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"Does she know?" Penna asked as alked toward the bikes

"Knohat?"

She rolled her eyes "You damn well knohat"

"No She doesn’t It would ruin everything" I popped the lid to one of our gear boxes and started packing stuff away

"So, what, you’re not going to tell her? That’s prettyup at her "She’ll leavetofor us"

She canted her head "Pax--"

"No I don’t want to hear it I’ot a couple weeks with her before the shit willthem up I don’t care if it et these weeks with her I can convince her not to kick my ass when it all comes out"

"Guiltabout that But yes, she’s going to kick your ass, and she should But she loves you, so you’ve got a fighting chance that you can pull through it"

"Then what the hell are you talking about?" I asked, running ot to second tri, theto tell her what?"

"That you’re in love with her, you stupid ass"

I blinked, then sed "I’m not…" Wait Wasn’t I? The incredibly sweet pressure in my chest, the way I couldn’t breathe fully unless I was touching her, the constant longing to ht up," Penna said

I glared at my oldest friend

"What? The rest of us knew pretty damn quickly Probably by Barcelona and definitely by Mykonos There’s a reason you suck at poker And it’s not our fault that you’re kinda slow on the emotional uptake" She stared me down

"What the hell aers behind h I’d never wanted to experience God, it felt great, which would only turn to horrible when I lost her

"Tell her Kiss her Pray to God you can h the storm you’re headed for, then marry her and make pretty little Wilder babies"

"Yeah, and I’ll turn a pue and shit while I’m at it" Fuck, why the hell had I fallen in love with Leah? Love was bullshit It warped the world, ize to everyone around you when forever turned into "well it was a great decade, right?" Love led to lawyers, separate houses, custody agreements, and screwed-up lives Love was a te consequences