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“I’m just worried. You know my mom will be all over you, right?”

“Yes.”

“And my sister, Madison?”

“Yes.”

“And you’re okay with that.”

“Yes.For God’s sake, Ella, stop worrying.”

“Madison can be difficult.”

“I noticed that the first time we met.”

“We used to get on okay, and then over the last few months, she’s just shut me out again.”

“Of course she’s shutting you out.” He glanced over at her. “For an empath, you can be surprisingly obtuse sometimes.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“She’s obviously scared about losing you again.”

“So she treats me like shit?”

“Exactly.”

She rubbed at a nonexistent spot on the glass. “I suppose that makes some weird teenage kind of sense.”

“When she finds out that you’re sticking around, she’ll come back to you.”

“Do you really think so?”

“Yes. And if she and your mother get too annoying today, you can soothe them with magic.”

“Or stop them talking entirely. That might be fun.” She smiled for the first time. “I’m going to have to tell them I’m not going nuts.”

“I’m sure they’ll be delighted.”

“But that means I’ll have to tell them about you.”

“Which is also okay.”

“She’ll probably cry all over you.”

“I have a handkerchief. Stop worrying.”

She studied his handsome profile. He wore jeans and a tight black T-shirt that molded his biceps and muscled chest. She wanted to rip off his clothes and run her hands over his abs and tight ass…

“You can do that later. I wouldn’t recommend trying it in front of your parents.”

“I don’t know, it might be fun.” She patted his muscled thigh. “Mom already said we can stay the night if we want.”

“And youwantto have sex with me in your parents’ house?”

She looked out of the window. “I’ve never done that before. I missed out on all that adolescent fun while I was at the empath college.”

“You didn’t get to go home a lot?”