“They were on the floor, tangled in half-drunk laughter and cigarette smoke. One of them — the brunette with chipped black polish and silver rings that caught the light — slid her hand between the other girl’s legs like it was the most natural thing in the world. No ceremony, no music swelling in the background, just a quiet sigh and the creak of the floorboards. I sat in the corner with a beer going warm in my hand, pretending not to watch. But I watched. Christ, of course I did. Not for the sex — hell, I’d seen enough of that to last ten lifetimes — but for the way they looked at each other. Like maybe, just maybe, they weren’t as alone as the rest of us.