Page 202 of Between the Blue
And find it completely empty.
Just like I knew it would be.
I purse my lips.
And I keep walking. All the way to the door of the parking garage.
They’re gone.
He’s gone.
I wanted it that way.
I came here at this time for a reason.
This is good.
I walk through the garage half-dazed, rounding the corner to the floor that my car sits on.
I shift the box against my side and shake my shoulder so that one handle of my tote bag will fall off of it, then attempt to dig inside my bag with one arm for my car keys.
When I’m unsuccessful at finding them, I blow out a frustrated breath, stopping about ten feet away from my car and setting my box of things at my feet.
I slide my tote bag off fully, ducking my head down to look for my keys. Once I do, I pull them out, turn in the direction of my car, and press the button on the remote to unlock it.
“Was that so hard?” I mutter aloud to myself.
Then I resecure my tote bag on my shoulder and spin back to where my box is, bending down to pick it up. Once I have hold of it, my head lifts.
And that’s when I see Ben.
Standing just outside of the open driver’s door of his Range Rover directly in front of me. Like he was just about to get in it and drive away a second before I arrived.
And my heart immediately feels like it’s tearing in two all over again.
We stare at each other for a long moment.
And then his eyes drop down to the box in my hand.
I shift on my feet for a few seconds, and then turn away, walking over to my car and opening the passenger door, setting the box inside. When I close my door, I hear another door close, and I turn my head to see Ben walking over to me.
I clear my throat as he approaches. He stops right in front of me, putting his hands into the pockets of the dark Texas Storm hoodie he’s wearing.
He doesn’t say anything, just staring at me with those unreadable amber eyes I hate so much.
And love.
When the silence goes on so long that I feel like I may crawl out of my skin, I’m forced to speak up.
“I thought practice ended thirty minutes ago.”
“I had to stay after and meet with Bear.”
“Oh.”
“What’s in the box, Cherry?”
I press my lips together. “My things.”
