Every once in a while, I would test the waters by holding myself slightly back from her or inconspicuously stepping a few feet out of touching distance, pretending to look at something that wasn’t there, while I held my breath and waited to see what her next move would be. She skittishly closed the space every single time, moving closer and closer until she was sidled back up to my side. I did that at least four times just to make sure that this was where she wanted to be—with me—because it scared me sometimes, not knowing what was going on inside that head of hers. Every now and then, she
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