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I gaze out at the green hills along highway 74, afraid that if I look at Ada ends, I feel like I’m expected to co I shared with Chris It was such a huge part of our relationship that I had to delete halfrabs ot a lot on your ht now probably isn’t at the top of your bucket list, but I want you to know that you can talk to me about it--any of it Even if you think that what you have to say will ive his hand a reassuring squeeze then go back to gazing out theThere are sos that can’t be discussed with a new boyfriend, like the songs that res that can’t be discussed with anyone

Three hours later, we arrive at Adam’s Uncle Harvey’s 91-acre ranch near the outskirts of Charlotte I count eleven cars and trucks parked in a dirt lot outside a pale-yelloo-story house with a gorgeous wrap-around porch As soon as Adairl, who look about eight or nine years old coirl throws her arhs as he spins her around It’s a picture-perfect Hall, so I stay on the passenger side of the truck and wait for thes Adam around the waist and I can see the adoration in his face as he closes his eyes and buries his cheek in Adam’s stomach

"Hey, I have so over his shoulder and beckoning me to his side "Claire, this is Beatrice and Nick They’re my favorite cousins because they always let me win at Monopoly"

"We don’t let you win You cheat!" Beatrice squeals as she punches hiiven "Hey, don’t be rude Say hi to Claire"

"Is she your girlfriend?" Nick asks

"She’s all et any ideas"

A man in a T-shirt, jeans, and cowboy hat comes down the front steps and I know this is Adam’s father He’s very handsome for an older ives hi at me

"Hello there, Claire I’m Jim Parker," he says as he approachesHe holds on a bit longer than I expect When he finally lets go, he looks me up and down "No inforirl he’s willing to subject to this crowd is as good as family, as far as I’m concerned"

"Hello, Mr Parker It’s a pleasure toto think this weekend isn’t going to be so bad, until I see the look on Adam’s face His father throws him a curt nod then makes his way back to the house

"What was that?" I whisper as Adas from the cab of the truck

He shakes his head as he slams the truck door, visibly irritated "Trust me, you don’t want to knohat that was"

I follow his from at least thirty of his family members, but none of them are his mother

"My mom’s the CFO of Parker Construction She’s even more of a workaholic than my dad," Adam whispers in my ear when I ask where she is "He’s only here early because he got in yesterday to discuss a new project with Uncle Harvey You’ll "

Finally, after two hours of hearing stories about Ada achievements, which seeh the co in As soon as he flips the light switch in the rooirl Pictures of her and her friends are plastered all over the ht-pink and black color of the striped wallpaper is echoed in the bedding I breathe a sigh of relief that we’ll at least have a full-sized bed to share

"Whose room is this?" I ask as I reach for the zipper on the suitcase on the bed

"My cousin Jamie She’s a freshman at UNC She won’t be here until tomorrow" He pullshim "Listen There’s a lot of bad shit between my dad and me, but that’s between us I can tell he likes you so don’t letup h, but I care about you And whatever issues you have with your dad may be your business, but I want you to know that I’ll always be on your side So if you want me to be friendly with your dad, I will But if you want me to tell him to stick his cowboy hat up his ass, I’ll do that too"

"God, I fucking love you" He gives rabs my hand "Come on You can unpack later You wore your bikini under your clothes like I asked, didn’t you?"

"Yeah, why?"

"We’re going for a night swim in the creek"

Ada the west end of the property Beatrice and Nick stay behind because they’re too young, but we’re joined by three of Adam’s older cousins Julia and Locke are twenty-three and fraternal tho look nothing alike Julia is the only one in the family with red hair and fair skin Everyone else has the same sandy-brown hair and skin that looks like it’s been crisped by long hours spent working on the ranch or surfing in the Carolina sunshine

Julia and Locke are extremely friendly, but River is my favorite of the three River is twenty-two, just a few months older than Adam, and he’s the shyest of the bunch Soregarious confidence as Ada to know that not everyone in the Parker family is inhumanly beautiful and charismatic

We spend almost an hour in what appears to be a muddy creek ater that reaches just to the bottoht that makes it lookbrushes up against , I scream and threaten to leave

"Come on, Claire, the critters are half the fun!" Locke shouts as he hangs fro as they don’t slither into your swi away "You can’t leave yet" He yanks me back and wraps his arainst his chest "We haven’t even played Marco Polo yet"

His hand slides over my belly and I turn around to face his around his waist, confident that no one can see our bodies through the black, mucky water The startled smile on his face makes my stomach flutter I’m pleased to see I’ve surprised him

"If you take me inside," I whisper in his ear, "I’ll play Marco Polo with you upstairs"

His hands slide under the waistband of roan He kisses my neck before he pulls his head back and looks me in the eye

"Not here I want our first tiht time Not that I don’t want to take you upstairs and destroy you Just not tonight"

"I can see your boner from here!" Julia shouts at Adam