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“Please stay We have h room”

A ser than inal estimate “Thanks, I really appreciate it I’ve never been in a house this nice before”

We sat around the kitchen island drinking coffee and chatting for a few round floor Then Lorenzo sent rinned and sent a reply Riley grinned too and said, “That iven the way your face just lit up”

“It’s frouy”

“Your boyfriend?”

I murmured, “I wish,” as I returned the phone to my pocket

Riley asked, “What’s standing in your way?”

“His past My past Pretty ” I turned to Phoenix and asked, “What ti?”

A timer went off, and he pulled a muffin pan of mini frittatas out of the oven as he said, “You have almost an hour Plenty of time for breakfast”

“You sound like Lorenzo”

Phoenix sed , and we had a nice chat He asked e you to eat He’s worried, because he thinks you don’t take care of yourself”

Riley asked, “Is that the guy you as your boyfriend?” When I nodded, he said, “It’s sweet that he’s looking out for you”

“I never realized how much I like that until recently,” I admitted “I used to resist when people tried to helpfro to take care of me because he thinks I’enuinely cares”

Riley’s expression turned wistful, and he murmured, “I hope to have that someday” He see to take care of him

After breakfast, Phoenix drove the three of us through the char town of Mendocino The alleries, and boutiques It was nearly deserted, maybe because it was cold and overcast, or just because it was off-season for the tourists that would flock to a place like this in the summer

Our destination was about fourfilmed in and around a two-story house on a cliff above the ocean It actually looked a lot like the one I was staying in, except this one was a darker shade of gray, and it had been altered to make it look like it hadn’t been cared for