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even deliver the blow face to face. She didn’t want to deliver it

at all. The impossible had happened. Haley had gotten beneath

the layers, the walls, her skin, and landed straight in the soft,

unguarded parts of Claire. Haley had never let her run and

hide, and she wasn’t going to let her do it now. She leaped out

of bed and stalked around to Claire’s side. She stood there,

totally naked, hands on her hips, incandescently gorgeous in

her wrath.

“No! I’m not going back. You can’t just end things because

you’re scared that you’re finally feeling something. I thought

you’d pull away and get all weird after we did this. I kept

thinking about that the whole time it was happening. How can

I make Claire stay right here with me, right now? How can I

make it so she doesn’t run away? She’s going to put distance

between us and I’m going to have to haul her back, but I’m

willing to do that. No matter how many times it takes.”

Haley was a storm. They were two storms clashing and

lashing against each other. Haley’s eyes darkened as she stared

her down.

“I’m not running,” Claire offered, but it was feeble.

“You are running. Don’t fool yourself. You’re running away

from everything. Maybe you’ve been running ever since

whatever you think my dad did.”

Fresh anger refuelled Claire, hardening her resolve. She

picked up Haley dress and set it on the end of the bed. She

pointed silently at it and Haley got the picture. She wasn’t

going to fight or argue about this. If their time for truth telling

had come, then Claire was going to tell it and make sure Haley

understood.

It all came down to this, didn’t it? The very reason they