Page 122 of Wrench

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galaxies high above us. When I felt her snuggle deeper into my chest, I brushed my lips

on top of her hair. ¡°I feel¡­ good.¡±

¡°Me, too.¡±

We sat in silence staring at the stars, when she cleared her throat. My stomach sank at

the sight of another frown.

¡°This is, umm, kind of hard for me,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯m not used to being with someone

who I can¡¯t contact throughout the week, you know?¡±

I lowered my head. ¡°I¡¯ll be honest, Samantha, the last girl I dated longer than a week I

couldn¡¯t stand talking to.¡± She laughed. ¡°This is all new to me¡­ missing someone, you

know?¡±

¡°Yeah.¡± She twitched her nose as she thought. ¡°Me, too, actually. I felt like I always

just knew they were available all the time, I never had a chance to miss them. It¡¯s kind of

nice.¡±

I noticed she still looked unsettled, despite her reassuring words. If it was any other

girl, I would have chosen to ignore it, not caring about her comfort. But with Samantha, I

genuinely didn¡¯t like seeing her look down, even if she was pretending. ¡°Are you okay?¡±

She groaned and threw her face in her hands. ¡°This is embarrassing.¡±

I couldn¡¯t help but laugh. ¡°What is?¡±

¡°I¡¯ve¡­ I¡¯ve never dated anyone nearly as good-looking as you.¡±

I continued to shake with laughter. ¡°I don¡¯t believe that.¡± Then I paused. ¡°Although¡­

that ex of yours¡­¡±

¡°And he was the better-looking of all my exes.¡±

I opened my eyes wide and puffed out my chest, unable to remove the grin off my face.

¡°Wow. I¡¯ve gotta say, that¡¯s a huge relief.¡±

¡°Yeah, for you!¡± she said in a squeaky voice I thought was adorable. ¡°I¡¯m¡­ I feel

jealous and I¡¯ve never been jealous before!¡±

¡°Well, yeah. You¡¯re twenty leagues hotter than everyone you¡¯ve ever dated.¡±

¡°And I¡¯ve still been cheated on.¡±

¡°Ouch. Right.¡± I cringed and pulled her tighter into my shoulder. ¡°Listen, I know the

communication thing sucks. But I promise, as soon as things start to settle, I¡¯ll figure out

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