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He glanced up to see her s and chuckled “No No rats or snakes”

“What was the deal with that anyway?”

“I was curious about things you like or don’t like”

Her eyebrows rose as she picked up her fork “And that’s what you started with?”

He shrugged “For me, it fit at the time”

“O-kay” Their gazes connected and held for a long moment before she dropped her attention back to the pasta “Well, here’s one for you, I love Italian, and it all s Do I have to pick one, or can I try some of each?”

“Go for it”

He did the sa a little of each pasta onto his plate As they began eating, he found hi not only of what she’d said about his family, but a comment she’d made about her mother rose in his memory

“Would you be willing to tell me about your family? Or lack thereof, it seems”

Dismay flickered in her eyes as she reached for her water She seemed to debate in her mind as she chewed, then she sed her food and sipped froive you the Cliff Notes version I grew up in Wisconsin My mom left us when I was nine, , and I was left with randparents who never liked my mother and pointed out every day hoas just like her”

She’d started out as if recounting simple facts, but at the end, her voice dripped with hurt and resentment

“Sounds shitty”

“It was They didn’t understand me or what I do—never even tried Who I ho I am, was never acceptable to them”

Her words sparked his guilt once randparents

“The day after I graduated high school, I packed everything I owned in my Jeep and moved here”