“Who’s asking?” one of them counterasks.
“Shut up!” another one hisses. “Are you crazy? We don’t tell strange men anything.” She grabs her friend's arm and pulls them away, the others following with lingering curious looks.
“None of them are her.”
“And how the hell do you know that?” Aiden’s getting pissed off with me already. Poor baby. The day is still young. I bet he’s going to be so done with me by the end of today that he’s going to take his frustration out on my ass. I can’t fucking wait.
“Because none of them looked upset or shocked that a couple of strangers were looking for someone with the same name as theirs.”
“We’re getting nowhere,” Aiden grumbles. “Let’s go to the bakery down the street. I need a coffee and a piss.”
“What a lovely combo. Don’t get those two mixed up,” I chuckle as I make my way around the truck to the driver's seat.
I park across the street from the bakery. Aiden gets out, and so do I, but I stay at the truck, leaning against it as I pull out a cigarette and light it up.
“Would you put that thing out?” Aiden growls. “I hate kissing you after.”
“I got gum.” I shrug. “Get me a coffee too.”
He grunts before jogging across the street. Waiting, I take in everything around me. This really is a nice little town, far from all the hustle and bustle of city life.
I used to be a country boy, grew up on a farm in a small town in Georgia. I miss it.
Finishing my smoke, I take one last drag before tossing the butt onto the ground and snubbing it out with my foot.
Smoke spills past my lips. I cock my head to the side when I see a blonde woman through the white haze head into the bakery.
I wonder.
She is a pretty little thing, though.
Aiden
I know Sloane is right. The approach we’ve been taking isn’t going to work, point proven by the town Sheriff giving us a warning.
That still doesn't help the impatient need to find her from creeping up my spine. We’re so damn close I can taste it.
Confirming she's actually here, in this town, has me even more on edge.
We’ve spent so many years trying to find her and her sister, even though everyone told us to give up, to let it go.
We couldn’t, something inside us told us to keep going.
I’m glad we didn’t stop. When we were made aware of this lead, I let this light inside me burn to life, one that was just holding on, ready to be blown out with one strong breeze.
Sloane calls Lexiourgirl, and while I do fight him on it, trying to stick with the logistics and rational parts of this situation, I’d be lying if I didn’t feel in my heart that Lexi belonged to me. Tous.
It’s crazy because we’ve never met her before. We don’t have a single clue about her. Yet, she still takes up residence in my mind. More than what is deemed healthy.
My order should be ready by now, so I finish up in the bathroom and wash my hands before heading out to get it.
I’m halfway down the little hall in the back of the bakery, where the washrooms are, when I hear something that gets my attention.
“Hey, Lexi. All good to go.”
Lexi? Did that person just say Lexi?
My heart starts to race, and my feet move faster.
