It makes me want to say things to Leo that I’ve never had the courage to say before. The irony is that ifI say them now, he’ll suspect something. He’ll know that what I’m really saying is goodbye. So I shutmy mouth and cling to the feeling of being in his arms and try to let that be enough of a farewell to lastme through the hell I’m about to wade into.
“When all this is over,” I whisper to him, falling back into our game of pretend, “I want to visitEurope. I’ve never been before.”
“I’ll take you,” he says simply.
“Will you have the time?”
I smile so hard it makes me want to cry. Because I know he’s playing pretend, too. I rest my hand onhis chest and stroke back and forth for a while.
His muscles are as hard as they look. I support myself on one elbow as I look dow
