“He wanted to know why, so I told him.”
“Including the part about not being adroit?”
“Yes.”
“Ouch,” Jesse said.
“He asked,” Jenn said.
“And you were sick of him.”
“Yes,” Jenn said. “He said he wasn’t going to take that answer. He said it was my fault because I never told him. He 2 2 2
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said he wanted to have sex again and I should show him what I wanted.”
Jesse felt the muscles tighten in his back and shoulders. Jenn felt them, too.
“Are you all right?” she said.
“There’s nothing I can’t hear, Jenn. It needs to be said.”
“I told him no. I told him we were talking about impulse and emotion, not, for God’s sake, training.”
“If he had to ask . . .” Jesse said.
“Exactly,” Jenn said. “He was furious. I could tell he wanted to force me. But he was too spent. He wouldn’t be able to erect, and we both knew it. Tim never had a fast recovery.”
“So he left?”
“Yes, but he said he wasn’t accepting what I said, and that I’d be seeing him again.”
“So there was the threat of rape.”
“That’s what I heard,” Jenn said.
“And then he began to stalk you.”
“Yes.”
“And you were scared and came to me claiming you had been raped.”
“Yes.”
“Did you think I’d kill him?”
“No, oh God no, Jesse. I was just scared, and when I’m scared I run to you.”
“And you didn’t identify him as the stalker because you didn’t want to get caught in the lie.”
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She nodded her head against his chest.
“That was one reason.”
“And you didn’t want people to know the nature of your relationship,” Jesse said.
Jenn nodded again.
