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I laugh and reply,Sorry, some of those songs are unforgivable.

The dots appear and disappear before his name shows up on the screen. I crawl back in the car as I answer.

“Unforgivable,” I repeat.

“Scroll through the list again,” he says. “You might change your mind about that.”

Cryptic.

I hit the speaker button and swipe through the playlist starting from the beginning. At first, I’m not sure what I am supposed to be looking for, but then I see it.

The titles of the songs onDear Bennettread:

Why Can’t I Stop

Thinking About You

Seriously

I Want You

All of You

All the Time

Everywhere

You Drive Me Crazy

I’m Losing My Mind

Over You

Baby

And

I Never Want It

Back

I smile a ridiculously huge, cheek-killer smile and sink back in my seat. “I’m going to make you listen to every one of these songs.”

“It’s worth it if you’re smiling.” He lets out a long, dramatic sigh. “I need to go pretend not to be obsessing over you for a while.”

He hangs up without a goodbye, and I pull back onto the highway, pretending not to think about him too.

Ten hours in a carturns out to be basically the same thing as twenty hours. Sun replaces rain, the scenery loses some green, trees give way to buildings.

I crane my neck, looking up at the old warehouse converted into apartments. It has curb appeal, shrubs, and is on a quiet street. I shouldn’t be able to afford it. I’ve done the math over and over. My rent times two means this is one of the cheapest two bedrooms in the city.

Out of habit, I take the stairs. The heavy metal door out front matches the one marked four that I knock on. It jerks wide open, and the grin of a crazed pixie meets me.

“You’re here!” she squeals.

Aria maybe breaks five foot with a bit of a heel, but she drags me across the threshold like a bouncer. She pulls me through the large open space with a living room and kitchen, chattering away. We head up the steel staircase, past the warehouse windows, and across a suspended catwalk where a metal railing is all that keeps you from falling back down. While she flits her way to my bedroom, I clunk along behind, managing not to tumble over the side to my death.

When we stop at the door, she throws it open and finally lets me go by the bed. “What do you think?”

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