’ So the static played on and we grew hotter and we were kissing so much my tongue and lips felt like they were starting to swell. I thought about t...lling him that I didn’t think about my parents when I was with him, that besides for my grandma and little brother he was my family. Maybe that was fair to put on him, he owed me for all the kisses I’d given him, how I took care of him when his grandfather died, for all the womanly roles I’d taken on for him in the last few years. ‘When I’m with. “Call me in a couple days.” His lips stretched wickedly across his face. “Let me know what it’s like.”“Yeah, yeah, bye. Talk to you later.”He left Lola and me alone in my apartment with fading laughter. Prick. This was so like him. That’s why I hated confiding in him, but he had been my oldest friend and he was the only one I had who wasn’t completely in love with Tina. All of my other friends thought I was being a selfish asshole when I said things weren’t working out. Mark listened.I stared. "Carmine can enforce my guarantee for you."Impressed all over again, Richie could almost admire the blackattorney's macho, volunteering to face Carmine for any failure. Richieneeded to counter with his own claim to extreme masculinity. "What aboutmy needs, there still ain't no women in prison and I can't wait for noconjugal visits, once a month or whatever? I need a woman when I needher, sometimes two, three times. An hour," Gallo smiled, enjoying thebragging."A suitable substitute can be. I slid my hands up onto the little bit of exposed hip and tried to pull her onto my lap, but she resisted.As she finished her sip she said in a very innocent voice, “I don’t want to be a bad host, so how about I share part of my drink with you?” She poured half of her drink into my glass. And slid back out of my grasp to finish emptying the table. I watched as everything was removed from the table except our glasses as they were the last to be moved to the bar. Then she went to the fridge.