Collette doesn't mind if he's not much of a storyteller. Watching him move, hearing him speak, all of that is the welcome distraction.

She laughs, settling back against her pillows and resting her water glass in the apex of her thighs. "He sounds like a good guy," she says. "Tell me more about what makes him a good leader, please."

She wants to think about James, and Jake. Her own brother, and all those heroes in the extreme sports she so loved as a form of ultimate escapism. Do the most dangerous things. The worst it can do is kill you. The 'or leave you paralyzed' had never been able to phase her.