“Here. Lift your arms.”
I lifted my arms and glanced up at the beautiful stranger’s face. The tip of his tongue was peeking out, touching the corner of his lips, and I quickly looked away. He held the shirt up as I pushed my arms through, then deftly buttoned it up. He took a step back with his hands on his hips and looked me up and down.
“Perfect. All right, sugar, I’ll see you soon. You stay right there because I’m gonna thank youso hardwhen it’s over.” He slid his thumb across my cheek, then turned and headed to the stage. He pulled a few things from his pockets, handed them to a helper standing at the side of the stage, then stepped up and waved at the crowd when they cheered louder.
He looked like he was born to be on a stage. To be the center of attention.
What did “thanking meso hard”mean?
I watched in a daze as the man with the mic said something to make the crowd go wild, and then he grabbed the hose and started spraying the men down—the pink-haired beauty included.
Who was smiling at me.
The water caught him under the chin, making him laugh and squeeze his eyes shut. As soon as he wasn’t looking at me, I ran away like the coward I was, wondering if I’d made the biggest mistake of my life coming here.
There was no way I could do this.
I satin my rental car for over an hour, letting it run so I could keep the AC on as I tried to calm my shaking nerves.
I’d stolen that man’s shirt.
And I couldn’t stop smelling it.
He smelled like candy and flowers and the sweetest things.
I’d stolen his shirt. I’d stolen someone’s shirt my very first hour in the place I was supposed to call home now.
Oh, god, I wanted to drive away and never return so badly, but…
I’d just gotten off the phone with Shea, who said he was almost here.
I checked the time on the dash and was about to get out when the man with the pink hair walked past.
My heart thudded against my chest, and I squeezed the steering wheel. He ran a hand through his damp hair, his long strides eating up the pavement.
He was naked from the waist up and clutching my dripping-wet t-shirt in one hand.
Oh, shit. Had he found me? Had he seen me? Was he here for me or was it just a coincidence?
Wait, I was in the parking lot of an apartment complex. Did he live here? Oh, god, if he saw me he would think I was stalking him!
I slid down in my seat, trying to be less conspicuous, but he wasn’t even looking over here. He waved to someone across the parking lot, shouted something, then turned and pulled open the door to the complex, disappearing inside.
If he lived here, this was going to be a nightmare.
This never would’ve happened if we had been able to stick to the original plan.
But staying with Shea’s friend Riley was no longer an option, and now I had to stay with his other friend, Lea—which he’d told me very adamantly was pronounced likelee-uhand notlayorleeand to certainly never call him by his full name, Leander—instead.
“Riley’s house flooded, a goddamn pipe burst. You’ll have to stay with Lea for a bit. Sound good?”
Nothing sounded good right now, and it felt like I didn’t have any say in anything, but it was easier to just go along with his suggestions than try and figure things out for myself right now.
I banged my head against the headrest and squeezed my eyes shut.
Twelve years of separation from my brother had come to an end. I used to dream about being reunited with him, but that had begun to fade as I grew older and understood more of the world and my situation.
I was here, but the excitement I might’ve once had was nowhere to be found.