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“Oh my god,” I said. “You.What are you doing in my way?”

She smiled lightly. “Walking into my own house, as far as I see it.”

“And who gave you the right?” I glanced over my shoulder. The living room was clean. Guess that made sense.

“You forgot this was our house.”

“Well… details. Anyway, move your butt, I’m hanging out with Harps.”

“Mm-hm. With all of Emberlynn’s and my snacks, from the looks of things.”

“Ugh! I just needed pretzels. I left the half a custard pie I couldn’t finish in the fridge as a tribute.”

Aria put her hands up, palms toward the ceiling. “Then I guess we’re having custard pie. So…” She trailed off, a look in hereyes that I couldn’t read, and it was awfully rude of her to keep something from me—me, Paisley.

I scowled. “Your rotten girlfriend is rubbing off on you. You’re giving me that same look she does when she won’t spit something out. I know that’s not something you’ve always done.”

“Ah. How about that? Well, she’s always been quite the charismatic person. No surprise she’s able to rub off on people like that.”

Well, she didn’t just rub off on her, she also rubbed her off this morning when I had the horrible misfortune of being awake. Of course, I guess it was on me for being up that late, but I didn’t like the idea of anything ever being my fault, so I put that thought away. “Just spit it out,” I said.

“So, things are going well with Harper?”

Oh, here was one conversation I didn’t need. I considered throwing myself out the window. “Yeah, I got her to start rewatching some old episodes of Buffy with me, so, you know, life’s good.”

“Hm.” She smiled wider, and there was something there—something knowing. She wasn’t supposed to belikethis, knowing things about me. It felt kind of gross and scary. “That’s your love language, then? Buffy the Vampire Slayer?”

I wrinkled my nose. “If you’re getting atlove languagelike a lover, then, like… ew, Ar.”

She laughed softly. “Really, though. You do like her, don’t you?”

“Oh my god, let me eat my snacks.”

“She’s the one you’ve been dressing up for lately, right?”

I scoffed. “Paisley doesn’t need to have this conversation,” I said, making a move for the door, but she stepped in front of it, blocking me. “Hey! You can’t block my own door!”

“Good thing I’m not, then. You know, you can’t have something real, meaningful with people if you hide all the things that make youyou.”

Oh, she was hitting me right where it hurt. I rolled my eyes. “You’re the worst. Harper’s waiting for me, you know.”

“I mean it. You can’t form a serious connection with somebody unless you’re willing to be…” She put up a hand, searching for words. “Tacky? A little uncool? And a little human.”

I sighed, dropping my shoulders. “Ar…”

“Yes?”

“I left the sink running in the bathroom, by the way.”

She glanced to the side, looking at where the bathroom door was ajar, and I took the golden opportunity to climb out the window, dropping the bag of pretzels in the process. Behind me, I heard Aria shouting my name, but I was above having to listen to my own sister, so I scrabbled in the bush and grabbed the pretzels and booked it across the street to Harper’s, brushing the leaves and twigs off my coat.

I went around to the back and tried the door, but it was locked—why this woman kept locking her door, I had no idea—so I jimmied the window open, and I was halfway through climbing in when I felt a hand on my shoulder, and I jumped so hard I almost dropped the snacks.

“Paisley,” Harper said, her voice dry. “Please just knock.”

“Jesus, you scared me.Knock?You could have been upstairs, in the bathroom, anything. You think I want to wait?” I huffed, pulling my second leg through the window and shoving my snacks into Harper’s hands. She was dressed casually today, loose pants and a sleeveless tank over a sports bra, showing off the sleeve tattoos she had down each arm, and honestly, I’d never realized I would go for a girl with tats like Harps.

Harper sighed, shoving her hand in her pocket and rummaging around. “That does it,” she said. “You’ve broken in through the window for the last time, and I’m done.”