“Good,” she said.
“You’re glad I totally wimped out?”
“I’m glad you remained you.”
“Who’s lying now?”
“Not me.” She took his hand and kissed it. “Jacob, this, all this—the robberies, the house creeping, the heist—it is who Sam is. All she’ll ever be. You . . . This is, it’s just one stop, a blip on your trajectory. See, you are wonderful possibilities.”
“I was so afraid, I threw up.”
“I’m bored with people too cool to feel anything.”
“So you’re saying you don’t care that I’m a total wimp?”
“It’s sexy.”
“No, it’s not.”
“It is to me.” Leaning up, she tilted her head back and closed her eyes, her lips puckered ever so slightly.
Jacob leaned down. Moving too eagerly, he clinked teeth with Candy. Pulling back, he started to laugh. “This was supposed to be that magic moment.” He was smiling.
“Magic takes practice.”
Acknowledgments
A monster thank you to my editors, Elizabeth A. White, whose attention to story is matched by her fine eye for historical anachronisms, and Erika C., who took an axe to my words and never let me deliver less than my best. Together they waded deep into my dyslexic mud and came out bruised and bleeding but not dead.
Erin Mitchell, for midwifing the birth of this beast. The thorough Jaye Manus for the ebook and interior book design. The deeply talented Chungkong for creating the cover art.
My early readers: Tom Pluck, Holly West, and Neliza Drew. Charlie Huston, who reminds me why we do this. Sabrina Ogden and McDroll for being amazing. Book pushers Scott Montgomery and Jen Hitchcock for strong-arming readers into buying my books.
The band Idiot, the dancers of the My-O-My and all the glitter kids we ran with; you remain beautiful and sparkly forever in my memory.
And lastly my amazing wife and sons, they make coming home worth the journey.
About the Author
* * *
Josh Stallings grew up in the shadows of NorCali, down where the lamps have all been shot out with pellet guns and no one asks questions they don’t want to hear the answers to. He is the author of the multiple award winning Moses McGuire crime novels; Anthony Award nominated memoir, All The Wild Children; and Young Americans. His short fiction has appeared in Beat To A Pulp, Protectors Anthology 1 and 2, Blood and Tacos, Crime Factory, Shotgun Honey and more. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife Erika, two dogs and a cat named Riddle.
www.joshstallings.net
Young Americans Page 24