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I shake e breath I feel as though so balloon inside me "Go to bed, Trip We’ll talk tooes into his rooan pulls me into him I let him hold me because I think he needs it even more than I do I step back and shake out my hand I really hit Trip pretty hard, and an bites out

I shakeuntil I tell him "He tried to kiss me That’s all" He lays his thumb on my lips

"He kissed you?" he asks, his voice soft and reverent His eyes searchall" I unclip the barrette froers as I kick offhere?" I finally ask

"I orried about you," he adood reason, apparently"

I wrap lad you’re here" He helps"Why are you so cold?" I ask

"I rode the bike over here," he adoes on to explain

"You have a motorcycle?" I had no idea he owned a motorcycle

"It’s Paul’s He let me borrow it" He tips my head to the side to look at my neck "What the fk is that?" he barks

I shake rowls, and I expect to see him pound on his chest like an ape any second That would be kind of hot, actually

I don’t want to talk about it anyet out of this dress?" I ask because I want to take his mind off my neck and the mark Trip left there

He points me toward my roolares at Trip’s door

"He’s out for the night He won’t bother us" I have seen Trip drunk enough tiht?"

He follows me into the bedroom and closes and locks the door behind us With a pensive look, he pulls my lower lip from between my teeth with the pad of his thu it

"You have no idea how much I wanted to kill him when I saw his hands on you," he says

"Not nearly as an, and he slides the zipper down slowly He pushes my hair over o all quivery on the inside "What s "I didn’t want to sleep without you" He tweaks s it over the back of a chair, shaking the wrinkles out of it The racks holding the clothes my mom sent over are still in the corner "You know," he says "I was talking with Henry downstairs Did you know his wife is so ill she’s in a nursing hoht?" I ask

"He goes there every night to sleep because he says he can’t sleep without her" He smiles and tips rins

"I think we already are them," I say It’s true We are I aan at this point

He undresses coet ready to pull a T-shirt over my head, my back to him when he coruff I shrug, turn the lights down but not off, and climb into bed with him And then he shows me all the reasons why I never want to sleep in a bed away froain And then he shows me even more reasons when he pulls an

I like having her legs spread around me I like it more than I should Her arainstaround the corner so I can drop her off at Julliard, so I’ht without one I pull up in front of the building where her first class is located and kill the engine

"Do you want ets off the bike and unclips the hel her head

"I can find it" She leans forward and presses her lips to ive her up yet She’s looking all fresh faced and excited with her hair up in a ponytail and her backpack slung over her shoulders She says soainst my lips, and I sit back so I can see her face

Thanks for the ride, she signs

You’re very welcorins and blushes Thanks for the one last night, too

I go hard immediately Be careful, I warn

Or what? she teases

I jerk her to hs I can feel the quake of her sto love you soher

She rolls her eyes, kisses et all ro and tap her on the ass I have so really iers barely n, and I know ht below it

I stop at hoe I want to look nice when I go to her father I need to explain to hi at her apartone Thatto brand her, even though she’s mine And I simply can’t tolerate that What would have happened if I hadn’t shown up when I did?

Paul is just getting up when I come out of the bathroo at me over a cup of coffee

I tell Paul about what happened at the party with the model, about Eot to Eht

He shakes his head "That’s fked up," he says "What are you going to do?"

I heave a sigh "I think I have to go and talk to her father Today"

He nods It’s slow but still a nod He’s hesitant, and I don’t understand why

"What?" I ask

"He’s not going to approve no matter what you do He wants a certain life for her"

"Emily can’t read," I blurt out

Paul spits into his coffee "What?" he sputters

"She can read," I correct "She knohat letters are and how to spell words, but she has dyslexia Reading is really, really hard for her That’s why her father wants her to marry That’s why he doesn’t want her to have an education and thinks she should justHe doesn’t think she’s worth any more than that"

"Ouch," he says That’s what Paul says when he wants to mull over a tender topic

"You won’t tell her I told you about not being able to read, will you? She hides it really well"

He inhales deeply "I already knew I’ve seen her read to Hayley" He looks into ht years without saying a word And she ain