Chapter 10
I tucked Airy in. "Good night," I said quietly.
"Night-night," she said.
"I love you so much," I said.
"I love you so much," she replied.
I ruffled her hair. I had said good night uncountable times already, but I couldn't look away from her. Finally, I managed to return to my room.
This is Fang, by the way. We're still tag-teaming this thing.
I entered the room that was now shared by Max. Over the course of three years, I had managed to decorate it in a way that would be favorable to Max—always hoping she would return.
"Did she have trouble getting to sleep?" Max said, concerned.
"Yeah, 'cause I kept talking to her," I said. "She's phenomenal, Max. You… you did pretty good all by yourself. You did terrific."
I took off my clothes, got out my laptop, and got into bed.
"You still have the blog?" she said.
"Yeah," I said.
"Do you have to do that now?" she said. "We're in bed, Fang."
"I've got a lot of people depending on me for news, Max," I said. "I get five million visitors every day. I haven't posted since you and Airy got back. I wanna tell them that I've got my best girls back. I'm gonna post a picture of Airy."
"Do that in the morning," she said.
"You can have your way with me after I've posted the blog, babe. I need time to prepare."
"Fang? I don't think you comprehend just how much I want you."
"I do, I do. Trust me, I desperately want to ramone you, but my audience needs me."
Max pressed her body against mine and read over my shoulder. "What are you telling them?"
"Just that you're back and that Airy is back… all the good stuff."
"I mean, before that."
"Well, I don't want to cause widespread panic. I'm not going to make the whole Spider Virus thing public until Jewel does."
"That's good," she said quietly. "That's very good… what is Jewel's plan?"
"He's going to destroy as many things as possible before the virus is opened. He wants the human race to die without hope. But that's not gonna work, because as long as you are around, there's always hope."
"Fang, buttering me up when I'm already hot for you just… um… I'm trying to make this work as a cooking metaphor… and it won't. Just do me, would you?"
I hit "submit" and closed my computer. "You ever think that maybe you're a sex addict, Max?" I said conversationally.
"You're the one who seduced me three to eight times a day. I became accustomed to it. And now, after three years without you, I kind of need to get back into the old rhythm."
"Well, that's a piece of blame that I accept gladly," I said. "But, listen, Max… I want to try something…"
I leaned in and kissed her. She kissed me back… and that's all. All night we kissed, and well into the morning. That was it. Nothing else mattered.