“Yeah, listen you should really stop now, because I’m betting on the smartest thing that ever could come out of your mouth is a penis.”

“[Vik] Okay, I’ll drop the subject. But if you ever do that to me again, I’ll stab you in the penis, which I’m sure will hurt.”[Syn] “Yeah, it would.”[Vik] “Good. Now I’m powering down for a bit to conserve my power.”

“Then I should be able to say anything I want, right? Even the word ‘penis’?”Laney sighed. “Do we have to do this right now?”You should try saying the word sometime.”I’ll pass, thank you.”Payton shrugged. “Your choice, but I think you’d find it liberating. Everybody could use a good ‘penis’ now and then.”Laney glanced nervously around the coffee shop. “People are listening.”Sorry—you’re right. Good rule of thumb: if you’re gonna throw out a ‘penis’ in a public place, it should be soft. Otherwise it attracts too much attention.”The woman at the next table gaped at them.”

“I love you, Freckles. The smartest thing I ever did was come to Tombstone to romance Willie Vaughn.”

“Listen with your eyes because here you cannot decipher what is said out of the effort of mouths.”

“I’ve learned to get really good at this—say one thing when I’m thinking about something else, act like I’m listening when I’m not, pretend to be calm and happy when really I’m freaking out. It’s one of the skillsyou perfect as you get older. You have to learn that people are always listening.”