun shining warm, rosy dawn light and fall fast asleep, ready to make her breakfast. Ready to meet her little girl. Ready to help her forget the guy she left at the altar. Ready to listen to her music and make her part of my new life.
    ***
    “No more!” Deo begs. “No more of this music! I feel like I should be watching an animal cruelty commercial. This is sad. This is so sad. Whit, my angel, make this madness stop.”
    Whit plops between us on the couch and hands me a fresh beer. She ropes an arm around my neck and rumples my hair as she answers Deo. “He’s sad. Let him be sad.”
    “I’m so cool with him being sad. Right there. Quietly. So I can ignore him. Explain why I have to listen to all of these whining girls and their fiddles?” He pulls Whit on his lap and kisses her shoulders.
    “This music is fucking genius.” I would say I’m arguing, but you’d have to put some real effort into presenting your point to make an argument, and I have no energy for that. What I do put effort into is drinking this beer so I can deaden some of my depression.
    “It’s alright,” Deo gripes. “ She was alright. Take her off the damn pedestal, man. It was one night. One date. I know you never really wanted one, but you had a pretty decent one night stand. Appreciate what you had for what it was and stop acting like you lost the love of your life.”
    “A one night stand with the perfect girl is like…it’s like getting to the airport in Hawaii, then getting right back on the plane and flying home. It’s depressing to have been that close to paradise without actually getting there.” I tip the bottle again.
    “Jesus, Cohen. It wasn’t that freaking bad. It’s more like you landed in Hawaii and spent one incredible night in a pretty nice four star hotel—”
    “Definitely a five star hotel,” I growl.
    “Calm down, man. It’s just a metaphor. Anyway, you stayed the night. But you know what? Maybe in the light of day, you would have realized that the hotel wasn’t as swank as you thought. Maybe you would have realized that five star hotels aren’t your thing. That you’d rather sleep on the beach, you know?” He sits forward, all into this lame metaphor we’ve got going on.
    “So you think I’m more a homeless beach bum than a swank hotel stayer?” I clarify.
    Deo throws up his hands. “Yes! You’re finally listening! In real life and metaphor. Holy hell, I’m tapped. I’m done. Whit, doll face, help me out here. What do I do with this sad sack?”
    Whit tilts her head to the side and considers, her dark eyes squinted. “You need to have a fun date with an escape hatch. You need a double date.”
    Deo and I both groan and Whit slaps Deo’s arm. “Stop it. Both of you. Stop being man-babies. You need to go out with other people so if it’s not going well, there’s a whole group to pick up the heat. And if it’s amazing? There will still be other people to balance it out. It can’t get too insane, but it also can’t get too intense. Perfect.”
    “I’m not going on a double date with this whiny asshole,” Deo declares, which is fine, because I’m not about to find a nice girl to date only to have Deo’s big mouth and lousy sense of humor fuck it all up.
    Just when I’m about to say that all to his stupid face, my phone rings.
    “I gotta take this.” I jump