Before long, we were out of our clothes and our bodies were pressed up against each other. He was warm everywhere despite the chill in the air of the apartment. I touched his chest, his ass, his cock. I wanted to touch every part of his body. When my pants were off, he touched me, and for a minute I felt the pain still there from a few days before in the boat. My entire body tensed up.

“Makayla?” he asked. “Are you okay? Are you sure this is something you want?”

I took a deep breath. These were Jaden’s hands touching me softly and tenderly, not some attacker’s.

“Yes,” I said, unclenching my muscles. “Yes, I’m sure.”

I wondered for a moment why I had never done this with him before, why I had waited so long. But all the other times had not been right. This moment, safe and secure, warm and happy, was the right one.

3 For days, I woke up next to Jaden, stretched, kissed him, went into the kitchen and ate, and came back and went to bed. It seemed like it would never get old. I filled my belly, then snuggled up in his arms and breathed in deep the smell of his skin and his hair. Sometimes, I ran into someone else in the kitchen—my grandmother, Ale—they seemed to be doing the same thing I was: sleeping, eating, and sleeping some more. I was so happy to have the simple comforts of a safe place to lie down and food to eat, that it was all I wanted to do.

After I don’t know how many days, I woke up feeling like I needed to do more. I sat up in bed and shook Jaden awake.

“Hey, Jaden,” I said, shaking his shoulder. “Jaden.”

“What?” he said, rubbing his eyes.

“We’re going to stay here a long time, right?” I asked.

“Yeah, Makayla, we’re gonna stay here until they drag us out.”

“What about water damage and things?” I asked. “Won’t mold grow on the carpets and drywall downstairs? We’ll get sick.”

He sat up in bed. He still looked sleepy, but his eyes were open now.

“I didn’t even think of that. But you’re right. We should get that stuff out on the ground level as soon as we can.”

“This place is huge, though, and that ground floor’s all carpet,” I said. “You and me can slag, but Ale’s too young and my grandmother has arthritis in her hands and knees. Are we going to do it all ourselves?”