“Fuck Lara, fuck Jake because I do, Alaska Young, I do love you and what else matters but that.”

“I thought it might be a fine time to say the Three Little Words. And I steeled myself to say them as I stared up at that starriest night, convinced myself that she felt it, too, that her hand so alive and vivid against my leg was more than playful, and fuck Lara and fuck Jake because I do, Alaska Young, I do love you and what else matters but that and my lips parted to speak and before I could even begin to breathe out the words, she said, “It’s not life or death, the labyrinth.”

“Do what you love. Fuck everything else.”

“I know you didn’t. And I know it doesn’t matter what I say now, because I fucked things up…just like I always do.”

“I do love you and what else matters but that”

“And what the fuck were you doing parading around in those jeans and that shirt last—”“Parading?”“You are not allowed to put on your fuck-me clothes if I ain’t there to do the fucking!”