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I’ off et in the apartuess He probably bribed the h to have been ae into one of the ned earlier--friends don’t let friends derive drunk--and a pair of jeans It’s the first time I’ve worn jeans since Blaine started the portrait, actually, and I hesitate before zipping the a rule

I’ame’s over If I want to wear jeans, I can

And if I want to go pantyless under a skirt? Well, I can do that, too

I’et back to the living rooiant bed that overwhelms the space I’d been so happy when I walked in and saw it there, as if I were being bathed in a flood of special e of soh I’ ainst the smooth round ball of the footboard I’m thrilled that the bed wasn’t shipped off to a warehouse somewhere or sold to an antiques store, but at the same time, I’m undeniably melancholy

"It doesn’t belong here," I say, when Ja

"The bed?"

"It’s supposed to be at the Malibu house Not here," I repeat "It feels like an ending somehow"

I remember the story Damien told me About how he sacrificed a deal he was passionate about in order to save the tiny gourmet food producer I didn’t like the story then, and I like it even less now

Jamie is silent for a moment as she stares intently at me "Oh, shit, Nik," she finally says "Don’t even"

"What?"

"Don’t go all Psych 101 on s that aren’t there You do this all the time"

"I do not"

"Well, maybe not all the time, but you did it with Milo"

"That was freshh school"

"So eration," she concedes "My point is that you had a crush on him and he was a senior, remember?" I nod, because I remember it well "And it was cold one day, and he lent you his letter jacket"

"And we spent a week trying to analyze what his underlying motivation was" Oh, yes I remember

"Turns out he was motivated by the fact that you were cold and he was nice"

"And your point?"

"Do you like the bed?" she asks

"I love it," I admit