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Sarah blinks and wills herself to slooht?”

“Right You’re a strong young woman, Sarah”

Her eyes brighten at my words, even if only for a moment “My dad told me not to pay attention to what people think of me, but it’s always nice to hear a compliment My dad said he only ht thing to do and he was a deadbeat asshole if he didn’t do it He said it was aHe should’ve listened to himself”

“That sounds like so Peter would say, too”

I’m not surprised Peter resembled his dad a lot They also used to spend a ton of tiether at the clinic

“Oh, by the way, the reason my mom ‘disowned’ me? It was because she found out about us—as in, you and nant and ruin my life I was so mad at you”

“Atthe piece of microwaved frozen steak I just cut off in the air What do I have to do with that mess?

“Yeah You must’ve told someone who blabbed all over town Now, I know you didn’t understand how fragile 18-year-old girls’ reputations were, but—”

“Hang on I didn’t tell anyone Why would I?”

“I don’t know” Sarah shrugs “I didn’t tell anyone”

Realization hits me

“I knoho it was,” I say “It hbor There was this hair salon next to , or saw so”

“Ah,for a while I was eighteen, re was life-and-death But after a while, I started wondering why I didn’t get my mom to disown me sooner Without her in my life, I was much happier” Sarah takes a deep breath, and her lips curl up to form a smile

My heart skips a beat at the sight I should stay away froirl

But how can I, when she’s pouring her heart out and I told her I wanted to help her get over her grief? It’s not just sht

Sarah turns to gaze at me across the table “Tell me your secrets, Luca It’s your turn”

Sarah

Luca insists on us finishing dinner and cleaning up first before we continue talking

“Fine,” I say, even though inwardly I’ me away That, and I find it sexy when he tells me what to do