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“Then you’re probably being eaten alive,” she said “The ht”

I shrugged “I have all the lights off, so they haven’t bothered me much”

“How’s Luna?”

“She’s fine It was a very mild reaction—she just needed an antihistamine”

“Oh, good,” she said, sounding relieved “I orried when you didn’t come back”

“The antihista pizza and watching atheir teeth—don’t tell their mother—and I had to carry them both to bed”

Sheher lips

“But they were sad about ht after church tomorrow”

“Sounds like fun Would you like to sit over here?” she asked, gesturing toward the chairs on her patio

My first instinct was to say no—as much as I wanted to deny it, I was attracted to her, and spending tiether out here in the dark seemed like a bad idea

But then I reconsidered— to know her better, I could defuse the tension, stomp out the spark Every word out of her ht? For fuck’s sake, she was out here drinking a chocolate milkshake And I didn’t want her to think I was an asshole, especially after she’d heardat Naomi on the phone We’d have to live next door to each other for a while Better to be friendly

I glanced behind h the screen if they called out Their bedroorab another beer Can I bring you one?”

She hesitated, and for a second I panicked

“Wait—you’re old enough to drink, right?”

She laughed “Yes”

“I saw the milkshake and I wasn’t sure”

“Nope—that’s just s are my favorite, but this one is definitely past its prime I’ll take you up on the beer, thanks And no worries, I’m twenty-two”

Fuck Twenty-two