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“Fine”

“No hangover?”

“No”

Wow, he was really deterive ht?”

A round his teeth After a pause, he admitted, “Every word I’m cursed with an excellent h to black out” He didn’t look at me while he said that

I pointed up ahead “Make the second left after the park” He did as I asked, and a moment later, I said, “Pull to the curb”

He looked confused as he glanced at me “Why?”

“Because we’re here Actually, noe’ve overshot it” He quickly pulled over, and I explained, “I live in the hot pink Victorian back there”

He put the car in park and pivoted around so he could hit me with an incredulous stare “You live one minute from me”

“Yeah Well, five if you’re on foot Or maybe three or four minutes in this direction, since it’s bound to be quicker walking downhill” He was still staring at me, so I explained, “Okay, so, I obviously didn’t really need a ride I just wanted one last chance to talk to you”

When he didn’t say anything, I plowed ahead with, “I asked to see you tonight, and I want to do that again now that you’re sober More specifically, I’d like to take you on a date Maybe dinner? This is ht off for the next couple of weeks” Woas really bad at asking people out

He broke eye contact and murmured, “I can’t”

“Okay Instead, maybe I could take you to brunch on the weekend Or you can come to my house, and I’ll cook for you You’re welcome any time I wanted you to knohere I live in case you ever want to drop by, but I should mention I rent a room from Yolanda Gutierrez We both work at the hospital She’s a nurse, and—

“I knoho Yolanda is We’ve worked together for three years”