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"Da then up toher skirt in place--just where I like it I pull the collar of my sweater up into les, probably because she thinks I’h lih the threads of my shirt
I cliet to the park--I squeal the tires while backing out of the driveway
"Sorry," I say through gritted teeth I need to cal at me, at how nervous I ah caet to a small forest preserve area They rent boats here I should bring her back again during the day But tonight wasn’t really about boats The lot is empty--which is what I had hoped for--but suddenly, now that I’hts are all that’s illurass, the fact that we are co up That was the plan, though Stars, romance, privacy--I need to remember how to do this Did I ever really kno to do this?
When I unbuckle ers are obsessively rubbing the rough edges along her seatbelt, her teeth claazes out theShe’s nervous too
I get out of the car and walk around to her side, but I take the route around the back so I can jus, and stretch e
"What was that?" she asks
Shit I never thought she’d open her own da I’ht "That’s a really pretty dress" I decide to go with honesty, or at least the icing on my honest cake I couldn’t very well say I’ve spent fifteenyou flashed me back in the driveway
"Thank you, Houston," she sain I could spend the entire night coht, I need to find my inner Romeo
"So, where’s this slide?" she asks, her hand on her hip She thinks I made the slide up--which I totally would have, if I had to, just to get her to come But the truth is, this park happens to be Leah’s favorite, and the slide is actually pretty fantastic
"Right this way, Miss Owens," I say, giving herthe picnic supplies in the back seat and taking her jacket in my other hand, anxious to see this new spark in her eyes She looks down as she steps intoto the surface on her skin How is it possible that this girl is affected bythe winding path until we get to a large wood-chipped area filled with swings and jungle gy This e says, looking around at the variousof Leah right now
"It is," I say, watching her face as she takes it all in "She h, when she finds out you’ve taken over her slide," I say, tiltingher to turn around She looks up to the start of the winding slide, a series of red and blue tubes that link and wind together for five turns It’s al to scoot yourself through the last turn Leah’s secret is a running start--and she slides on her belly Soe’s style
"How do you even get up there?" she asks, a light in her eyes as she looks up I orried she would think this was silly, but she’s actually excited by the challenge That girl, the one she talks about, the one she’s been searching for--she is so close to the surface I can taste it
"You cli I don’t turn around to check, instead, setting her jacket on the ground by the entrance and grabbing a bar and starting my ascent up the three platforlimpse of her behind me somewhere in the middle of my cli my body over and under each obstacle
"Houston Orr you are not going down that slide first Not if you brought me here," she shouts It’s funny how competitive she is over this all of a sudden, and it’s adorable, too She said my entire name, and it was like she’s knownfrom her lips