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"Oh?" I say, still stunned Graha room

"I fell asleep next to her That’s all I don’t knohy she took that picture I don’t knohy she sent it to hi And I will not lose you over it"

I take a huge, shuddering breath, as though I haven’t been able to breathe fully in two days Maybe I haven’t He’s getting blurry from my tears I blink the to the small of my back while the other htly "I’er I lean into him, on my toes as he pulls me closer "I’ behind his neck, pulling hih my mouth as I hum my surrender

"Oh!" my stepmother exclai

"So sorry! Um Coffee in the kitchen If you want it" She scurries away I’ the sound by leaning into Graha quietly, too

"That ood kiss," he says I look up into his dark eyes One eyebrow angled up, he’s every inch a very self-satisfied boy

"You don’t know if it was?"

He leans closer, his breath in ht Let me prove it to you"

"Huh," I say

He chuckles, the tip of his tongue touching the skin behind my ear When I shiver and ht before he claie in plans…graha to hi

Eet off

With a sigh, I cram the phone into my front pocket and reach for Graham’s hand as we stroll the last half-block to the park

"She’s not happy, huh? If you want to go withoutwithout you" I stop walking and pullat him

He turns back, his eyes that rich caraht God, he’s beautiful But I wish he’d stop being so… corins towards his feet and releases a pent-up breath His expression is hypnotic when he raises his eyes to ers from my shoulders to my elbows "Are you upset that I’m not more… possessive?"

"What? No--that’s the last thing I’d want" My arms loosen The memory of Meredith and Robby last fall o, things weren’t going well The enraged phone calls and accusations had started up again, and her ery verbal outbursts never become physical

"Really?"

I roll my eyes a little--Grahalare and terse answers "Well Maybe not the last thing…"

He laughs "Oh yeah? What would be last?"

I chewhis eyes, until he tips rin that I’ "Those would be last"

Instead of a s look, he shakes his head and slides his arainst mine My hands come to rest on his chest "Never, Emma"

GRAHAM

"I forgot to ask--when did you get here, and how long can you stay, and are you staying withher cheeks a little pink

We’ve been sitting on a park bench, people-watching Ehborhood park boasts a man-made pond with a fountain in the center It’s about half the size of Turtle Pond in Central Park, and it contains a collection of fat, lazy ducks When small children toss bits of bread on the water, the ducks only gobble it up if it’s within a close enough range Anything thrown outside of a four-foot sphere surrounding any duck just gets soggy and sinks

"I landed in Sacraetsin a hotel don"

Her eyes follow an elderly couple who a hands "Why didn’t you call when you got in town last night?" I give her a hooded look and wait for her to reht But you can’t stay later to at a s the ducks in the head with hunks of bagel, I allow myself a private smile at the barely-discernible sulk in her tone

"Cassie has to take Caleb for a checkup, and everyone else is working Monday, so I’ll have Cara And I pro so much lately"

"Oh, of course" I watch her face as she pretends to watch the ducks and roller-bladers while she contehter I sense, too, the other question she isn’t asking

"I’d love for you to stay with ht," I say, and her eyes shift up to mine "But I’d rather have your dad like me"

"He does"