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I nod

"Which question are you answering? The shirt? Or the washer?"

"Both," I say She s if it er and toss it to her She catches it and pulls it over her head After she tugs it doard her knees, she tugs the towel and jerks it from beneath the shirt She sits down on the side of

"Can you turn around?" she asks

I do, and the fact that I did rin like a kid in a candy store I hope she can’t see me

I feel her hand ons down around her knees Da machine?" she asks

"I can do it for you," I offer

She shakes her head "You are not fondlingI know, you’ll be sniffing thehs I wish I could hear it, because it’s probably the most beautiful sound in the world It’s not often I wish I could hear, because I can do alht noish I could hear the sound of her laughter

I motion to her and she walks out with me to the hallhere I open the door to the laundry closet I take what’s in the dryer out, and put it on top Look like Sam and Pete’s stuff and they can handle their own clothes I flip what’s in the washer to the dryer, and ask her for her things by holding out my hands She shakes her head I step to the side and she starts to take a few things fro She doesn’t have much – just a few shirts, so today And the throws in a few pairs of panties There’s rin at her and shake my head

I dump in some laundry soap and she starts it, and then she walks back toward my bedroom "Do you have a blanket I can put on the floor?" she asks

What the hell? "Why?" I ask

She looks at roo heads "To sleep on?"

"You are not sleeping on the floor," I tell her "You take the bed I’ll sleep on the couch"

"The couch is about five feet long You’re too tall I can sleep on the couch" She nods like she’s oes to walk by me "No," I say "You take the bed"

The bed is full size, so it’s not the biggest bed in the world She draws her lower lip between her teeth and nibbles it That has to be one of the s I’ve ever seen I reach out and touch her lower lip withit from between her teeth She licks her lips and looks everywhere but at ht with you?" she asks

I lean close to her and pull her into my chest I don’t knohy I feel the need to do that, but I do She hesitates briefly and then wraps her arently on the forehead She looks up at h in her cheeks and she steps back "Thank you," she says She stands up on tiptoe and kisses ht

That kiss touches ue kiss never has It’s like my breath is trapped in ht?" she asks

"Fine," I say But I’ but fine She raises her arms to lift her wet hair from her neck and her boobs shift beneath her shirt I’?" I say But I’ toward the door as fast as I can, before she notices that I’ about the fact that she doesn’t have a bra on

She touches an, please don’t tell anyone that I can’t read, ok?" She looks worried and I hate it for her I hate that she even has to worry about things like this

"That was between me and you," I tell her I like that it’s our secret Kind of likeis

She closes the door behind me and I hear the thumb lock on the door click She just locked me out of e place And she’s surrounded by strange lad she locked the door

I walk back to the living roo a blanket with oing to sleep on the couch," Paul says

I can’t believe it either But I aan’s bed for what feels like hours, but I can’t sleep I heard Pete when he cao to bed Then the apartot quiet No one has made a sound for hours, until now I think it’s Matthew, because it sounds like quick,noise

I open the door and look out, the bathroom door is open about an inch, and I’ sick He’s miserable, and I want to help him, but I also don’t want to intrude I tiptoe into the kitchen because I’an is sleeping His feet are hanging off the edge by about a foot, and he’s flat on his back, his head bolstered by the arm of the couch He doesn’t even have a pillow

I open the fridge and bend over see what they have to drink, and when I stand up, Matthew is looking at ?" he asks His eyes are ri so?"

He shakes his head His gaze darts down to an shirt "Nice shirt," he says He jerks a thuht?"