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Perfect. That’s where we need to go next.

Now?

What? No lol.

Then when?

I’m not in the mood to see him. Not after he went up to Annie and got her all excited. The worst part is he didn’t even want to talk to Annie. He just wanted to know if I had any updates on his dad. That would break her, but to be fair, it’s completely in line with his personality. He doesn’t care about anyone else.

I don’t know.I’m a little busy.

The sooner you find my dad, the sooner you get what you want.

I chew on my bottom lip. He’s right. The sooner Annie moves on, the better. Still, I have a lot on my plate this weekend. I’m going shopping Saturday with Cameryn, then I have a family dinner at my grandparents, and I don’t feel like missing breakfast with my family on Sunday morning. The weekends are the only days we are up at the same time. Mama always goes over-the-top to make it special. I can’t miss that.

How does Sunday afternoon sound?

Fine.

Fine? It soundsfine? It better be fine.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

DANIEL

I’m going to get her to admit it today. I don’t like games. She might as well tell me how she feels now because it’s not like my feelings are going to change. I can’t stand her.

As I wait at the entrance gate for her to show up, something behind me rattles against the ground. There’s a cat jumping on top of a metal garbage can. The lid is what hit the ground. Now the cat is digging in the trash.

I take a step closer.

The cat jumps to the ground. The hair on its back raises, and it hisses at me.

“I wouldn’t touch it if I were you,” Margo says behind me.

I lift the lid and put it back into place. “I don’t want it to get hurt. You never know what people throw away.”

The cat slowly backs up before fully scurrying down the alley.

“What if it hurts you?” Margo asks.

I shrug. “Then I get hurt.”

She’s wearing a bright blue windbreaker and her iconicearrings. These ones are smaller and don’t hang down. Her pants are stuffed into a pair of red combat boots, and she’s holding on to a fuzzy plaid purse. I have to admit, it’s not the type of outfit I think of when a girl is trying to get a guy’s attention. However, this is Margo; she doesn’t do what other people do. This fits her personality to aT. “I thought you like to wear fruit earrings?”

“Tomatoes are a fruit, and that’s a hill I’ll die on. And I don’t always wear fruit. Sometimes I change it up.”

“Like what?” I don’t know why I’m encouraging her to talk.

Her face scrunches in thought. “Well, I have a pair of donut earrings. And there’s this really cute pair of bumble bee earrings I saw the other day that I’m thinking about buying.”

“Wow. Daring.”

She scowls. “I don’t have to explain myself to you. Now, show me where the storage unit is.”

I lead her to the gate where I punch in my access code, and we walk past at least twenty units before we get to Grandma’s. There’s a lock at the bottom. I fish the key out of my pocket and unlock the unit. I push up the door, and it rattles as it reveals all of Grandma’s old furniture piled on top of each other.

My heart drops. It’s been months since I saw any of these things. I refused to help fill boxes or move them into the storage unit. I couldn’t. The house Grandma owned for years—my home—was being stripped in front of my eyes. Every time Laura asked me if I wanted to bring something to her house, my answer was always the same: no. I didn’t need reminders of my life being destroyed.