Something about this entire situation seemed too coincidental. Things lined up in a way that gave me the same feeling that Aunt Laurel used to call tail-flicking energy under a sideways moon. Neither of these two had the same type of vibe as the rest of the town’s citizens.
Dissecting the turn of events in my head, it was becoming all too clear why the hair on the back of my neck was bristling with something resembling instincts warring between fight or flight.
Exhibit A: Beth had just left for home, and I just so happened to run into two guys I hadn’t yet met in a town so small that the mayor was also the only accountant and the local locksmith.
Exhibit B: These two guys who appeared to be a couple of years older than I was, and looked like they had just been ripped out of a heartthrob magazine. Theenergy they were bathing in screamed something I couldn’t place just yet.
Exhibit C: My inner feline was poofing up its fur and sharpening its claws.
“And here I thought I had met everybody in town already,” I dryly noted. “I’m Harlow. My family and I just moved here a few days ago.” I shook Corbin’s hand firmly enough to give off confidence without crushing his grip and not lingering long enough to give off the wrong message.
My eyes locked onto Corbin’s lightly colored hues, which reminded me of a caramel apple pie. Warm, glossy, inviting with a hint of spice amongst the sweetness.
There was this feeling of familiarity, almost a sense of déjà vu. I hadn’t met him before, right? No, I was certain that his entire look would have stuck out.
There weren’t too many folks here who looked like they aspired to be a modern-day rock legend, oozing with sex appeal and bad decisions. I half expected adoring fans to come screaming around the corner at any moment.
“We tend to stick to ourselves,” said the other one in a gravelly tone. The one who looked like he was going for farm boy chic. A bit of vintage mixed with modern-day style. Just enough of his dark blonde hair peeked out from the bottom of the vintage cap he was wearing. His blue eyes stood out like cornflowers in a meadow of wheat.
Despite his friend’s clear effort to keep space between us, he stepped closer anyway. The invasion was close enough to notice the scent of something earthy and crispcoming off of him, but just barely far enough that I wasn’t ready to knee him in the balls. Yet.
Leaning his face in a fraction more, Bale dropped his tone into something quieter but still rough at the edges. “That is, until we find someone worth spending time with.”
His fingers wrapped around my hand, cradling it in his palm like a rare treasure. Raising my knuckles to his lips, he stopped just shy of contact.
Something coiled low in my core at the proximity and the heat of his breath that breezed over my skin.
Then, he abruptly released my hand and stepped back with a smug look on his face. “Too bad you don’t fit the bill, kitten.”
Something seized up in my chest, causing my heart to stutter.
Defensively, I snapped my arms into place, crossed in front of me. The curve of my nails bit into my biceps through the material of the sweater.
Glancing over at his dark and broody friend, I got the feeling he didn’t share the same sentiment. Or perhaps Corbin just realized how fucking rude his buddy was.
It was gratifying to know that I wasn’t the only one casting daggers with my eyes at Bale.
“You’re not my cup of tea either,patch.” I gave a jerk of my chin and a pointed look at the stupid newsie cap he was wearing with mismatched swatches of fabric sewn all over it.
A rumbling chuckle came straight from the center ofhis chest. “Clever,” he murmured before he turned to look at his friend. “She’s got spunk. I like her.”
Corbin looked like he was torn between committing murder and dry heaving in disgust. I wouldn’t blame him if it were both.
Instead, in a strained tone, he turned to look at me with something softer in his gaze. “My apologies—again. Bale comes from a long line of individuals with sticks up their asses.”
“Better than coming from a family of dodos,” Bale shot back under his breath, but unmistakably audible.
It prompted an exasperated huff from Corbin. “They’re not even remotely in the same famil—” He cut himself off and pinched the bridge of his nose instead.
When he continued, several deep breaths later, it was with what came off as practiced patience that he ignored Bale. His focus was fully on me, as if I were his entire universe.
“Look, Harlow, we don’t get a whole lot of fresh faces here. Sometimes we forget what it’s like to be the new person. Let us make it up to you tonight at the opening ceremony of the town’s fall festival.”
The genuine interest in making things right caught me off guard. My shoulders dropped slightly, and my grasp on my arms loosened.
Bale stood there silently, waiting and perhaps judging what my response would be.
After a standstill of charged silence,he finally sighed with a scaled-back level of annoyance. “You scared that you might actually have a good time?”
