Page 205 of Johnny

The mattress dips beside me when Johnny finally crawls into bed. He’s naked, and warm, and he

slips his arms underneath me and pulls my back into his chest.

“Sorry,” he whispers in my ear. “Things got very complicated.”

“Everything OK?” I mumble back. Which I know is a dumb question, but I’m still half asleep.

He sighs. Then he kisses my neck and his hand begins to wander down the curve of my hip. When

he reaches the peak he pauses. Then his fingers slip between my legs. “I think I love you,” he says.

I smile in the dark. Enjoying the slow way his fingers are exploring me. Enjoying the tingle rising

inside my belly and the wetness they make.

“I want you, Megan. I don’t think I’ve ever wanted a woman so much in my entire life. And maybe

that’s not love. Maybe it’s not possible to fall in love with someone over the course of a week, but I

can’t stand the thought of losing you.”

“I’m right here,” I murmur.

“I know, but listen. That little girl told me something and I think you need to know about it.”

I listen carefully as he starts explaining his encounter with the hazmat girl. And the whole thing

turns into a nightmare. One detail in particular makes me sicker than the others. The part about my

longevity treatment already being applied to babies. Kids. And he mentions Maisy specifically.

His niece.

I almost don’t hear the rest of it. The part about the infection and the vaccines. Because while all

that stuff is horrible, sick, and disgusting, none of that has any bearing on what I was planning to do

tomorrow.

But the babies. The kids.

They have everything to do with tomorrow.

My father knew what he was doing down in his lab. And he knew that bringing me in on it was

dangerous so he explained this to me very thoroughly when we first started. And then again, many

times, as I got older.

I knew that eventually, one day, we’d get caught. And one day, one of us would have to take the

fall.

And it was always going to be him.

I knew that. I agreed to that. It was always the plan.

I was OK with that. Not fine with it, but I had come to accept it. Once the Way knew about the