Page 34 of Only Between Us

“I mean how you definitely told me to go left, how youknowyou told me to go left, and then you decided to move the same way.”

Her eyes narrow in thought. “That was a lot of words without saying anything.”

“You wanted to kiss me,” I say simply. “And instead of putting on your big-girl panties and admitting it, you tried to put the blame on me.”

“I believe the saying is big-girlpants. Leave my panties out of your nonsense.”

I lift my eyebrows. “But then we wouldn’t be talking about your panties.”

Her mouth twitches and she takes a long sip of her coffee, wincing as the hot liquid hits her tongue.

We turn onto a dead-end street lined with parked cars, with a glimpse of the boardwalk and the bay beyond it framed by peach-painted brick storefronts. Somehow the boardwalk is already packed with young families with overactive kids, older couples out for a walk along the water.

I pull into a vacant spot and climb out of the car. Siena throws open her door and hops out onto the pavement just as I reach for the door handle.

She freezes, staring at my outstretched hand. “Oh. You don’t have to do that. There’s no one around to see.”

She’s looking at me like I’ve got a screw loose, and this might be worse than the coffees.

“Right. Yeah.”

She reaches for her helmet in the back seat. After another awkward beat, Siena gives me a parting nod and heads right for the boardwalk without another word.

“So, I’ll see you back here tonight?” My voice bounces off the buildings on either side of us.

“What for?” she calls without stopping.

“I’m your ride home, Pippen.”

She waves away the statement, turns the corner, and walks out of sight.

I stare after her. Wondering what the hell I think I’m doing and tugging at the drawstrings on my sweater just to occupy my hands.

Chapter11Siena

“Thanks for your help today.”

Aidan follows me out of Ship Happens, hovering at my side as I set the alarm and lock the glass door. We finally got the new refrigeration system up and running at the shop, bringing our population of worms and minnows back up to a solidtoo many for my personal liking.

Maybe I had to bat my lashes at a guy to earn the money to do it, but it’s for the good of the shop. That’s what counts.

The Baycrest boardwalk is quieter now that it’s dinnertime, though there’s a solid line coming out of Molly’s Chowder Cove, wrapping around the building and into the parking lot like it does every night from May to October.

Across the row of colorful shops is the water, endlessly open straight ahead and lined with a high cliffside topped with pine trees to the left. A few boats dot the bay, including the stunning sailboat owned by Evan and Carla. I haven’t set foot on it in two years, but just the sight of it is enough to force a surge of nostalgia and longing up my throat. Some of my best memories with Dad took place on that ship.

“You don’t have to thank me for helping you, Cee. We’ve beenfriends forever.” Aidan’s words pull me out of it, and I smooth out the hair in my ponytail, brushing off the memories and slapping on a smile. He shoots me a grin and leads the way down the weathered boardwalk. We pass the line of people waiting at Molly’s, headed for the parking lot. There’s a shortcut just right of the lot that’ll shave a couple of minutes off my walk home.

“So, what’s the deal with your bike?” He jerks his chin at the helmet tucked under my arm. “How come you didn’t ride it to work?”

“Long story. You really don’t want to… know.”

Up ahead, against the driver’s side door of a black SUV leans Brooks. Arms crossed, legs crossed at the ankles. And an unmistakably irritated tick to his jaw as he watches Aidan and me stroll into the parking lot.

He lookspissed.

It’s the same look he gave my bike this morning before requesting I stop riding it for the duration of our sham. Like he wished for nothing more than to see it swallowed into a chasm in the earth.

But there’s something else there, too. A tightness in his eyes as they flick from me to Aidan.

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