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CHAPTER FIVE

When I don't look convinced, he places his hand over top of mine. I sit still for almost thirty seconds, silent. He looks patient and looks at me with thoughtful eyes. In that moment I transition my hand so that our fingers are linking. I do it slowly and cautiously to tell him that I'm still weary of him. At my delicate gesture he gives me a faint smile and whispers: "I'm sorry" as if I'm a timid deer and talking any louder will scare me away. He lays down again and sighs. A gesture of relief. I lay down next to him and rest my head on his chest. He is wearing the same hoodie as the other night.

"Zyarr?"

"Yeah?"

"Stop thinking. Your thoughts are scaring me."

I can't decide if I should ask him what I'm thinking about or if I should make a comment on his mind-reading powers, but I do neither. Instead, I snuggle up to him and close my eyes. We cuddle for the next hour before heading back to my house for supper.

"Hey, look who it is!" Pexi yells as the two of us come in the door. "Are you engaged yet?" She jogs up to us. I ignore her but hear Zuri laugh from the kitchen. I look over the island and wave at her. She waves back with an oven mitt-covered hand and a friendly smile. The house smells like shepherd's pie.

"I have some news. Let's go upstairs." Anton says to me and we walk up to my room. I pull out a chair from my desk but then push it back in, remembering that he is a floor person. I find a place on the carpet and he joins me, sitting across from me.

"So what is it?" I ask.

"My sister is getting married and needs a photographer, so I suggested you and she's seriously considering it. I think we should show her some of your work as that last nudge" he says confidently, smiling.

"REALLY?!" I beam. I throw myself forward and wrap my hands around him in a hug. He falls backward and the next thing I know I'm laying on top of him. We both freeze. After thirty seconds I laugh nervously and roll off, rushing to my laptop and getting all frantic about nothing. I open it up and look back at him, who is already looking at me with a charming smile. He bites his lower lip and it makes a part of me die. In a good way, of course. I go into my digital photography portfolio and start to flip through images.

"Tell me if there are any you like."

"I like them all" he says.

I smile. "Seriously, tell me if you see one that we should send her.

By the end of it, we have ten images picked out, including the one of Anton in the forest. We put them on the internet, on an advertising website so that there's a chance I might get more work.

"Looks like a pretty darn nice add if you ask me" Anton says. "I'll show them to my sister tonight."

"Okay." I say with a big smile.

"So Anton, what is the answer to the mystery of disappearing for a days?" Zuri asks over supper.

"Oh, I was just going through a crisis. I didn't want to get Zyarr involved." he says. "This is amazing pie by the way. Thank you."

After supper I ask Anton what his Insta username is so that I can add him on Instagram. He has an interest in photography just like me so I thought it would be interesting to check out some of his work.