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"Life is all about rules Even gaame--far from it I opened o hoht I wanted hi besidein sleep It had been too long Way too long

But I was too afraid he’d say no, so I silently hoped he’d offer it to me instead

"Sleep well," he said in a soft voice

I closed s were not the sa tiuarded in his voice and the way he looked at me And in that instant I knew exactly what it was--trust

He no longer trusted me And no, I didn’t fully trust him either

"You, too," I said

He walked me to Heath’s Jeep and opened the door forthe one to drivethat way anyway But not tonight

Chapter Four

Adaht, I found e I could probably make the trip with my eyes closed by now I’d hardly ever driven this route before I started seeing E on New Year’s Eve and the traffic was lighter than normal People probably only had half days at work--like those still working at Draco--and were planning to cap their holiday celebrations with bright and hopeful expectations of the New Year

I wondered what that must feel like Because anyway I looked at it, this New Year ahead of us did not look very cheerful Eain, at least But our shaky relationship was about to get hit--very, very hard--by soht, there wasn’t much to celebrate

I stopped by a nearby specialty bakery to pick up a few things for breakfast and then went to get her at Heath’s

She opened the door Her strange rainbow-colored hair was pulled back into a ponytail and through the back of a dark blue baseball cap with the Draco coy jeans and a denim jacket Her pale face split into a wan smile when she opened the door

"Hey," she said