Page 1 of Between the Blue
prologue
HIM
I like the cold.
Almost as much as I like to win.
They both feel like something I was born for. Like they’re written in my DNA.
Both as natural to me as breathing.
I’m good with what’s natural to me. With what’s expected. With what I have control over.
I don’t like surprises.
But, God, have I had some in my life.
Do you ever stop and wonder what’s the worst thing that’s ever happened to you?
Good for you, that you have the luxury of wondering. That you even have time to stop and ponder that question. Because I don’t.
I can pretend to rack my brain.
I can push my body to its limit each day, trying to force the thought away.
I can toss and turn every night, willing my mind to create new nightmares.
I can tell myself it isn’t true.
But it doesn’t matter.
Because every time, automatically, unequivocally, my answer is the same.
It’sher.
one
HER
“Well, I usually let a guy take me to dinner before I show him my panties.”
Brown eyes continue to stare down at me.
Blinking once.
Blinking twice.
Those same eyes flick down to the scattered contents of my gym bag, lingering just a moment longer than necessary on the last thing I’d prefer.
My baby pink cotton thong dotted with little red cherries.
And now I’m standing here, forced to revisit the events of this morning so I can understand what led me to this.
I had groaned when I realized my cherry-covered panties were the only clean pair I had available in the haphazard transitional state my life is currently in. I thought about digging through my moving boxes to look for another pair, but decided it wasn’t worth setting back my morning schedule.
I know how my brain works. If I let my morning schedule get behind, that would mean my afternoon schedule would be even further behind. And if my whole Monday did not go to plan, I’d be setting myself up for failure for the entire week. And that’s no way to spend your first week in a new city.
My routine keeps me sane. And I figured the best way to adjust to my new home would be to jump right back into it.
