Lantern
Three obsessions—first love’s sweetness, a new lover’s overwhelming intensity, and the dangerous thrill of surrender—teach one narrator that desire can burn, but it can also illuminate.
The first time Eli kissed me, it was so gentle I almost broke apart. A test, a taste, a retreat. Then the return — a second press, warm and careful, the kind that makes your whole body lean in. His hand found mine on the park bench and trembled, and that tremble undid me more than confidence ever could. Rain had polished the world; leaves shone like wet coins; we were ridiculous and soaked and I didn’t care. When he deepe...
