The Falconer: A Novel by Dana Czapnik

Author:Dana Czapnik [Czapnik, Dana]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Literary, Coming of Age, Women
ISBN: 9781501193248
Google: vjxqDwAAQBAJ
Amazon: B07GNTBZ6T
Publisher: Atria Books
Published: 2019-01-28T22:00:00+00:00

We watch the beginning of the second period of the Rangers game in darkness on the futon in his bedroom. Normally we’d be stoned and laughing at something ridiculous. Or sitting on the edge of our seats, cursing out the Rangers or their opponents on the screen. But this time the room is quiet. Tense. We’re both awkwardly leaning against the back of the futon. I’m sitting with my legs crossed and my hands clasped together, shoved in between my thighs. Percy’s spread-eagled. Isn’t that the way? Girls always make themselves smaller, more compact, while boys always take up as much space as possible. Why is that? Do we think we don’t deserve the same amount of space in the world? Are we afraid they won’t like us if we do?

I don’t look over at him. I don’t sneak any peeks at his face or his body the way I normally would. He’s paying too close attention to my movements. To his movements. Is this what life is like not stoned? All nerve endings? I think about those pictures of body-heat sensors in last year’s chem textbook. I must be flaring red right now.

And then, suddenly, with no warning, we’re kissing. I think I’m the one who starts it but I’m not sure. My body seems to have dissociated from my cerebral cortex, and suddenly I’m all id and impulse. I straddle Percy on his futon, press my lips against his. He tastes salty, with a hint of artificial lime flavoring. I can’t tell if Percy’s kissing me because he likes me or if it’s because he’s a slut and I’m in front of him. His kiss feels like sandpaper—a detail Violet didn’t include in her painting of the vermilion border because she only paints women. On men there’s stubble lining the lips. It’s not unpleasant. I want it to feel like warm stars dying on my face. But it feels like a kiss. The voices of the guys in the booth on MSG tether me to the room. Sam Rosen’s saying something both sycophantic and true about Mark Messier. Skates smack ice. I moan softly and put both my hands on his face because I once saw someone very sexy do that in a movie and I think that’s what you’re supposed to do when you kiss someone. Percy pulls my hips down tight against his and I can feel his erection through his jeans and my basketball warm-ups. Something flutters in me. There’s a wetness in my underwear, and I wonder if he can feel that too. The light emanating from the TV turns the world a staccato blue, which makes it sound more romantic than it is. He wraps his arm around my waist and flips me onto my back on the couch. Between my legs, he pushes his pelvis into mine and dry humps me, but his hard-on is rubbing against the base of my inner thigh. I wonder if this is on purpose or if he just doesn’t know female anatomy as well as he claims he does.

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.