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"It’s oing to say theht Dinner and a couple roht plans"

The tension is gone as quickly as it came, and I feel my shoulders sluain--with myself more than him Yes, Ethan is pushy, but he wouldn’t be in the position he’s in if he wasn’t Head of one of the fastest-growing--and most lucrative--biomed companies in the country A forerunner in research that saves the lives of soldiers in combat theaters A self-made alo fro the orphaned kid of a US Special Forces soldier to a world-renowned CEO

No, it’s not his pushiness I’m upset with It’s the way I constantly want to yield to him The way I cave to his wishes even when I have no intention of doing so I haven’t been that girl in years, don’t want to be her ever again The fact that Ethan can so easily bend

"Let me walk you to your car, then" He takes s the strap over his shoulder Grabs his own Then, taking a firuides h the two reception areas to the bank of elevators

"Good night, Dot," he calls to the dragon lady, who is stillher post Except when she looks at hiuarding the entrance to a cave

"Good night, Ethan I’ll see you in the "

The elevator co else, so he simply shoots her a smile and a little wave We step on, runtled It see but wait for elevators all day, but the second Ethan presses the button, oneon the other end and wouldn’t dare let the CEO of Frost Industries wait for anything

As he walksWhat my favorite class was last semester If my roommate and I liked the strawberries he sent

The last question throws anized, predictable rhythift so doesn’t qualify as s that has happened today because of that daift

I start to tell him so, that I don’t appreciate the strawberries any ain, it’s like he has soic hold over me that makes me tell the truth, because what comes out is, "I would have returned them, too, but my roommate’s already eaten half of them It seemed churlish to return only the uneaten half Kind of like, ‘I’ive this back to you, but only after I take everything I want from it’ So not okay"

Much to hs atthe strawberries back--especially if it gives lance at hi yelled at, do you?"

"I don’t, actually At all You seeular exception to that rule"

I’m not sure how I feel about that--or how I’m supposed to respond Thank God I don’t have to We’vein front of the Mini Cooper I bought used when I got to UCSD three years ago I call her Phoebe, after Lisa Kudrow’s character in Friends, because she’s fun and cute and loaded with eccentricities Unlike the real Phoebe, however, not all ofLike her propensity to break down at the least convenientonly works in the winter I’ed to fix a bunch of her problems myself, but some of them refuse to be fixed She’s stubborn that way

Tori is afterI’ve owned that’s really ht with istration papers It was an important step for me, helped me create the distance frohteen And the fact that my father can’t just take her from me--when he needs the money, when he’s in a ined slight--means even more

Plus, she’s already paid for, which is very important toexpenses,it in the su internship, is even worse Like the free rent I’ at Tori’s, no car payment makes this current dream job ofthe trunk and loading my briefcase into it

Ethan doesn’t look ih, which is all that matters After the day I’ve had, I’ument And ould have one, because I always defend Phoebe from the naysayers Always

"Go out with me tomorrow," he says after I close the trunk and walk around to the driver’s-side door

Shit Why did I think he wasn’t going to push this? Just because he took tonight’s plans gracefully--once he realized I was planning on hanging with Tori--doesn’tto back off But that’s what I need him to do What I want him to do My stomach clenches sickly, and to be honest, I don’t knohether it’s because I think he’ll take my refusal well…or because I think he won’t Either way, I’ out with hi, uncomfortable silence--at least onhim in the eye when I speak to hiain and have

I pull opento let me off the hook that easily He takes my hand in his, bumps the car door shut with his hip--he’s way too tall to use his shoulder At six foot four, he looks like a giant standing next toif I said I didn’t find his size inti At least until I think of how perfectly he fit between s earlier Then it’s just plain hot

"More plans with the roommate?" he asks

"No" Why, oh why, can’t I lie to thisabout nearly everything important, yet nohen I need the ability most, it’s totally deserted me

"Plans with someone else?"

"No"

I can feel his eyes onive in I can’t Not if I have any hope ofmy distance, my sanity, and my ability to say no

I’h that I can usually outlast the best of theh school withwith a way to fill the sudden aardness between us, one that doesn’t involve looking at hiainst the door of my car

And waits

And waits