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DEAR DEIDRE: I’M in a secret relationship with my cousin and scared someone will see the nude pic of me that she has.

If our family and friends find out we’re together, they won’t understand and they will probably shun us.

I’m a 23-year-old guy, and my cousin is 24. We grew up spending a lot of time together as our families are close, and became good friends.

When we were teenagers, we fooled around, but felt it was wrong, so we put a stop to it. But over the past year, we admitted we had romantic feelings for each other that we couldn’t suppress any more.

We became boyfriend and girlfriend, spending as much time together as we could.

Neither of us lives at home, so our parents have no idea.

I’ve never had the connection I have with her with any other person, and she feels the same.

Sex is amazing - we just fit. It doesn’t feel unnatural.

A couple of weeks ago, we were in bed when she asked if she could take some photos of me naked with her phone camera.

I agreed - it was fun and felt a bit naughty. I got very turned on.

Afterwards, she promised to delete them. But the other day, she admitted she’d kept one because she liked looking at it when she was alone.

Since then, I’ve been feeling a bit paranoid.

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I’m not worried she will send it to anyone — she wouldn’t do that — but what if she loses her phone?

Or what if someone, a friend or her sister, scrolls through her pics and sees it?

She says I’m being silly, but it would be the worst way for anyone to find out we’re a couple.

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DEIDRE SAYS: Am I overreacting? What should I do?

You’re not being silly. Letting someone take nude photos of you is always risky, and photos do fall into the wrong hands.

If you don’t feel comfortable, you need to ask your cousin to delete the photo.

She should understand and accept your concerns, even if she doesn’t agree.

As for your relationship, you are not doing anything wrong. There’s no law against being with your first cousin.

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But I understand that you feel your family and friends might not accept it.

Perhaps, at a later date, if you feel you want to stay together then you could discuss how to talk to them about it.

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