“Holden—” she starts, but I stop her before she says something she doesn’t mean. “No, don’t do that, Aria. Don’t say it back because you feel obligated.” She puts her finger to my lips to silence me before saying, “I wouldn’t be saying it out of obligation. I would be saying it because it’s the only word that fits how I’ve felt about you since the first night we met. I’ve never been in love, Holden, but I can’t imagine it’s not this. You’re all I think about. You’re the last thought I have before I fall asleep and the first one I have when I wake, along with every other thought after that, but
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