There was the spot at the back of her yard, under a shady oak tree, earmarked as her dog’s final resting place. She watched as Bluto worked silently with the shovel, making a hole in the ground and excavating old hamster bones. His big arms glistened with perspiration. Then, just as wordlessly, he set the shovel down and lifted the dead German shepherd up from the turf. Without waiting for a final word from her, he dropped the lifeless body into the void and began methodically covering it with dirt. Kate’s heart thought it heard the dog whimper, but her head knew it to be untrue. When the ground became level again, she got choked up.

“Thanks.” She handed him a towel. “Thanks for coming here and doing this.”

She showed him to the shower. He shrugged off his clothes and didn’t shut the door. She watched, noting how the rest of his body looked compared to his arms. He also had an outsize, TV anchor’s head, matched by an outsize dormant penis. When he finished showering, she toweled him dry and found him ready for sex. He found her, with a quick thrust of his fingers, to be the same.

“You have to use a condom. I don’t want that girl’s cooties.”

Surprisingly, he came prepared.

Kate plucked off her clothes while they kissed. Before she could replace her oily smelling pillowcases, he’d grabbed her from behind and plunged himself into her, stopping her in her tracks. Carefully, they moved themselves down to the mattress as one. He opened her up with each stroke. Then he placed her on her back and fucked her steadily, grabbing her breasts and staring into her eyes. She tried to give herself over to the moment but her mind kept racing: Was this what he did with Brittany? The same moves? Would he go back and report it so they could desecrate this moment by reenacting it?

“Where are you?” Bluto sounded impatient. He jerked her down to the carpet with him and pinned her under his thighs until she surrendered with moans. Then very roughly and very suddenly, he rolled her onto her front and took her, his chin digging hard into the back of her shoulder. She screamed. His intensity threw everything into focus: she’d waited half her life for this. They were together at last, whole at last—at least until he pulled out, ripped off the condom, and came.

They showered together afterwards, sneaking in another round while soaping each other. He rubbed her clit while biting her neck, and she stunned herself with her continued ability to climax—intensely—while standing. She reciprocated, pleasuring him orally as his fingers found traction on the tiles.