Chapter 19

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It’s an amazing time with Jobe, but it doesn’t last forever. Eventually, we take a bus back to SheltonStreet and walk to my house. It starts to rain. No thunder. No lightning. It’s a warm rain, expected weather for this evening.

We stand close to each other near the bottom of my Cape Cod’s front stoop. Our chests almost touch. We almost kiss. Our fingers almost entwine.

My heart drums within my torso. My pulse uncontrollably races. I shiver in front of him, and it’s not even cool outside. The rain turns into a downpour, and we become soaked. Every cut line and curve on his chest is viewed in the streetlight.

“I like you too much,” he says, grazing my lips with two fingertips. “I shouldn’t like you.”

“Like is good. I don’t mind.”

“Do you like me, Mr. Rexx?” He holds our newly-purchased books in a plastic bag with his free hand.

I continue to shiver. I can’t lie. I won’t lie. “I do like you, Mr. Rider.”