"You'll never win my heart like that,"

She laughed at me, and

Leaned back

Clunking one combat boot over the other at the

Ankles

A silent invitation, but I

Was always too shy to do that in public.

She made sure her skirt was too short

"Shock value", she called it

Licking heR lips and smudging black

"God, how I love the female body!"

That shriek would justify the stares

But she'd just grab my hand; smirking

She loved to make mE uncomfortable like that.

Our nights were long, oh so long,

Nails finding heat and bliss and the

Winter suN

On poster board of crossed legs and slinking tongues

While a slip of silver peeked from underneath her

Unbuttoned jeans

"That's my baby." and she'd pat her hip, revealing half

of a tattoo:

My name."