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"Ouch"

"Yeah, well I deserved it I was a self-absorbed, selfish dick"

"You don’t seeive me some time"

She didn’t believe this Orwas, he said only what he meant, and she knew hethat he would disappoint her

She just didn’t want it to be true

"The truth is," he said, "I’ to be okay with that for the long ter to end up a lonely old man, just like Clarissa so aptly predicted"

"I don’t believe that," she said "I’ve seen you engrossed in work You’ve still always made time for your friends And ed her hair "Beautiful, funny, smartbut a definite distraction nevertheless"

She stared at hi to cry at the knowledge that this would never be anything , then, that I’m just a temporary one," she said with more cheer than she felt Because what she felt was a hollow pit in the depths of her gut that she didn’t want to name She pulled a quarter fro?" he asked

"Making a wish" She tossed the quarter into the water and closed her eyes

"For?" he asked, sounding worried

Silly h he should be worried "For true love For you" She opened her eyes and grinned at his horror "See, you do believe"

"You’re a scary wo on," she said as frohed

"You should probably ," he said "Here, let me" He took the phone and looked at the screen "Do you have a third brother named Jackson?"

"No" She took the phone back and stared at it before hitting ignore

"Proble with a shock that she’d so thoroughly distanced herself frootten about Jackson "He’s ent"

Spence looked surprised "You reat, Colbie"

His encourageuilty for not telling him about this part of her life You’ve only known him five days, she reminded herself And this escape was private And extremely important to both her mental health and her career And whether they knew it or not, it was also important to her family, staff, and editorial tea about it, she felt the fa pressure to sustain the franchise her life had become sink into her chest

She looked into his eyes and knew she couldn’t do it--she couldn’t, shouldn’t, keep secrets from him He was private, incredibly so, but honest She needed to be the same At least as much as she could be "You kno you’re bad at love?" she asked "Well, so am I I picked Jackson as my first love and it wasn’t reciprocated"

His eyes were sy A nice thing

"Since the past sucks," heher jaw, "maybe we should stick to the present"

Good idea Great idea But she wasn’t done co clean "Spence?"

"Yeah?" His mouth was on her throat now, so erotic and sensual that she felt her eyes roll back in her head