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She looked at me. “You want me to tell him to get lost?”
“No,” I said. “I want to hear what story he’s going to try.”
She opened the door but left the chain on.
He looked wrecked. Hair wild. Shirt inside out.
“Meredith, please,” he said. “Can we talk?”
“It’s not what you think.”
He flinched.
I laughed. Actually laughed.
“Oh?” I said. “You weren’t half-naked with my sister in our bedroom?”
“Helping you process.”
“Helping you process,” I repeated. “Right. With her shirt off.”
“I felt trapped,” he said. “You gave me your kidney. I owe you my life. I love you, but I also felt like I couldn’t breathe—”
“It just happened,” he said.
“It did not ‘just happen,’” I snapped. “How long?”
I remembered Kara helping me in the kitchen, laughing about burnt rolls.
He hesitated.
“How long?” I repeated.
“A few months,” he said finally. “Since… around Christmas.”
Christmas.