" I said reassuringly. "I don't know how to say this but..... I like you." "I like you too." "No, I don't think you get it. I LIKE you." "You mean as ...n, like you-like you?" She nodded as she looked away from me. "But what about Daniel?" I asked, "what I saw yesterday doesn't sound like you like-like me." "I only do that because..."she paused,".... because I didn't think I could ever get you to like me since we've been like bestfriends for years. So I've just been flirting and making out with. Bryan took over at that point, Clipping the ends and the front, and then clipping the middle partitions.With a grunt he picked up one end of the cage. It was almost one hundred pounds and it flexed a bit, not really rigid enough to stand on its own. But he had a plan for that later.The men toiled for several hours, Alex and David expressing their boredom over the task every few minutes, but Jake grinning from ear to ear, soaking in every bit of information and technique that he could.At last. She could have been talking to the President of the United States and I wouldn't have cared. It was her touch I needed. Her voice, regardless of the topic, was always a fantastic addition to our play. She had a soft sultry tone and would have made a phenomenal phone sex operator.I knelt in front of her, hesitant to touch her, holding back from breaching the last few inches separating us. If I touched her, she might fill with the same fire I felt. Would she understand? Would she forgive me? I. " In due time, boy, in due time."We were moving through Barstow on Route 66. Not much to see in the darkness and we'd be well out of town after sunrise."Know anything about this town, Jay?" Not much, how 'bout you?" Some. It got its name to honor William Barstow Strong." Who was he, Jen." He was a former president of the Santa Fe Railroad." Figures." The area, including nearby settlements of Daggett and Calico, had already become a thriving mining center when silver was discovered in the Calico.