grazed her through her jeans. Clenching her thighs closed, she smacked his hand away. "Ugh, not now."
"Why? Need to brush your teeth?"
"As a matter of fact, yes."
"Don't worry about it," he said. "I just won't kiss you."
"Yeah, because that's romantic. Besides, I'm all dirty and sweaty and yucky."
"So?" He leaned over to kiss her neck. "I'm just gonna get you sticky, anyway."
Laughing, Genna pushed him away. "How can you even think about sex right now?"
"I'm a guy," he said, shrugging as he stood up. "It controls me more than I control it."
Matty dropped his towel, his naked body emphasizing his point. He was hard. Before Genna could say anything, her cheeks flushing at his obvious arousal, Matty snatched up his discarded filthy clothes and put them back on.
She watched him incredulously. "What are you doing?"
"Getting dressed."
"Those clothes are disgusting."
"Yeah, but they're all I have."
"So?"
"So I can't go out naked, Genna."
"What? Why?"
He laughed. "Pretty sure that would warrant an indecent exposure charge."
"No, I mean why are you going out?"
"Maslow's hierarchy of needs." He glanced at her as if that explanation should clear up her confusion. "We have to fulfill the bottom before we can work our way toward the top."
"Okay, Mr. Ivy League... drop the Confucius and put it in my terms."
Matty pressed his palms against the bed as he leaned over to kiss her, not at all bothered when she kept her lips clamped shut. She did need to brush her teeth, after all. "We need things from the store."
Ah. "Why didn't you just say that?"
"I did."
She stared him in the eyes, drinking in the devotion shining out at her. Past it, though, she sensed the sadness. He was putting on a brave front, but she knew him well enough to see he was torn up inside and barely holding it together. Something had clawed its way under his skin, piercing his strong armor.
Climbing to her feet, Genna sighed. "Let's go."
"Stay here." Matty held his hand out to stop her when she started toward the door. "It's hot, and you should just relax. I'll grab whatever you need."
"Really?"
"Yes."
"But I—"
"Just tell me what to get, Genna."
"Munchies," she said. "Cheetos, and cookies, and maybe some beef jerky."
"Okay."
"Oh! And some chocolate! A Kit-Kat! No, wait, a Snickers bar! Or better yet, one of those ice cream Snickers bars. Hell, two of them. One for now, one for later." She paused. "Oh, Now & Laters. You should grab some of those, too."
He chuckled. "Candy. Got it."
"And some Coke."
"The soda?"
"No, Matty, the fucking powder." She rolled her eyes. "Of course the soda."
"Should you have that? You know, since you're pregnant? It's got caffeine in it."
"Are you really going to deny me? Me, the mother of your child?"
She'd been teasing him, but her words sparked something in his expression—something she too felt churning in her gut. It was a twisting, a slap of sobering reality. She was the mother of his child.
Holy Hell.
"Of course not," he said. "What else?"
She rambled on and on, blurting out everything she thought of, from clothes to toiletries. He balked at a few of her requests, like razors and underwear, his slight discomfort amusing Genna.
"I'll probably need some other girly things," she said, quirking an eyebrow. "So maybe I should just, you know… go along."
Matty pulled the truck key from his pocket as he motioned toward the door. "Come on, let's go to the store."
Smiling as he conceded, Genna followed him, the heat blasting her as soon as she stepped outside, so intense that it stole her breath. Ugh, I wanted to go why? Matty started the truck, hesitation in his movements when he stuck the key in the ignition. The ancient vehicle rumbled, lurching as he put it in gear and pulled away from the motel. He drove onto the highway, finding a department store not too far away.
Once inside, Matty grabbed a cart, and Genna strolled beside him through the brightly lit store.
"We do have money, right?" she asked, grabbing a bag of chips and tossing it in the cart. "We're not shoplifting this shit, right?"
"Right." He eyed her peculiarly. "Why are you asking?"
"Well, for one, because it's way too hot outside to be running from theft prevention," she pointed out. "And because we haven't really talked about things like money. I know I don't have any. I don't have anything, except maybe my charm at this point, so I wasn't sure..."
He stopped the cart in the middle of an aisle. "I told you if you stayed with me