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We hadn’t talked h the online Scrabble game we played Her last play had been F-I-N-G-E-R-S It seeh ourup when there were far harder and higher-scoring words available

She ca, her radiant sloves, she ducked under my arm as I held the door open for her The leftover snow from the weekend had turned into sickly brown piles and dotted the street and sidewalk Her cheeks were flushed, and I wanted to tuck her against my chest to warm her up

“How’d your test go?”

“As well as can be expected when you’re bleary-eyed after ninety hours of studying That’s why I needed to get out of the house” Her hands were shoved deep in her pockets “Can alk?”

“Sure” I sent the car away and turned back to her “Where are we going to eat?”

She turned to me and smiled, the kind of smile where you shared a secret with someone else This time it just so happened that secret was that I knehat she sounded like when she caain The smile was infectious, and I couldn’t hold mine back

“You’re going to love it” She looped her arh mine, and I filled her in on the latest behind-the-scenes news from the road as alked

Late-night tacos ht as well have been heroin based on how packed the place was The small taco shop had ten tables crammed into a space that could barely hold five Soed us a table

The fluorescent lights above us washed the whole place out, except for Liv She was like a glowing beacon in the crowded sea of people in need of a spicy meat fix I smiled at her little dance from the counter to our table with our food She’d nearly knocked her chair over when they called her nuiddiness of tacos, and she wasn’t even drunk like half the people who stumbled in and ordered

Pushing back the paper lining in the plastic basket holding the tacos, she looked like she’d found the Holy Grail “I swear, I eat at least ten of these a week” Lovingly picking one up, she caressed the side of the shell and stared at it like it was the Second Co

“Are you sure all you do is eat theht now it looks like I should leave you two alone for some private time” The breeze battled with the overheated interior of the restaurant whenever someone opened the door Liv kept her coat on, and I unbuttoned mine

A few heads had turned alked in, and so a sports figure, I was used to it, and Liv didn’t see up with Colm as her brother, she’d been in the center of all this for a long time

I hated when they stared, though, the people a couple tables over not even being discreet when snapping a few pictures This was another reason I hated going out Behind theat hts about how many sets of eyeballs were on me every second out on the ice But up close and personal, once theon a slide under the city’s collective microscope

“You’ll stop talking crap when you taste these, and then you’ll be sorry” She let out her best evil laugh

I leaned back in my chair, content to watch her enjoy her meal