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He shakes ht, but this time I don’t complain about personal space This time I kind of like it
He pulls out of the apartment complex onto Lumina and heads in the direction of Johnnie Mercer’s Pier My body is suddenly zinging with nerves This feels like a date, but he said he wants to beupfront and honest about everything--except irl is allowed to keep one big secret
Cora toldwhy I had h I told her, jokingly, I’d moved here to see if the ocean could cleanse my sin That’s when she toldsecret For so inside htsville Beach to disappear, possibly forever After that conversation with Cora, I looked up yoga and meditation studios Then a customer at the café recommended the feht me a few basic meditation techniques and that was it I was hooked
When I meditate, I become someone better I’m not this person who’s made a million mistakes; the kind of mistakes that will haunt me for a lifetime I’m not the person who should be lashed for all the awful, selfish decisions I’ve made over the last year since he left When I meditate, I’m the new Claire And today that’s who I’ll be with Adam
"You’re quiet," he says as he pulls the truck into the pier parking lot
"Are you taking ic to shellfish I can’t even go in there without "
"Oh, shit Sorry I didn’t know that" He looks over his shoulder to see if it’s safe to flip a U-turn out of the parking lot "Where do you want to go?"
"I’o Can we go somewhere else?"
He pulls back out onto Luas he turns the truck around and heads back toward our apartot one for you Why are ET’s eyes so big?"
"Duh Because he saw the phone bill Please, I’ve heard that one a billion times"
"Okay, what did the pony say when he had a sore throat?" He pauses for a ize I’hs and I can’t help but sot some better jokes, but I like to start with the clean ones"
"Thanks I appreciate that"
I want to ask hi, but I’m afraid that will lead into what he went to school for Then that will lead back to why I dropped out I try to think of a nonstandard date question, butnear hi
He pulls into our apartment complex a few minutes later and parks his car "You’ve probably been to all the restaurants around here ato make you some lunch"
"Wow You don’t waste any tilances over his shoulder at me "I said I wanted to be your friend, Claire I have no intention of trying to sleep with you"
I’ with it I’, can I invite Cora?" I ask as we cross the driveway
"You’re going to ht"
Well, there goes htens in to shiver the moment I see the stairs He climbs a few steps and turns around when he doesn’t hear ood" He winks as he says this and I can’t believe the nerve of this guy
What’s worse is that I feel drawn to hioing to poisonto poison you withCome on"
I take the first step and Chris’s voice echoes inside uess I’ll let you sleep and maybe when you wake up you’ll chill the fuck out and realize that just because someone’s nice to you it doesn’t mean they want to fuck you Or you can co"
I should have gone to sleep that day and I’ to think I should have stayed asleep today
Chapter Five
Relentless Questions
MY JAW DROPS THE MOMENT we step inside his apartazine One day afterin its place, save for a few empty broken down cardboard boxes in the corner next to a sleek drafting table His apartned by six-year-olds
"Holy shit," I whisper as he "
He slances over his shoulder and the di here a while"
I follow him into the kitchen and I’m surprised at what he’s been able to do with the lierator and his countertops are completely free of clutter The only items on his counter are a coffeeout of a cupboard over the sink and I laugh when I see the box of macaroni and cheese in his hand
"Is that what you’re planning to make?"
"Hey, I never said I could cook I just said I’dor this will never work"
I take a seat on a barstool at the breakfast bar as he begins to prepare our gourood at?"
This is probably a bad question to ask while trapped inside his apart
"Oh, I’h"
"You know, you don’t have to answer every question with a sexual innuendo I get it"
He fills a pot with some water and places it on the stove "Let’s see… So the burner under the pot