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"You first," he said

She backed fro"

"Frohed She had to bend over and put her hands on her knees, and he took the ht of her in a T-shirt and spandex shorts, both revealing lots of s curves

Finally she straightened

"You going to tellthe only reason I’d be running is because sofroht maybe--"

"I needed rescuing?"

"Well … yeah," he said, and rubbed his jaatching her closely to see if she was going to fall apart

He should’ve known better

Her s" Then she gnawed on her lip "Okay, so not counting the snake and the tire, I don’t need rescuing"

"No," he agreed "You don’t You’re one of the strongest women I know You bury your shit deep I know a little about that, Lily, and it never works out well I can pro?" she asked

"Just about everything … including your feelings for h and deny it, or throw the words back in his face, but she did neither

"This is ht," she said "Alone"

This was an alien concept for Aidan, who never felt alone Hell, his siblings lived right on top of him "But you’re not alone"

"I need to be for this," she said stubbornly

Independent to the end And God forbid she accept help or support from anyone, especially hi time, but you don’t have to be--"

"The past is the past It plays no part in the here and now"

"If that was really true, you wouldn’t be harboring a mad at me," he said

She crossed her arms over her chest "I’m not mad at you"

"You sure about that?" he asked