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He was trying to take care of her and had just adain Both were steps in the right direction He had feelings for her--he ht, which sliced into her happiness She couldn’t settle for so little when she knew an entire future with hi today--that temper of his wasn’t just tethered to the past He would have fought a stranger for no real reason It concerned her, especially considering what had happened in his backyard the day he’d cut his hand But he’d calmed himself down, so it wasn’t as if he couldn’t control it And it wasn’t as if she didn’t have a temper of her own

"I want you, Jase, I do, but I have to decline your offer I’ body shrieked in protest, the hussy Have some self-control! "I’d like a commit his emotions "I see"

No, no, he didn’t But he would--she wouldful, we’ll talk Until then, I consider you a dear friend"

"A friend," he repeated

"Yes" She sipped her water, watching hih the shield of her lashes--want ue over his teeth, peering at her as he gripped the edge of the table, his knuckles leaching of color

She let herself i Don’t reach out Don’t grab her and carry her away to do naughty things to her Do soe her mind

A girl could dreaht for us

He released the table and settled back in his chair "How are plans coain it was business as usual, his emotions well hidden

Disappointment proved as swift and brutal as a tidal wave--ot shot down--but soe ahead as if she hadn’t a care "As well as can be expected, all things considered But I’ve been wondering If Tessa is gone, why are you guys throwing a party for her?"

He pushed his chair to the other side of the table, creating physical distance between theain A metaphor for the eive her the celebration West proly sweet and yet utterly heartbreaking

Brook Lynn toyed with the edge of the dessert box "How did you, West and Beck meet her?" The few tiiven her the bare minimum or shut her down completely But they were closer now Had she breached at least one of his , "We were in foster care Me, West and Beck We ended up in the sa were you in foster care?" Brook Lynn had known about his tiht of hi he’d ed to build: friendships, family, even clothes and toys

Tone deadened, he said, "Froe of six to the day of my sixteenth birthday, when I returned to the house I’d been staying at and foundon the porch I was supposed to go to a new hoot myself emancipated and found a place with West and Beck"