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gentleman. But, as soon as she walked in front of me, I swatted her ass. ¡°Knew you loved

the bike.¡±

As we rode off into the distance, the moon and stars shined majestically against the

large of Arizona¡¯s famous black backdrop above us. Ribbons of shades of pinks and

purples hung above us, swirling around the sky. Although I¡¯d traveled these roads

numerous times, this was the first time I truly appreciated the view astronomers traveled

across the world for.

¡°Look,¡± I shouted as loud as I could over the gust of wind against us, pointing at the

Milky Way hanging in the sky and I heard her cheer behind me, sounding completely free

and in sync with me.

I think, I said to myself, this might have been the best night of my life.

Chapter Sixteen

Samantha

Life was great, I thought at work, as I daydreamed about my previous night with Isaac.

A warm Wednesday night far past Mascid at some canyon I¡¯d never noticed with

passionate sex underneath the stars. We stayed up late talking about everything. It felt

like any prior walls that were up had been taken down, no longer worried about having an

allure. We talked and laughed about unimportant things until midnight.

Everywhere I went, no matter the situation, there was a quirky smile on my lips. Even

then, as I read about the cat I was going to meet in an hour. ¡°Hmm, puking orange

sludge¡­¡±

Someone knocked on my door. ¡°Come in.¡±

Ellen and Lizzie walked in, Lizzie holding two coffee cups in her hands. ¡°Skinny vanilla

latte, with two extra shots of espresso.¡±

¡°You are my hero,¡± I said, accepting the warm drink.

¡°You¡¯re going to have a heart attack,¡± she told me, staring at me skeptically as I sipped

the glorious caffeine.

¡°Why are you so tired anyway?¡± Ellen asked, taking a seat on the edge of the

examination table.

¡°Oh, no reason,¡± I lied. ¡°Just couldn¡¯t sleep.¡±

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