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Violet nearly choked on her coffee "No," she gasped, trying to talk as she struggled around her coughing fit "You’re wrong He doesn’t really like me, either I think he just puts up with me, maybe because he savedMaybe he wants to make sure I pay hi to convince him

But he shook his head vehemently "Then you’re blind Or maybe it’s just ’cause you didn’t know him before you came on the teaentler Rafeeven though he’s still pretty foul most of the time

"But before you were here, no one could even talk to hilared all the time And God forbid soot the feeling Sa about himself now as she listened, dazed "He’d just bite their head off and storm away He didn’t want anyone to like him Sara was the only one he was actually nice to"

Violet’s s Krystal had told her, about no one liking Rafe, but it was hard to iine he’d ever been soso difficult That wasn’t the Rafe she knew Sure, he alled off And sarcastic, and even quick-tempered But he was also sensitive and considerate She knew because she’d seen that side of hi, but words failed her, and she closed it again She had no idea what she could possibly say to Sa She didn’t want to be the reason Rafe was different She didn’t want to be the cause of a kinder, gentler Rafe

Because that would s were more than just friendly

Fate

IT FELT GOOD TO GET OUT OF THERE, TO BE AWAY from her, even if the reprieve was only teain

He walked his usual route, leaving his house and tracing his way around the university He liked it there, all the old buildings swathed in vines and foliage All the history and the architecture All the places he could vanish, beco whoever he wanted to be

His frustration uncoiled a bit as he spied the fa of the café, even as he scolded hi hio inside He kneas a bad idea to come here, a place he’d been toothe rules

He’d already broken theotten hi to control hisHe needed to calm down She needed hiood if he went back ho there, counting his breaths and trying to soothe hi out onto the sidewalk She wasn’t his usual type; even from where he stood he could see that ht and silken Her eyes, even though he couldn’t see the exact shade, were most definitely not dark, not the color of spiced cocoa or burnt any They didn’t war about her So that made his head spin

He reached for his phone, tucked deep in his pocket He was careful with it, keeping his hand over the screen as he scrolled through the ies meant only for his eyes

He bit his lip when he found it, when he realized where he’d seen this girl before