“Oh, God," Lori said without looking at me, "what are they thinking, leaving the two of us alone out here on the dock together? We might TALK or something.""That would be awful," I said. "I might give you a hickey."She laughed, still watching for Cameron's start instead of looking at me. "Just by talking to me?""I can talk really dirty. You'd be surprised.”

“You see? I don’t know what ‘mature’ means, either, and you could talk all night and I still wouldn’t know. It’s all just words to me, Frank. I watch you talking and I think: Isn’t that amazing? He really does think that way; these words really do mean something to him. Sometimes it seems I’ve been watching people talk and thinking that all my life. And maybe it means there’s something awful the matter with me, but it’s true.”

“You've been avoiding me," he said, talking to the sandwich.I laughed. He looked over at me. "Sorry. I just realized that you talk to a lot of inanimate objects.”

“We need to talk.”“I’m just – Look,” I said, as he took a step toward me. “I’m just going to give Cee Cee a call and maybe we’ll go to the beach or something, because I really … I just need a day off.”Another step toward me. Now he was right in front of me.“Especially,” I said significantly, looking up at him, “from talking. That’s what I especially need a day off from. Talking.”“Fine,” he said. He reached up and cupped my face in both his hands. “We don’t have to talk.”And that’s when he kissed me. On the lips.”

“Here’s what you did wrong, Adam,” he barked. “I told your parents to make it clear to you that you were not to see Lori again. You did it anyway. at’s what you didwrong.”“But—,” I started.“Shhh,” Lori said beside me.“That’s—,” I started again.“Shut up,” Lori muttered.“—ridiculous,” I finished.“Adam, stop talking,” Lori said.“Adam, stop talking,” Frances repeated.”

“Are you all right to drive without me talking you home?” He laughed a little. “You know what? I can’t remember doing this before. Talking to a woman for over an hour on the phone.” “You can’t possibly expect me to believe that,” she said. “I know you’ve had a million women!” “Not like you, Jilly. I was always looking for women who would take me to bed. It never occurred to me to look for a woman who would take me to heart.”