Page 22 of Claiming What's Mine

Shaking her head, she covered the pie with a red handkerchief she had stowed away in her basket. “Not a chance. But we can make another one tomorrow just for us.” Wrapping a white ribbon around the handkerchief, she tied a big bow on top.

“Fine, we'll do it your way.”

One corner of her lip pulled back as thin lines creased her forehead. “We're doing it the right way—not my way. Not everything is about one person, sometimes you have to just do what's right.” Carefully, with two hands, Blue placed the pie in the basket. “Let's clean up and then we can bring this to her.”

“Are we actually—”

Giggling, she shook her head as she spoke. “No, we're just going to leave it outside the door.”

“That's good, I'm not exactly wearing an apology face right now.”

“You look fine, Jay, handsome as ever.”

My stomach fluttered as her words swept through my head. Swallowing hard, I shook off the feeling and began cleaning up the table.

Blue started the water for the dishes as I gathered up the bowls and utensils. We had a nice system going, she washed and I dried and put them away. I kept glancing at her from the corner of my eyes, her profile glowing as the sun came through the window.

She took my breath away. That was the first time I realized how beautiful she really was. For all the years we had known each other, I had always seen her as a friend. But that changed, that day was the exact moment where I knew. . .

I loved Betty-Sue Fable.

Blue looked up at me, I was looking down at her, our shoulders were barely touching, but I could feel the warmth of her against me. A warm sensation flowed up my arm, moving across my chest and down into my gut.

We didn't say a word, we just stared into each other's eyes. I knew without even thinking it that I wanted to kiss her, that I should kiss her. It was an instinct, something I felt inside, something that didn't need verbal directions.

Leaning in slowly, Blue moved her face up. I was watching her lips as they came in closer and closer, parting slightly right before our mouths touched. Her lips were soft, smooth, and fit perfectly against mine.

There was no tongue with our first kiss, it was all lips and eyes. Neither one of us shut our eyes, we kept them open, peering at each other. The water was still running and I could see the steam fogging up the window as we just stood still, lips on lips.

A small bubble from the dishes floated between our faces, causing us both to follow it. It came out of nowhere, moving in between us like a ghostly orb. And then it popped, splashing both of us with dish soap in our eyes.

Blue started laughing as we both jerked away and started to rub our eyes. “My eye, it stings so bad.”

Opening my eye after rubbing it for a second, I blinked quickly. “As if I didn't have enough wrong already. . .” Sighing, I chuckled with her.

Tires on the dirt driveway caused me to jump. Leaning to look out the window, I saw my father pulling up to the house.

“Shit, we need to go, my dad's home.” Grabbing her hand, I picked up the basket with the pie and dragged her out the back door.

Blue ran with me, gripping my hand tightly and not letting go. It felt right, having her hand in mine, the way her fingers curled up between my knuckles and held on.

Cutting through the field, we came out on the other side in her yard. We didn't let go of each other right away, we stood, catching our breath, but not once did either of us loosen our grip.

Looking down at our tangled fingers, Blue peeled hers away, realizing that we were in view of her house.

The warm feeling I had was still there, filling me from head to toe. I was trying not to smile, but it didn't work. It was as if I had been unknowingly holding that in, keeping my feelings for her to myself.

Forcing a cough, I rubbed my chin and tried to act casual. “That was weird,” I said, handing her the basket.

Blue took in a few slow breaths and smiled. “That wasn't weird, that was fate.”

“Fate?I don't think that was fate, that was way to close, if my father found you in our house—”

“No,” she said, cutting me off. “ He didn't see me there because he wasn't meant to see me there. I think your mom is trying to save him.”

“My mom?” Arching a brow, I frowned. “I don't think so. I don't believe in that stuff.”

Nodding, her smile grew wider. “I'm telling you, it's no coincidence that just happened.”

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