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It’s an unfair expectation to put on myself, I know. But therapy is expensive and not covered by my school insurance, so I’ll just have to keep my iffy thoughts to myself and keep pressing forward.

I’ll call you soon. I love you, Daddy.

I hit send on the message when a confident knock raps on the door.

“I’ll get it!” Ezra and Yenn say at the same time, pushing against each other to get to the front door. They know it must be Storm.

I step in front of them.

“I’llget it,” I say, giving them a biting smile.

Yenn sucks her teeth and Ezra mutters something that sounds like, “spoil sport.”

Facing the door, I try to calm my racing heart, the emotion I feel every time I’m about to come face-to-face with Storm Sandoval.

I swing open the door, and Storm and I stare at each other for a moment, neither of us reaching for the other.

I’m frozen and it looks like he is too.

“Storm?” I question. He looks off, like he’s deeply troubled. But when I say his name, he seems to snap out of it, and a small smile graces his face.

“Shae.”

That’s all he says, and then I’m in his arms. He tucks me beneath his chin, pulling me close as I lock my hands around his back.

The embrace feels different. It’s intimate.

It’s pained.

“Is everything okay?” I whisper, keeping my face pressed close to his chest. Storm takes a deep breath before relaxing his spine.

“Everything’s great now that I’m with you,” he replies, but not low enough, because Yenn shouts, “Awww!”

I jump, and Storm chuckles. Pulling back to examine him, the uneasiness that cloaked him when I opened the door seems to have disappeared.

“Yennifer. Ezra. Always good to see you again.” Storm reaches past me, since I’m still attached to him like a koala, and I hear flesh meeting flesh—Ezra and Storm likely giving each other daps.

Finally deciding to give the man his body back, I take a big step away from Storm, determined to give him some space. But the man in question clearly has no intention of letting me go far, and he grabs my wrist, pulling me into his side and positioning my arm to wrap around his waist.

“Shae, we’ll let you decide. Do you want to eat first and then open the results, or get the results out the way so we can celebrate?” This comes from Yenn, and she looks so happy and confident, that I want to hold on to her energy and do the scary thing while I feel good.

The constant hum of anxiety I’ve felt all day is gone, now. Storm shifts, looking down at me.

I won’t be stupid and say I don’t know why I feel better. I’m calmer, at peace, because I’m with him.

It’s him. Storm is my calm in the middle ofmystorms.

“Let’s check first,” I say, trying to infuse confidence into my tone. Yenn lets out a tinywhoop!and runs toward our living room. We all follow her, and I enter the space just in time to see her put her bong on the floor at the side of the coffee table to make space for my laptop.

“Mmkay, bestie, you sit right here,” she says, pulling my hand to plop me on our sofa. “Andyou,” she grabs Storm’s wrist and positions him next to me, “sit here.”

Moving around the coffee table, she faces the two of us and says, “All right. Moment of truth. Let’s do this!”

I nod, swallowing thickly as I move in what feels like slow motion toward the laptop. I don’t bother placing it on my lap. Slowly, I type in the URL to the portal, sign in, and pull my hands back when the hyperlink to see the results pops up.

“All right, here we go,” I mumble, my lips feeling curiously cold.

Yenn and Ezra move around the coffee table to sit at the ends, sandwiching Storm and me closer together in the middle. Storm’s hand lands on my lower back, rubbing up and down in a slow, soothing cadence.