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Chapter One

Stacey

“You’ll do no such thing!” My dad jokes, an edge to his voice when I even suggest I’e

I’m done Finished

Graduated and cleaned out my dorm

Finally

“It’s the only recharge port on the way,” I reason, justifying my extended trip home cross country in my rented electric car

“The what?” he asks, chuckling nervously still

I giggle too, once frorade to a luxury electric rental car and twice because I know the real reason I’

What dad doesn’t knoon’t hurt him

I got the upgrade froe ports are few and far between, o a few hundred miles (okay, almost five hundred) out of my way

Perfect for er Ben Slater’s territory

“Recharge ports, dad,” I explain to hirade from the rental company, but it’s an all-electric se it before I reach home”

I hearhe does when he’s not happy but doesn’t want to let the world kno he feels

“An electric car? Oh, honey I could’ve just paid for a regular car if you were short on cash, gas money too,” he volunteers

I knoould have But a regular car would have er Ben’s territory I wouldn’t have the chance to drive by the tourist stop and drool over his billboard at the national park entrance

Ben Slater is my dad’s best friend, and I can safely say, my only and deepest crush in this life

He and dad grew up together, Ben from a wealthy family with connections, and my dad… well He was raised in a boy’s hohbors when he was a kid of about eight or nine

I get the feeling Ben had a hand in dad being fostered Once his parents saw the bond those two had, they kind of made it happen