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Noah appears in the doorway to the library, his arms crossed, storm clouds on his face. "We're going for a walk."
"I don't think that's a good idea right now. I have things I need to do." I brandish one of my textbooks at him. "I have a test I need to get ready for, and then there are several projects coming up."
"And a walk is a good thing. I know they taught you in school that taking a break every now and then is good for your brain, so get up and let's go."
The tone of his voice leaves little room for argument, and I get to my feet, putting the book on the table beside the plush black chair.
Noah stays a couple of steps ahead of me, leading the way out of the house and through the backyard. He says nothing for a long time until we enter the gardens.
Vines pour out of raised beds, sprawling across the cobblestones. The rose bushes look like they're grown, flowers starting to bloom even bigger than before.
"Why did you want to take a walk?" I follow him around a curve in the path, heading for a little fountain on the far side of the garden.
"How much do you actually like law school?"
"A lot. I know it might sound strange, based on my family and all that, but there's something about rigid rules that calls to me." I kick a rock, sending it skittering.
"There are exceptions to those rules, though." He looks over his shoulder at me.
I eye him before shrugging a shoulder. "Yeah, there are."
He could be the exception to the rule if I were willing to stay here with him. If I were content with just being another bird in a cage again, I wouldn't have to worry about a thing.
I'm never going to be happy like that. I know I wouldn't be, not when I spent my entire life that way and dreamed about the day I'd finally get out.
"Would you ever live somewhere else and practice law?"
I hum and shrug again. "I don't know. I mean, I'm not tied to New York, and I'd like to get out and really see more of the world, but transferring while I'm in law school would likely be a bit better. I wouldn't pass the bar here and then have to take another one in another state."
He nods like he's considering what I said. "You'd still have to learn the state laws, though."
"I would, but it seems less intimidating to do it while I'm still in school."
"Where'd you live if you could live anywhere in the world?"
"On the other coast," I say without giving it a moment of thought.
He turns to me, surprise in his eyes and the warm breeze ruffling his hair. "Why?"
"You're full of questions today."
Noah says nothing, his eyebrow arching as he waits.
I squirm a little, not sure how deep I want to get into things with a man I don't think is ever going to love me. I don't even know if I could ever love him.
But there's a feeling sitting just below my ribs that I know I'm not ready to even think about putting a name to. One that needs to see another side of him, to see what the future could be.
I need to see him realize he could be more if he really wanted to be.
"Why, Summer?" Noah asks again, his tone stern as we leave the gardens, strolling up a hill on the far side of the property.
"Because I want to be so far from my family that their shit can't drag me down anymore."
"And if I could give that to you, one day, then what?"
We crest the hill, and at the bottom is a small lake shimmering beneath the afternoon sun.