Page 90 of See You Next Tuesday

Gabe fished a condom out of his wallet, and they both kicked off the jeans bunched at their ankles.

Once he was on top of her, it didn’t feel like they needed to talk anymore. All she needed were his hands, and his mouth, and the feeling of him moving inside her as the sunset blazed red and engulfed her senses. All her memories of him started to layer on top of one another: He was laughing in the New Hampshire sunlight and salty and tan on the beach in Vieques; he was smug at a meeting in Vegas and she wanted to crawl across the conference table and shove her tongue inside his mouth just to shut him up; he was hugging her on a misty lookout off Mulholland; and he was here with her now, telling her she was perfect and beautiful and good as she wrapped her legs tighter around him and dug her nails into his shoulders and let go of everything except him. All of it was happening now, and all of it was gone, and she was spent and panting in his arms as he kissed her softly, over and over, each brush of his lips feeling like an affirmation, or an apology, or a promise.

I’m yours, they said, over and over. You’re mine, she thought, over and over. The sun dipped below the horizon, and everything was dusky and blue. For the first time in nine months, Anya felt peace.

Chapter 14

The Dullest Campaign That Ever Waned?

by Patrick Mates, posted August 15 on MatesPrognosticates.com

As we move into the dog days of summer, it’s becoming difficult to shake the feeling that the Democrats in the presidential race are a pack of dogs who won’t hunt. Unseating a fairly popular Republican in the White House is no easy feat, and most of the highest-profile Democrats in the party have chosen to sit this one out, waiting instead for the open election four years from now. The exception, of course, is Senator Andrew Wheeler (D-MD), whose formidable lead in polling and fundraising seems to make him all but predestined to sew up the nomination. But is that a good thing?

“Democrats are restless about Wheeler,” one Beltway insider tells me. “If you dig deeper in the polling data, people are voting for him because they’ve heard of him, not because they actually like the guy. The donor class would love to throw their money somewhere else, even to hedge their bets, but the rest of the field is a joke. They don’t have any viable options.”

I also spoke to a member of Maryland’s House delegation, who expressed frustration with Wheeler’s campaign. “Wheeler was riding high after his last Senate race. He won that election with the biggest vote margin of his career. Everyone was bullish on him running for president, but his campaign has been a disaster. Completely uninspired, one unforced error after another. It feels like he’s not even the same candidate! It’s a mess. Something has to change.”

That’s the prevailing sentiment among Democrats: Something has to change. There are fourteen months until Election Day, which is more than enough time for any number of massive shake-ups. But who will do the shaking, and which apples will fall from the tree? We’ll know soon: Summer is almost over, and the harvest is coming.

WhatsApp message transcript: Anya Katz and Simone Humphrey

August 19, 9:53 a.m.

Simone: Breaking news: Area best friend too dickmatized to respond to her texts

Anya: Omg SORRY I AM SORRY I totally missed these last night

Anya: Which dress did you pick? They were both so good!!!

Simone: I got flustered and went with a blazer

Anya: Had to do it for the butches

Simone: Again, I will take your tumblr

Simone: How are things on love island?

Anya: We’re not using that word

Anya: (Well, we’re kind of both pointedly trying not to, I think? Idk)

Simone: Which word? “Island”?

Anya: I hate you

Simone: False, you looooove me

Anya: UGH

Anya: But things are good? Like, nauseatingly good?

Simone: I’ll take a Dramamine, go on

Anya: He just like

Anya: I don’t know

Anya: He always wants to be where I am, so like, if I’m canvassing, he’s with me, if I’m doing things at our fake little office, he’s with me