“Rafe grinned. "So we are dating?""No. You have to pass the parental exam first. It'll take you awhile to compile the data. They'd like it in triplicate."I turned to my parents. "We have Kenji. We have my cell phone. Since we aren't officially dating, I'm sure you'll agree that's all the protection we need."Dad chocked on his coffee.”

“Another night then,' Mom said. 'Maybe on the weekend we can have a barbecue and invite your sister.' 'Or,' I said turning to Rafe, 'if you want to skip the whole awkward meet-the-family social event you could just submit your life story including your view on politics religion and every social issue imaginable along with anything else you think they might need to conduct a thorough background check.' Mom sighed. 'I really don't know why we even bother trying to be subtle around you.' 'Neither do I. It's not like he isn't going to realize he's being vetted as daughter-dating material.' Rafe grinned. 'So we are dating.' 'No. You have to pass the parental exam first. It'll take you awhile to compile the data. They'd like it in triplicate.' I turned to my parents. 'We have Kenjii. We have my cell phone. Since we aren't yet officially dating I'm sure you'll agree that's all the protection we need.' Dad choked on his coffee.”

“We have Kenjii. We have my cell phone. Since we aren't officially dating, I'm sure you'll agree that's all the protection we need.”

“I'm just saying it's not time for that either. We need to focus and having Maya moon over Rafe is making everyone uncomfortable."Rafe grinned. "Doesn't bother me.”

“Sure. You get all slutty with Rafe. You freak out. You cry date rape drug.' - Hayley”

“I just... I understand you might want to start dating more seriously, and that means dating someone from town. But if you're going to do that..." This time he took a long drink of coffee, and the mug was still at his lips when he said, "I like Daniel. He takes care of you."I blinked. "Oh my God. Did you really just say that? He takes care of me?"Dad flushed. "I didn't mean it like-""Takes care of me? Did I go to sleep and wake up in the nineteenth century?" I looked down at my jeans and T-shirt. "Ack! I can't go to school like this. Where's my corset? My bonnet?”

“He bent, lips coming to mine and —'Derek? Chloe?' It was Kit, opening the back door. Derek let out a low growl.'Never fails.' I turned to Kit. 'How is she?''We’re going to take her back to the house now. She’s unconscious again.''Then we’ll walk back,' Derek said. 'Give you room in the van to lay her down.'His dad agreed and went back inside. As we walked toward the steps, I looked down at Derek’s hand, holding mine.'No one’s around,' he said. 'And we can take the back way.''Good,' I said, and entwined my fingers with his.”