“My official grade. How’d I do?” I want to tease him, make him think he earned a low grade, but one look at his face and all thoughts of that vanish. He tries so hard to keep that gruff, unaffected shield up all the time, but it slips now and then, and before he turns away, I catch the vulnerable softness in his expression. I’ve only got one answer to his question: the truth. “Definitely an A+.” He looks at me again and grins. It’s cocky, smug, and maybe even a little bit arrogant, but there’s also a shine in his eyes that betrays his relief at my answer. It lights him up inside, and that
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