Page 88 of Outside The Wire

“No, I think I’m perfectly worked up over what’s going to send my father on the next tirade.”

“So, let him have his say,” he shrugged. “Why not?”

“Because he’s going to drive you nuts!”

Now it was his turn to look at me like I was crazy. “Just what exactly do you think is going to happen here? I’m going to hear something nuts your dad says and run for the hills?”

“Possibly. Or call the police. Or break up with me and tell me you never want to see me again.”

“Isn’t that the same thing as running for the hills?” he asked, cocking his head at me.

“Are you really teasing me right now?”

“Aren’t I always teasing you?”

“Seriously, Asher. Just don’t do it. Steer clear of all those things that I told you might set him off.”

“Baby, I’m not gonna run. Let him tell me all about his conspiracy theories. I can take it. In fact, I find it interesting.”

“Interesting? You want to hear him ramble for forty-five minutes about why pavement is bad?”

“Actually, I was wondering why that one was on the list,” he said, his lips twitching with humor.

Noelle raised her hand. “Not that anything I say matters right now, but I’d really like to go home before all this happens. I have so many better things to do than listen to a long boring argument about pavement.”

I thrust my hand out toward Noelle. “See?”

“Look, let’s just have a good time. You have to stop worrying about your parents,” he said calmly. “Just know that nothing can happen that will make me run for the hills.”

“Nothing? What if they say that I dated my first cousin?”

“Did you know he was your first cousin?”

“Yes.”

He shrugged. “Love is love.”

“And you’re okay with that?”

“You didn’t marry him.”

“And you’d be okay if I slept with him? If I wanted to make babies with him?”

He sighed heavily. “Did you actually date your first cousin?”

I pursed my lips, knowing exactly what he was doing. “No.”

“Then why are you doing this?”

“Because she’s making a mountain out of a molehill,” Noelle said in a bored tone.

I shot her a scathing look.

“Oh, I’m sorry. Were we not supposed to tell the truth about what’s really happening here?”

“Dinner!” Mom called.

I jabbed a finger in Asher’s face. “No more talk of restricted topics.”

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