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Penelope DouglasCopyright © 2019 P
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Chapter 21Chapter 22Chapter 23Chapt
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“37 Stitches” by Drowning Pool
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“There is a reason why all things
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WinterMy ballet slipper brushes the
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All you’ve gotta say is ‘Hello
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Finally, he drops his hand and inha
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But Madame insisted we keep our ful
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Why is he in the fountain?“Damon?
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It was the last day I was me as I k
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gone this far. This was all just re
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occasion we need to play the couple
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He wasn’t calm anymore.The door o
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come home and focus on dancing, tra
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“He only married Arion because sh
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“Yeah.”“Don’t stop.” I sh
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“Excuse me?” Ethan interjected.
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It wasn’t Damon.“GGabriel?” I
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dressed in was now soft, like cotto
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before taking the cash and jewelry
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Taking the bag from her with my uni
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Images of her loose, little bun com
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her black heels, and I held in my s
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I held it up, speaking softly. “Y
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her whimper. “I just want you to
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Hiking up her skirt the rest of the
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hallway. Nausea rolled through my s
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Her. A bastard gutter rat who would
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I checked the time on my phone, see
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She came up alongside her mother an
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DamonPresent“Ten moves and you ha
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Did she like another man touching h
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her hands tucked into the pockets.
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looking down at her. “Knowing tha
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How naïve she still is. “Not eve
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They stood up, heaving sighs of agg
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I raised my eyebrows, waving the ci
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“Do you know how much Will bled i
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I winced, and I couldn’t inhale.
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laugh.She was hardly afraid of me a
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Blonde hair, blue eyes, same age, s
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“Yes, I don’t really want to ki
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box Rika had held and noticed there
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WinterSeven Years Ago“So you coul
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She must’ve seen a look on my fac
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together this afternoon, too, kind
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side, and tears sprang to my eyes a
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“GGuys, come on, leave her alone.
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Oh, my God. I let the rosary go lik
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with their eyes, their hands, their
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“Anything at all?” he pressed.
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what he was doing. And he did it an
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WinterPresent“Arms up!” Tara ca
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And she took my hands and placed th
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I wanted to see if you’d dance fo
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wedding, he could still come and go
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His body came in closer, though, fo
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I hadn’t spoken to my family much
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Holding him.In their eyes, I’d wa
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Turning on my side, I adjusted the
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“You gave your dog a Russian name
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“So, let’s go, then,” I chall
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“Fuck you!”He grabbed the back
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I jerked away from his hands. “It
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“Everyone else is gone, leaving h
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Yeah, there was an accident when we
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Will faltered a moment and then lau
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Kai sat down at the table, drinking
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She then looked at me, opened her r
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fathers in this town. The girls who
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to one side, various hesitant but s
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were family, and we had each other
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“So glad I didn’t bring Abby to
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Hope she had the good sense to be s
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wall of large windows sat to my lef
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since we were kids. Popular with a
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It wasn’t a sound I could describ
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Why wasn’t he talking?I inhaled a
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His masked voice was like a breeze
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there with you?” he asked.I knitt
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“Don’t walk away from me!” so
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I cried quietly, their voices dulle
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Then my hand knocked a model, and C
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DamonPresent“So this is Women, GG
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She was beautiful.And bright. Her d
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I swallowed. “The way…the way I
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I gripped the window frame, scowlin
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“You think you can stop me?” I
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every muscle in my gut against his
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hands were all over her, and his to
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The walls were closing in. I couldn
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I dove in, catching his bottom lip
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That’s the only way you can conne
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didn’t have to live in that cold
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My throat swelled with the vomit ri
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So I would stay the course. My moth
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WinterPresent“Where are you takin
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She had no idea what he could do. A
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“We want you,” Arion said, inte
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The voices in the next room were ba
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The chill in the air seeped through
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new haunted theme park, especially
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But everything sounded distant. The
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clothes suddenly chafing my skin. M
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jeans as it rolled over my clit. I
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WinterSeven Years Ago“Ugh, I hate
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it excited me. Because I never had
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“I don’t know,” I answered in
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When it ended, the air felt cold al
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and ready to run if I had to.His ha
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“Tall, dark, young,” I commente
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I shook my head at myself. I was ou
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in my ear made it all go away. How
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His legs shifted under me, his hand
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My shoulders relaxed just a little,
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An engine started to rumble from fa
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“No,” he growled in a loud whis
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in the car was with my sister, but
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“A friend.”I put my hands on hi
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Just maybe, it was exactly what I
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I tipped my head to the side, heari
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“She is none of your concern.”
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was AWOL. I imagined these things m
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“Do you like her?” I pressed, g
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Someone bumped into me, knocking my
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out. Arms up, feet moving from one
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“Did you have fun?” I asked, he
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I jerked my chin at Crane, and he s
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Don’t walk away. Please, I want t
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WinterSeven Years Ago“I can alway
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“Maybe his heart already belongs
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motorcycle. Or wrapped tightly in h
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I snorted but quickly got rid of my
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I inched to the right side of the h
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“You did this?” I asked, realiz
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Mommy?”“Mommy?” he repeated.
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I sucked in a breath and straighten
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I turned my face away, breathing ha
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I hated him. I hated his vile words
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I checked her bed and her lamps, he
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My heart was trying to jump out of
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smelled spacious with lots of fresh
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And I stood there, no longer wincin
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“See you soon, Winter,” he taun
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missing,” I told him. “Would yo
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I set out a bowl of food for Mikhai
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What did he see?I spaced off, feeli
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The flesh of my nipples grew taut,
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DamonPresentI leaned over the batht
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She thought she was strong. She tho
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She caresses my face and shoulders,
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She doesn’t wait for my answer, t
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And I shove her head into the mirro
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“Tell her the truth,” I said, s
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Fuckin’ Rika.“Stay,” I told C
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bouts are the only time I feel like
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“Fucking little monster,” I mut
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It kind of just came out, but I tho
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WinterFive Years Ago“All set?”
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He’d lost interest.He’d had his
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And I spun around, heading back dow
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would ever drive. Agile, fast, quic
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“Nothing,” I said again. “I d
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“Hold your legs?”Air rushed int
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I just wanted to go home.“We like
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- Page 347 and 348: Oh, Jesus. She sounded almost hopef
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She knew something was wrong. She w
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I tried to move toward her. “Wint
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WinterFive Years AgoMy hands shook
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the village square… All of it was
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But I’d been willing with someone
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The night was still so clear, like
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goddamn heart, because it wouldn’
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WinterPresentI sat in the theater,
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“Alex told me after the haunted h
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Had she honestly believed that shit
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I sucked in a breath as it flung op
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Take the family who left me here wi
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I put the pieces together. His dog
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up, and drew in a lungful of air, f
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But not answering the question, eit
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“Hey, it’s America.” Will lea
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Will and Kai stood up after him, ga
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It was real, and I wanted it again.
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Someone climbed the stairs behind m
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We run deep into the backyard, our
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“I did not.”God, I’m so embar
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We sit there, quiet, and observing
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“You don’t speak to him, and yo
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I just never seemed to come out of
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I wanted to fight and scream and la
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although I left my phone in Will’
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“You don’t have to sugarcoat it
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hanging in the air, and I trailed c
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caring that I was loud and clumsy.
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I kissed him, caressing his tongue
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reached around and spread my thighs
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“Why?” I asked.“Because of Wi
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instantly recognizing the Braille.M
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twice. I knew he was smart. I just
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I felt the bed, not finding her, so
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“Do you care?” he replied. And
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And then a pain hit my side under m
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I blinked away the spots in my visi
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waiting.Where was Will? Why were th
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I didn’t have time to see who was
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She laughed a little. “You wouldn
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who knew how long it would last. If
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Banks and Rika wandered about, offe
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“What are you doing?” he asked,
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Was that a dream? Where was Winter?
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Reaching down, I peeled away the su
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He laughed as Banks walked around m
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Blood trailed down the back of my h
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But she kept talking. “And he kno
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DamonPresentSince we knew my father
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He was quiet, and I looked over at
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The car jostled under us as the men
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my side started to ache, so I put m
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“You still handy with that crowba
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“Hello?” he answered.“Take an
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Winter started panting in short, sh
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My knees shook as I made my way bac
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Please.I pushed at the door.Please.
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DamonPresentWe stumbled toward the
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My jeans stuck to my skin, but the
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We all blew out, our bodies melted
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around her like she was all he had
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WinterPresentWe almost died. A half
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Will layered his lips with mine.
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My stomach rose and fell in heavy b
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The head of his cock pushed inside
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“I didn’t even think about it u
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I laid there, listening to the sile
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What were we doing in that fountain
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“Kai,” she answered quietly.
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mood.He knelt down, coming down to
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DamonPresent“Ugh, what the fuck?
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in the streets,” she bit out. “
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And then she put my mask on top.I l
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We stopped at the light, the villag
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She threw another grenade, pink smo
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I knew we’d have to take down the
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coughed and worried about staining
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We darted up the staircase, pushed
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I looked behind me at my sister who
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He lit his cigar, the puffs of smok
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wasn’t my mother in his eyes.In h
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I pulled it out and stuck it in aga
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Hours later, I’d received medical
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That was why they hadn’t taken sa
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Moving around her, I wrapped my arm
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Marrying Ari got me into the house
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I headed past the concessions and t
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We walked around the corner of the
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I dumped my phone back in the conso
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She was right to warn her off. To t
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This changes nothing, just don’t
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No answer, though. I sent a text, l
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make it a year and was now annulled
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I notice she wears a tutu—everyth
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She stops biting, explaining it to
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Winter’s mouth hovered over mine,
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*This is a preview of Nightfall, th
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Bile stung my throat, every horror
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leave. Did you get left behind?”I
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everything we need to survive, but
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Thank you for reading!And thank you
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Dear Misha,So, have I ever told you
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I go back and finish the last part,
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Well, how about a phone call then,
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And she has her fucking earbuds in,
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I shoot my glare farther up the roa
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I glance up and nod at a guy standi
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I feel his eyes on me, the challeng
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I straighten my back, my chest risi
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Her hair is long and straight—not
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He turns back to Ryen and smiles.
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on mine, and I can feel her breath
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Punk 57 is currently available on K
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To the PenDragons—you’re my hap
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Penelope Douglas is a New York Time