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Didn't think he'd find someone normal."
    But I'm not so normal either. "Is Robbie pretending to be a nice guy? He's a crazy one over there too," I joked.
    They liked that. They laughed and poked fun at their little brother all throughout dinner, and asked me so many questions that I actually only got to answer half, because they were talking over each other. It was a noisy, happy household, something I never had, and it kind of e xplained why Robbie was so well-adjusted.
    They weren't poor, by the way, I learned as I walked into their five-bedroom house. He was in Ford River on scholarship but that didn't mean he was impoverished; Ford River was wicked expensive. So, like me, he grew up with all the comforts of home but his parents just couldn't come up with full tuition. His other siblings had to go to school too.
    But they had two cars, and a big TV, a wide selection of movies and music, and one laptop per household member. As far as I could tell.
    Robbie's dad had a hearty laugh, and his mother had the job of telling everyone to pipe down and let Hannah eat. I wondered for a second what my life would have been like, if my parents liked each other more, if they cared to have more than one child, if we had more days like this one.
    I probably would have liked Robbie on sight, and only him.
    Those who want what they know they can't have, they probably just have an emptiness inside that they're hanging on to. Keep it empty, keep me incomplete. Who am I without it?
    I wasn't going to be that person anymore. No more waiting.
     

     
    After dinner was coffee, and after coffee Robbie excused us from the table, and then we headed up to his room. He locked the door behind him.
    "Yeah, so. I'm really sorry about that."
    "I expected something like it."
    "No, I don't think you did."
    "You told me about your sisters before. This was definitely a possibility."
    Before I could figure out where to place myself in the room, he had scooped me up and dropped onto the bed with me. Our lips met, and it was hours since we last kissed, and we made up for lost time.
    She's wonderful with them they really like her
    She's beautiful
    She smells great
    I want I want
    His thoughts were quick, the rhythm of them, the song of his heart... It was so real, and it was for me.
    I'm so lucky
    We both thought that. It wasn't the first time.
    I gasped when his lips went for my throat, and he liked that. He liked it when I ran my fingertips through his hair and down his spine. His hand grazed the bare skin of my back, underneath my shirt, for a second and I shivered, not unpleasantly, and he liked that too.
    I knew how far exactly he was planning to go right then (not very) so I wasn't afraid.
    He liked that I didn't seem afraid.
    "How long do we have before someone knocks and tells us to cool it down?" I asked.
    Robbie laughed and sat up, bracing himself against a faded blue wall. He was probably at his most handsome right at that moment—he looked so happy, and rumpled, and mischievous. "I won't be surprised if they're listening out there right now."
    I sat up too and let the bed bounce gently beneath me. I quickly fixed my hair, and straightened my shirt, and let out my breath slowly.
    She's gorgeous
    I can 't believe she's here
    "Thank you," I said, even though Robbie hadn't said anything aloud. I just thought he should hear it.
     

Chapter 13
     
    When I heard Diego and Vida arguing, voices raised, just a notch under yelling, I should have turned around and headed in the opposite direction, never mind if I had to take a longer route to the Guidance Office. But I shrugged, and went ahead anyway, and Diego just happened to see me.
    "New Girl," Diego Simon called, and it couldn't have been anyone else but me. "Come over here. Vida has some funny business going on with one of your people."
    I assumed that he meant my devotees, people who had summoned the Goddess of Love and had received a response. (Diego's people called to him when they needed help with