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I got up, shaking my head, hopping on one foot to go feed my fish. The fish I’d saved from a life of imprisonment in a too-small cell.

I think the reason I pushed myself today the way I did was because I hated the way Charlotte’s world had been shrunk. If she was going to live in a cage, I wanted to help her make the most of it. Soften it any way I could.

I always thought of the famous quote: “Pain is inevitable, but suffering is optional.” I didn’t want her to suffer anymore. She didn’t deserve what had happened to her, and the insult to the injury was the way she was forced to live because of it.

I knew it was really early on, and we didn’t know each other very well, but I was protective of her. Whether she knew it or not, I was in. And once I was in, that was it. I’d do anything for the people I cared about—and I cared about her.

Probably more than I should.

Charlotte Chapter 6

Have you ever heard of the orange peel theory?” Izzy asked.

“No, what’s that?”

It was midnight, I was lying in bed. Seth and I said good night half an hour ago after eating way too many Whore cookies and watching Netflix from his laptop on the landing.

“You give a guy an orange and ask him to peel it for you,” she said. “It tells you what kind of person he is.”

“How?”

“Because it’s such a small ask. If he complains about it or forgets, he’s probably gonna complain and forget to do other shit that’s more important.”

“Okay . . .”

“Gabe peeled an orange for me.”

I smiled. “Really . . .”

“Look, he’s not my type, okay? I’m attracted to red flags and power, he’s way too soft for me.”

“But . . .”

“I don’t know. He’s goofy in a way that gives me a hard-on. We went to IKEA.”

“You went to IKEA?”

“I know, I know.”

“You know what they say about that store, right? You don’t let a man take you to IKEA unless you’re serious because it makes you imagine a life together.”

“I’m not imagining a life with Gabe.” She said his name like it tasted bad. “He’s got a Dungeons & Dragons towel hanging on the wall of his bedroom. I cannot date that no matter what he can do with his tongue.”

I blanched.

“I just wanted you to know that I approve of Seth’s best friend.”

“And that’s important why?”

“Because you can tell a lot about someone by who they hang out with? He’s got good people around him.”

I squeezed my eyes shut. As if Seth needed anything else to recommend him.

“I think I almost kissed him earlier,” I said. “I lost my mind for a second, forgot who I was.”

“Why can’t you kiss him?”

“Because it’s not safe for him? I can’t kiss anyone. I have this creep who thinks I’m his celestial wife, you think he’s going to be any less dangerous to someone I date? Maybe even more. It’s not fair to him. I wouldn’t wish my situation on anyone.”