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Chapter Six

So if those one hundred and twenty ht hours of Ivie’s shift ot home, it felt like twelve years since she had left her apartment to wait for Silas in the vestibule, all full of exciteiddy anticipation

Man, she had crashed that happy little dinner into a brick wall, hadn’t she

As her father always said, if you were going to do so, do it well So clearly, on that front, she had been bound and deter but decent to her And it was especially hypocritical of her, considering she knew daled and suffered losses, too

Hello, her nursing career?

When her phone went off, she put her purse down, found the da, and answered her father’s call with a false everything-is-fine

"Hi, Dad! Yup, ho to watch so tomorrow I can’t wait--yes, I know they said no presents, and I listened this year I just don’t understand why they won’t--I understand pride, but come on Okay Yeah Love to Mo up, she stared at the cell’s little screen until it went dark In the back of herout texts to Silas, practicing co to find so so prejudicial and doing to him exactly what she had been worried that he would do to her--

As her phone rang in her hand, her heart jumped in her throat and she fumbled to answer it "Hello--hello, Silas? Hello?"

There was a beat of silence "Hey"

"Hey" She sagged "Listen, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean for it--"

"Can you let me come up for a sec?"

"What? You’re here? Oh, God, absolutely"

She all but raced for the buzzer, and she held the da, the eeeee­eeeee­eeeee­ehhhh sound ringing in her ears, not that she cared Opening the door, she stepped out and s their date were in her shoulder bag She hadn’t wanted to put the them to cleanse her life of the bad juju

Silas stepped out of the stairwell and he was slow co down to her "Hey"

"I’m sorry I really am"

As he stopped in front of her, she wanted to throw her arms around him, but she held back Lord knew she had already trampled all kinds of boundaries

"You knohat I would like even y?" he said

"Name it and it’s yours You want a kidney? Part of ht That will "

Ivie took a deep breath "Ah, do you want to come in? We can do this out in the hall, butaround her and entering her apartment While she shut theainst the door, she murmured, "You look tired"

Silas rubbed his head and then his face With a curse, he sank back into the cushions "Preparations"

"Are you packing up your whole house here? Iwith you?"

He closed his eyes "It’smuch with me"

The yawn he cranked out was so wide, his jaw cracked, and then his chest rose and fell again

"Too It’s up to you"

She tried to iine him in the noisy cacophony of her parents’ house with her fa to have a field day with all kinds of ro in her head

Crossing her arht ask you things you don’t want to answer"

He tilted his head toward her and opened his eyes "Like what my intentions are with you?"

"Maybe Yes"

"With you, I don’t have intentions"