Page 33 of Never Alone

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He didn't say anything.

That was Sam. He didn't fish. He waited. I'd watched him do it to other people for half my life and been on the receiving end of it more times than I could count.

A few minutes went by.

"Something on your mind?"

"Maybe."

"Okay."

He took a sip. Didn't push. I turned the beer in my hands.

"You saw the video."

"Which one?"

"Cap."

"Yeah. I saw it."

I'd known he had. Sam had seen the video the day it went up and said nothing about it, because that was Sam. He let people come to him.

"She came to the station," I said.

He waited.

"Not to say thanks. She came to ask for something."

"Alright."

I let the silence sit a beat.

"There's more to it than the video. She's in trouble. A real situation. Someone dangerous is looking for her, and she needs somebody standing next to her while she handles it." I stopped. The next part was harder. "She asked me if I'd be that somebody."

I didn't look at him. He didn't look at me. I kept my eyes on the yard; he kept his on the same spot of fence he'd beenstudying. That was how we did it. Neither of us had to make it a thing.

"And?"

"And I don't know her."

"Okay."

"And the part of me that wants to say yes doesn't fully make sense. Which worries me."

He took a sip. He was thinking. I could feel him thinking.

"Cole."

"Yeah."

"What would you have done if she hadn't kissed you?"

I thought about it. Properly. Not the version I'd been telling myself.

"Same thing. I'd have pulled her out, walked away, not looked back."

"And after?"

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