Page 48 of In Sheets of Rain

He stiffened. “Is that what you want?”

I nodded. “This roller coaster is getting too hard. I need some balance. Not so many ups and downs.”

He didn’t say anything for a long moment, and then he nodded, patted me on the shoulder and pulled back.

“If that’s what you want, then OK. As I said, I’d be happy if it was just the two of us.”

“OK. We’ll take a break then.”

“Yeah,” he said, turning away.

I walked to the couch and switched on the PlayStation. Crash Bandicoot filled the dark pit inside with his cheerful theme tune.