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‘Slow down...’ she had moaned, and he’d turned.
She’d been bent forward, grabbing at her long hair. Then she’d straightened, holding it in one hand as she tied it with the band she wore on her wrist, as she so often did. Only this time as her arms had lifted he’d seen not just a glimpse of brown stomach but the shape of her breasts, and so he’d turned and kept walking.
‘Wait!’
She had caught him up and her hand had slipped into his, but he’d dropped it. ‘Too narrow,’ he’d snapped.
‘What’s wrong?’ she’d asked later, as they lay in their shady spot in silence.
He simply hadn’t responded.
‘Dante?’
She had poked him, and he had caught her hand to stop her.
‘Let’s go back.’
‘We’ve just got here.’
‘Well, I’m bored.’
That was the very last time they had been by the river.
Until now.
‘Here.’
She handed him the packet of condoms and he took them silently, then replaced the box in the pocket of his jacket, which he then dropped to the ground.
‘You know...’ She looked up at him as he rolled up the sleeves of his shirt and untucked it. ‘The nuns all think we used to come to the river and kiss and make out.’
‘So?’
‘They thought that was why we went to the cemetery too.’
‘I don’t care what they think,’ Dante said, and lay on his back, his hands behind his head.
‘Nor do I,’ she admitted. ‘But I care that you never once tried.’
‘I can’t win, can I?’ Dante said, squinting as he looked up at her.
‘Meaning?’
‘Alicia...’ He closed his eyes. ‘Just leave it.’
‘I don’t want to leave it. You slept with half the village and never even tried to kissme.’
‘I told you—you shouldn’t listen to gossip,’ Dante said.
‘It’s hard not to,’ she snarled, and then lay down beside him. ‘I am going to die in this heat...’
‘Then go home,’ he told her.
‘I don’t want to.’ She felt a tear squeeze out of her eye and fall into her hair.
He rolled onto his side. ‘Are you crying?’
‘No,’ she said, screwing her eyes closed. ‘It’s just the sand...’ But then she told him the truth. ‘I don’t want to leave you alone today.’
