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“No. I’ve already told you too much. I’m not starting over with another.”

Sydnee laughed.

I sat in the chair and crossed my legs. Her office hadn’t changed much in the two years I’d been coming. Same comfortable chairs. Same plants that somehow stayed alive despite the fact that I had never once seen her water them. Same bookshelf filled with books I had no intention of reading because I paid her to summarize that shit for me. The only thing that changed regularly was the candy bowl.

“You downgraded.”

Sydnee looked toward the bowl. “Excuse me?”

“Last week you had chocolate.”

She wrote something on her notepad.

I squinted. “What did you write?”

“That you’re displaying aggressive behavior over candy.” She laughed again before putting the pen down.

“So… Blair.”

“Sydnee.”

“Nash.”

I sucked my teeth. I reached for a Jolly Rancher and she watched me unwrap it.

“You told him.”

I paused. “How the hell did you know that?”

“Your face.”

“What does my face look like?”

“Lighter.”

I rolled my eyes and put the candy in my mouth. “Yes. I told him.”

Sydnee smiled. “I’m proud of you.”

And just like that, I wanted to cry. Which pissed me off.

I looked toward the window. “It wasn’t that big of a deal.”

“Yes, it was.”

“I just told him.”

“You were terrified to tell that man.”

“I was not terrified.”

“You rehearsed how you would leave his house if he rejected you.”

“That was preparation.”

“You drove yourself because you wanted an escape vehicle.”

“Again… that was preparation.”