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“No wait, Ethan—,” I start to follow him but a large hand clamps down on my arm.

“Leave him.”

“But, I have to⁠—”

He cuts me off, “Whatever it is Ethan will come round. You have to be here for your family.” He nods towards Hayzel who is making a beeline for me. I'm pushed back into Damien when Hayzel throws herself at me.

“That was the most nerve-racking thing I've ever had to do in my entire life!” She screams in my ear which causes a smile to curl around my lips.

Damien disappears as fast as he came.

“Happy Graduation, love,” I whisper in her hair which causes her to squeeze me even tighter than before. “…Too… tight, Hayz,” I add softly after a few seconds.

“Oh, sorry,” she replies, laughing.

“Sissy! Aunt Hayzel!” We hear Milo say excitedly.

“My little girls!” Edna joins in as both she and Milo walk through the small crowd to get to us.

“You both were so amazing, I can’t believe you guys made it!” Edna tells us as she engulfs Hayzel and I in a tight squeeze.

“I know, I can’t believe it either,” I say honestly.

“Let’s go out for a meal to celebrate, hmm?” Edna replies.

“We can go to that new diner in town,” Hayzel tells her grandmother and I turn around to find Damien.

He is standing slightly behind us, talking with one of the other professors, I gesture with my head for him to come back.

He nods once before shaking the other professor's hand and approaches us.

“Hey bud,” he says as he looks down at Milo.

“Hi sissy’s boyfriend,” Milo replies as his hand finds mine.

I choke on my own saliva and Damien chuckles softly at this. “Tell your sissy she looks beautiful today,” he says, eyes finding mine.

“You looked so beautiful, Reya!” Milo says as he squeezes my hand.

“Thank you baby, that means a lot coming from you.”

I look back at Damien, a smile appearing on my lips. “Are you coming with us?” I ask softly. “We’re going to a new place in town to eat.”

Damien grins back and nods. His hand finds its way on my lower back and we start walking to Edna and Hayzel.

“I still can’t wait to kiss you, Agent Vitelli,” he whispers against the shell of my ear.

Agent Vitelli…

I pause, looking back at him, then at the building.

He smiles, as though he could see in my eyes things I couldn’t express out loud. Need. Being with him alone tonight. Just for a moment. And all I could see in him was that he yearned for the same thing.

A second later he clears his throat, grabbing the tip of my fingers softly before turning back to Edna and Hayzel.

“I just remembered something,” he says. Nana raises an eyebrow before smiling sweetly at him. “I have her next affiliation details. If I don’t give them to her now, I’ll forget.”

Terrible excuse. I almost laugh but nod instead.