Page 3 of Enchanted Kisses
I blinked and shoved the brown strands away, with no relief.
I tried to force tears. When that didn’t work, I tore down the visor and searched for the cause. Pale-blue eyes similar to a White Walker fromGame of Thronesstared back at me.
I gasped and grabbed my chest.Geez. You’d think I’d be used to the color by now. I’d lived with it for over two months.
In my defense, I’d had hazel eyes my entire life. On my nineteenth birthday—two weeks after Caiden disappeared—I woke up to this startling shade and have been lying about it ever since.
“They’re colored contacts I ordered for a Halloween costume and fell in love with,” I told people who questioned why my eyes were suddenly pale blue.
Nobody doubted the story, although a few people told me I should embrace my natural color.If only they knew I was.
I would have told my dad the same lie, but he took one look at my eyes and said, “Now you really look like your mother.”
Dad wasn’t reliable when it came to memories of my mom, and we never talked about it again. However, the lilac flecks that appeared around my pupils a few days ago had me thinking the topic would come up if the color changed to purple.
The only comfort I had regarding the strange anomaly came from Raysa. She said it was genetic and claimed to know a girl back in England—where she was from—whose eyes changed from blue to brown overnight.
What would Caiden think when he saw me? Should I tell him the truth or give him the same lie? Did he deserve to know my secrets anymore?
I closed the visor and glanced at Olson’s in the distance. Was he inside waiting for me at our pool table or was he outside by the door?
I’d never met him here. We always came together. Before he moved to Brunswick a year ago, I hadn’t known this place existed. Why would I? The restaurant catered to bikers and was thirty minutes out of town. Caiden liked the privacy it offered from the locals, and he loved to play pool.
I could remember the first time he brought me here like it was yesterday.
“We won’t be bothered by the bikers,” he’d said right here from the passenger seat of my car in this very parking lot. “They won’t even notice us. I’ll make sure of it. I have a pool table on reserve. We’ll be invisible. I promise.”
Even though the dusty, rugged place looked dangerous and unappealing, I believed him. That was the thing about Caiden. He could charm you into anything and deliver on his promises. I had no idea how a scrawny eighteen-year-old had any sway over adults, let alone Harley-riding biker dudes who looked lethal, but he did.
As if we were truly invisible, Caiden led me by the hand to an empty pool table around a corner in a private room.
“Ready to play one of the best games ever invented?” he’d asked and racked the balls on the table.
“I guess.” I’d shrugged and glanced around, baffled. The pub was crowded, smokey, and loud, but it was as if an unseen barrier kept all that away from our little corner.
“Eyes on me, Lily.” Caiden caught my gaze and winked. For a second, it looked as if his vivid turquoise eyes glowed. But then, they were bright in all lights, as if the sun shined in them twenty-four-seven.
My heart sputtered in a way it never had for this guy who, after only three months, had become one of my best friends.
At a glance, Caiden was average looking. His features weren’t chiseled and freckles dotted his skin, but he had four things going for him: Caramel-colored, grown-out strands that appeared windswept from a day at the beach. Eyes that were near-fluorescent. A sexy accent that sounded a bit British. And the confidence of a celebrity or billionaire who could command the world and the people in it to do as he wished.
“Watch and learn, sweet Lily,” Caiden murmured, and my heart sputtered again.
He chalked up a stick, brushed his wavy hair from his eyes, and lined up the shot. Instead of looking at the table, he stared at me as he thrust the stick forward and crushed the white ball.
Thumping and crashing sounded from the pool table, but I couldn’t pull my gaze from Caiden’s to see what had happened.
Without glancing at the table, he straightened and held the stick out to me. “Your turn.”
When I finally examined what was left from his shot, my mouth opened in utter shock. Every one of his balls hugged the edge of the table, whereas all of mine aligned with the pockets. The white ball sat in the center and in the perfect position for me to sink any shot.
I shook my head, unable to keep from smiling. It was so Caiden. He could do anything with the ease of a pro and when he showed off, somehow it always benefited me.
My phone chimed with a text, startling me from the memory.
I grabbed it and read the screen. It was from Raysa.
Hey. Just checking on you. I had a weird feeling something might be wrong. You okay?
