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beside us don’t hear.
    “Then one simple thing changes and, like a castle made of cards, everything starts crashing around you? One tiny glitch that has the power to crumble all the good?”
    She sits up at my side, crossing her legs in front of her. “And that glitch in your life is…?” Just below the surface in her eyes, some heavy thought lingers. The awareness she may be the reason things haven’t been as smooth between us? Her sister’s death because it’s the one tiny glitch in her life that changed everything?
    Resting my hands on her thighs, just below the frayed hem of her white shorts, I wrap my fingers around her tenuous muscles as if I could physically hold on to her as the next comes out of my mouth.
    “You.” I stop. Lick my lips, thoughts sprinting through my head on how to put it. “Last winter I applied for a photography internship with Traveler magazine. The prospect was poor, considering thousands of people apply every year and very few actually get in.”
    Her expression un-wrinkles, eyes growing round. “You got in?”
    I nod. “Got a letter a few days ago. I was accepted for the summer and fall quarters to study under Joel Harrington, one of the most famous wildlife photographers around.”
    My words sit between us, undisturbed, for an uncomfortably long moment. Then a wide smile stretches across her face. “Babe, of course they accepted you. They’d be dumbasses not to.”
    I have to look away; the prideful glow in her expression only makes this harder. In front of us, a wave crests then blasts with a boom that echoes down across the sand. I sit, unmoving for a moment, letting the sound of water rushing sand flood the cavity separating us. There’s no easy way to say this.
    Closing my eyes, I lower my voice to almost a whisper. “The internship is in Costa Rica. I’ll be there for five months.”     
    Another wave shatters against the sand, the impact vibrating clear up to where we’re sitting. I peek through my lashes at her.
    Arms wrapped around her legs and chin resting on her knees, she’s staring at me. The silence stretches out until a scrawny kid in the group beside us lets out a “Whoa” as he spots a surfer catch a wave, and then Quinn says, “And I’m the glitch because…?” The wariness of her tone chokes me, as if someone’s thumb is pressed hard into the hollow of my throat.
    I take a breath, hold it as long as I can then let it out. “If it wasn’t for you I would’ve already accepted the position.”
    She stiffens, eyes narrowing. “Geez, Torrin. What do I say to that? You’re welcome?” She starts to get up, and I grab her arm.
    “Stop. I didn’t mean it like that, and you know it.”
    “No, I don’t know,” she says, her voice hardening. “What did you mean? Because right now you’ve got me pretty fucking convinced that I’m holding you back from your dreams. A photography internship with some famous guy? Who fucking wouldn’t accept that?”
    “A guy who is in love with his girlfriend and couldn’t stand to be away from her for five excruciatingly long months. A guy who is afraid to lose the one person in his life that brings out the better person in him.” My hand slides down her wrist and grips her fingers. “A guy who loves you more than anything in the world.”
    She rolls her eyes. “You were just fine before we met. Other than your ridiculous need-to-save-the-messed-up-girl complex, which apparently you haven’t gotten over because any other normal person—even if he loved his girlfriend—would be outta here in a second.”
    “Guess that settles it. I’m not normal.” I smile and tug her closer, lean my head into the crook of her neck. Another deep breath, soaking in her scent.
    My head dips as she pulls away. “I think you should go.”
    I meet her glare with one just as intense and test out the word, “No.”
    “Yes! You’re missing out on a really great opportunity. And for what? Me? I don’t think so. I refuse