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He narrows his eyes atyou look suspicious as hell”

I shrughi

“So how did my deaf brother, who can’t hear music, hook up with a musician?” He rocks back on his heels and smiles down at me

“He gave me a tattoo”

“And…” He pauses and draws it out like the ill go on forever

“And I stole his baseball cap I’ain”

He sain?”

Heat creeps up my cheeks “We’ll see”

Ryan turns and motions me forward As alk around the corner, his hand slides into uilty little smile, and my heart starts to trip

Mick looks at our clasped hands and looks away quickly, but I’rin

We walk into a large roo on the floor They’re all facing a wo on a stool beside a stack of books Expectation hangs heavy in the air, like a kid waiting to lick the beaters when Mo a cake The woman at the front of the room waves as alk in

Mick takes the stool when she gives it up, and

he picks up the first book Ryan leads me to a spot at the back of the room and points to a chair, but I sink down onto the floor instead, directly behind the children, and cross es of the room

The kids are excitedly waiting for whatever is about to happen Mick motions to the stack of books “Which book do ant to read first?”

“The Very Hungry Caterpillar!” the kids yell at once