rking　at　the　Michaelses？　Hampton　Bays

house　since　graduation？or　in　his　case；　semigraduation；　since　he　hadn？t　yet　received　his　diploma；

due　to　a　now…infamous　Viagra…stealing　incident。　And　while　Babs　had　always　been

friendly？bringing　him　tall　glasses　of　lemon…infused　ice　tea　as　he　guided　the　lawnmower　over

Coach？s　beloved　lawn；　urging　him　to　eat　a　slice　of　buttery　cinnamon　toast　when　he　showed　up　in

the　morning；　bleary…eyed　and　ready　for　work？for　the　past　two　days　she？d　been　。　。　。　well；extra

friendly。　He　might　have　been　stoned　most　of　the　time；　but　he　was　with　it　enough　to　notice　that

Babs　Michaelsdefinitely　had　a　thing　for　him。

Doesn？t　everyone？

Nate　paused　and　focused　all　his　energy　on　listening　to　the　quiet　house；　but　the　only　noise　he

heard　was　the　pounding　of　his　stoned；　nervous　heart。　He　brought　the　joint　back　up　to　his　lips　and

paused？maybe　the　pot　was　making　him　paranoid；　but　he　thought　he　heard　something。　It　sounded

like　footsteps　ing　closer。

Shit！Nate　hastily　stubbed　the　joint　out　on　the　rough　wooden　windowsill；　sending　a　shower　of

sparks　onto　the　floor。　Great？not　only　was　he　about　to　get　caught　smoking　a　joint　on　the　job；　he　was

going　to　burn　the　fucking　house　down　in　the　process。　He　tucked　the　roach　into　his　pocket？　no

sense　wasting　it？and　frantically　fanned　the　smoke　out　the　open　window。

？Are　you　up　here；　Nate？？　Babs？s　voice　boomed　from　the　bottom　of　the　attic　stairwell。　？Do　I

smell　something　。　。　。illegal？　You　know；　I　was　a　teenager　once；　too？not　so　long　ago！？

Nate　was　still　waving　his　hands　frantically　when　Babs　emerged　from　the　top　of　the　stairs。　A　sly

smile　spread　across　her　wrinkled；　slightly　sun…burnished　face。　Her　d