”“Why did you then?” he asks when she removes her finger.“May I sit with you?” she asks instead.“Oh, shit yeah,” Alan gasps, getting up ...rom his seat to pull hers out.“Thank you,” she says.“Drink?” he offers.“Scotch and water,” she answers.After ordering her a drink and himself something a little harder than the beer, he turns to look at her. “So?” he asks, raising an eyebrow up at her.She takes a hard gulp of the amber liquid. “First let me say that I think you’re an amazing man. That is. Jamie was doing a masterful job, the coals just right for her home-made pub-burgers. The smell of the onions and peppers baking inside the meat made me suddenly ravenous. Then I saw the ears of corn, slow-roasting on the edge of the grill.All four of us pigged out, a traditional backyard cook-out. The girls tried to coax me into a game with a glow-in-the-dark Frisbee, but I was too full. I sat in my favorite chair on the deck and watched kids at play. When it was completely dark, they even. I contemplated a t-shirt, and decided on my own that I wasn't going to do that. Instead, I had a long-sleeved tan turtleneck with North High on the back; I put that on.I arrived at Marcus' office well ahead of when I was supposed to be there. He was sitting at his desk, talking on the phone. He waved me to a seat, and I sat down.After a bit, he hung up. "A little early." I'm not supposed to be judgmental. Okay, I'll try to keep that in mind. I can't believe that's the only thing I need to. Living in a small town had always felt strange to me. Not because of anything specific, but because of the feeling that I was meant to have something bigger. There are lots of people in small towns who feel like they need to see the world, and are being suffocated. Others feel like they fit right in, as if they were made for this. Weirdly enough, my problem has always been how suffocating it was to fit in so perfectly. I always felt I didn't have the control that I wanted. That I needed. And.