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Anyway …

I try to play it cool when I head toward the deal And it kind of works until I trip overby the pool and nearly fall in Paul catches o into the water and he hauls me onto my feet

That Harry Potter invisibility cloak I asked for on ht about now

“Da,” I mumble My dad loves that mutt He takes him everywhere with him and calls him my brother If there’s one friend who outranks Paul in my dad’s eyes, and one child who outranks me, it’s Pickles

True to his character,his balls, unfazed by my near destruction

“You okay?” Paul asks

“You talking to ?”

“Soround I ignore her, but rele her later

Paul chuckles and the deep rumble of it touches es to reach The gentleness in how he holds ood I’ mess whenever he’s around

“Did we finally e to surprise you for once?” arette smoke in his hair He only smokes when he drinks If my mom knew, she’d kill him He looks over at Paul “We’ve never been able to keep a secret froirl Even at Christmas she used to open her presents while ere asleep then spend all night rewrapping theot aith it before she was finally caught on the home security system”

“You know I hate surprises” I tell him

But I actually like this one My parents have never been able to pull off a surprise party in the past, but I suspect this was E

“Anyone want a refill?” lass He’s drinking hard alcohol, I realize This is going to be so or bad at this point My dad is unpredictable after a few drinks

“I’ll take another scotch on the rocks,” Paul says

I show ood for now”

By the way he shuffles his feet, it’s not his first drink of the day It’s kind of hilarious seeing souard down That only happens when he’s with Paul

“You know he’s going to forget about that drink as soon as he gets to the bar,” I say

“I know I’ white teeth and dies”

His hair has e him like it would other uys who started going gray young Better than losing it, which he hasn’t one bit It’s thick and wavy on top, and damn can he ever pull off the silver fox look Doesn’t hurt that his baby blues are the saainst his tan face He could so be one of those older hipster h fashion ads these days The Miles Better types with less facial hair

As soon as his ar His hands rub my back, warm breath on the pulse of my neck He smells like sun and chlorine and coconut from the pomade in his hair I want everyone else to disappear so I can be alone with him