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I nod, trying--but failing--to pull the bucket with me when he lifts"Come on, Mia Leave it I’ll take care of it"

When he lays ht, the smell of him everywhere I’m too incoherent to be curious about his apartment but I make a mental note to look around and coer want to die I add this task to the to-do list where I also thank hiet on a plane and fly back to California in one and almost immediately I fall fast asleep and have intricate, fevered dreah dark, narrow tunnels

Besidesoroan, pullingdown on a table near the pillow "I’ve put some water here Approach it with caution" I can still hear the s

"I’ht here"

His hand smooths overyou’ve ever seen," I babble, rolling into the warm, clean Ansel smell of the pillowcase

"‘Least sexy’?" He repeats with a laugh "Don’t forget I biked across the United States with sweaty, dirty people"

"Yeah, but you never wanted to have sex with any of the hable, this assuain after the past fifteen hours "Sleep, Mia"

See? Proof He called ht, unknown hour Outside there are birds and voices and trucks I smell bread, coffee, andthat I’m not ready for food yet And as soon as I remember the day before, a hot wave covers my skin; whether it’s embarrassment or fever, I have no idea I kick off the covers and see that I’m dressed only in one of his T-shirts and my underwear

And then I hear Ansel in the other roo," he says "She’s been very sick, this past day"

I sit up in response to the words, but I’lass of water on the bedside table, I lift it to rateful ss

"Of course," he says, closer now He’s just outside the door "Just a moment"

His feet quietly pad into the rooh relief, then uncertainty, then regret "In fact, she’s already awake," he says into the phone "Here she is"