Page 4 of Between Us

Grabbing onto her slender arm, I help to balance her as she almost tips over when she tries to take a step back. It takes her a second to gather her bearings again.

I watch her look at her own feet.

I watch the way some of her black hair falls into her face despite the bun it’s tied up into—even noticing the bright pink scrunchie holding it up.

I watch as she looks over her shoulder, searching for whoever she must have come to the store with.

Andfinally, I watch as her head tips back toward me and her striking gray eyes meet my dark brown ones.

Her mouth slightly pops open when she finally processes her surroundings. “I’m sorry,” she quickly apologizes and gently shakes my hand off her arm.

I let it fall to my side, but I’m almost in a trance, blatantly staring at one of the prettiest women I’ve ever seen.

My smile slowly slides across my face as I quickly bend down to grab her phone. “No reason to be sorry. I wasn’t paying attention either.”

She nods her head, opening her mouth but quickly closing it. Instead of saying anything, she takes her phone back and eyes me with open curiosity. As I’m about to offer my hand and introduce myself, my dad’s deep voice calls from down the aisle.

“Adrian, hurry up, now. We need to find the cornmeal.”

What the fuck?

I quickly turn around to find my mom watching me with a small, curious smile. My dad is looking down at his phone, engrossed in whatever reason I’d ever need fucking cornmeal, and is oblivious to the girl I almost body slammed in the aisle.

But as I move to face the beautiful stranger, she’s already slipping away.

Slowly, she walks backwards, watching the interaction with my parents. She doesn’t say anything, nor does she stop when my attention is back on her. The tug to her lips is small and shy, but it’s also kind of teasing—like sheknowsI’ll be thinking about this moment for days.

It’s then I notice the two girls waiting for her by the entrance. The petite one with long dark hair looks like the cat that caught the canary, and the tall blonde is watching with apt attention.

When the stranger is about halfway between me and her friends, she turns on her heels and jogs toward them. I wait, hoping she’ll look back and give me one more glance at her silver eyes.

But she doesn’t. When she gets to her friends, she loops her arm through the blonde’s and pulls her out of the building, with their other friend bouncing on her heels behind them.

A few seconds later, my mom walks up to me and bumps me with her hip. “Cute girl.” She tips her chin toward the exit with a knowing smirk.

“You could say that,” I mutter and turn toward her.

She watches me for a second, in that assessing way only your own mother can pull off. “That smile is going to get you in trouble one day.”

I scoff and drop my arm around her shoulder. “You couldn’t even see my face.”

“I’m your mom—I don’t need to be able to see your face to know when you pull out that no good grin of yours.”

A laugh tips my head back. “Eyes in the back of your headandx-ray vision? Do all moms have that, or are you extra special?”

“Both,” she quickly retorts. With a pat to my upper back, she adds, “It’s a small community, you know.”

Yeah, I know… hopefully small enough I—literally or figuratively—run into the girl with lightning eyes again soon.

Chapter One

Adrian

Thedoortomyapartment slams behind me at the same second I roll my eyes. My mom can’t see me since we’re on the phone, but the lack of traveling right now is making her lose her sanity.

She’s going on about the silent feud her and the neighbors are having. Apparently, they changed their flowerpots the same day she and Dad did.

God forbid.

---