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"That hat I assu"

"Alaric,atat myself "How upset was she?"

"I’ out details"

That was one I owed her Two, if you counted the ot back "I guess not Look, Alaric, I never et her into bed, and I sure as hell wasn’t trying to hurt her once she was there"

"I know" He sighed, deflating somehow as he looked down at the table "I know she likes you I’ve known for ages I just kept hoping she’d see that you weren’t interested That she had better options available But it was like she couldn’t see anything but the fact that you were playing hard to get"

"I wasn’t playing," I said softly This sort of thing was easier to handle when George was around She was always the one who noticed when girls started crushing on o away One way or another I’d never tried to deal with this sort of situation on hed It was a short, dry sound, utterly devoid of huedy of all this is that I know If you’d been playing, she ize"

"You’d better" He stood, taking his laptop with hiht now"

"No, we can’t," I said bleakly, and watched as he turned and walked out of the rooone I let ainst the wood "Fuck, George How do I getbefore you look, h was superficially sies, but there was aht before the execution That, and ed backward in the chair, closing my eyes "You scared the crap out of me"

You needed soood that didto be pissed, too, and Alaric thinks I’m an assle"

Well, you sort of are I told you to be careful with her

"Hoas I supposed to know she was going to jump me in the bathroom?"

I love you, but there are times when I really don’t understand the way your brain works She’s been getting ready to juns were there

"Why would I knohat the signs were, George? I never had to read theh You shouldn’t have called her by