Make Me by CD Reiss

Author:CD Reiss [Reiss, CD]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781957647197
Publisher: Paige Press, LLC

Dario curses all the way to the car. Once we’re both safe inside, he holds out his hand to me. “Your phone.”

I give it to him, and he makes a call.

“Thank fucking God that fucking house is locked down or we’d have to fucki—Tam.”

As he talks to Tamara, he seems so cut off from me it’s unbearable. After what just happened, seeing Denise, showing her the video, knowing how painful it was for me to see, watching her face fall—it must have been ten times more painful for her.

I hear Dario tell Tamara what to do about his phone and I see his rage at himself, but it’s all through a filter of the memory of that bathroom stall.

“…erase everything. And the lock screen…”

“Don’t,” I say.

Denise resisted helping us, but for how long? She can’t unsee what her people—our people—did. Her own husband.

“…shouldn’t even have a keyboard…”

“Unlock it. Dario.”

“What?” He stops himself mid-sentence to look at me as if I’ve lost my sense.

“If unlock it means she can see it… she needs to look at that video as many times as she has to. She might put it away and never look at it again. Or she might show people inside. Think of what that would do? A mass waking. Then she’ll help us get Dafne out.” I pause to check his reaction. All he does is blink, and it’s all I need. “Leave the video. Can the forwarding number be somewhere?”

“In the contacts,” Tamara is barely audible from his phone. “It’s not a bad idea.”

“Can you make it so when she calls it, it comes to my phone?” I say it loudly to make sure she hears me.

“Fuck, Sarah,” Dario mumbles.

“Yes.” Tamara’s voice is definite. “Dario?”

“She’s going to hang up if it’s you. If it’s me, she’ll talk.” I put both hands on his thigh and lean closer to him, pleading. “She has liberation in her back pocket.”

He thinks. From a thousand miles away, Tamara asks if he’s still there.

And though he doesn’t answer, I can tell he’s still here. The invisible wall that seemed to separate us is gone. He is one hundred percent in this car with me.

“If she’s caught with it,” he says, “and they punish her, that’ll be on us.”

Us.

I’ve dreamed of sharing a home with a man. Children. Old age. Sharing responsibility isn’t a dream come true, because I never dared imagine it was possible, or that it would be this fulfilling.

“She’s smart.” I put my hand on his. We are connected. I am here with him, anchored in the storm. “She’ll be fine. And if she’s not, she’ll call me, and I can ask about Dafne.”

He shakes his head, but I know it’s not about Denise. He’s denying something deeper and more personal.

“Tamara,” he barks toward the phone. “Do it.” When he hangs up, his head drops back.

“I know.”

He squeezes my hand but looks out the windshield to a place far away, rubbing his chin with his thumb. “I just want to be with you, and I’m so tired of the rest of it.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.