Page 225 of No Need to Run

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Violet: Drink more water. Take some aspirin.

A laugh slips out before I can stop it.

Of course that’s what she says.

Me: Bossy.

Her reply comes almost immediately.

Violet: Concerned. And observant.

I stare at the last word.

Observant.

Yeah. That’s one way to describe it.

Another way would be the woman with a binder dedicated to me.

A binder I still haven’t fully processed.

Luna meows, batting at one of her toys like none of this is a crisis.

I look at her. “Your mom is terrifying.”

I freeze.

Mom?

No. Absolutely not.

I close my eyes. “Forget I said that.”

Luna pounces on the toy.

The house settles around me.

Violet: Goodnight, Drew.

She even uses punctuation when she texts. Because of course she does.

Me: Goodnight, Violet.

I stare blankly at the bottle of water.

Even though I know I should be unsettled, even though every logical part of me is screaming that tonight changed things... I’m not.

All I can think about is tomorrow.

And the fact that I want her here.

Somewhere along the way... Violet started feeling like someone who belonged here.

46

VIOLET

I back outof Drew’s driveway.

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