Page 18 of The Fate Factor

“That’s dramatic. You would have gone into a coma from the concussion before you bled out.”

“Comforting.” He gives me a bashful smile that’s somehow familiar to me even though I don’t think I’ve seen it yet, and a shiver snakes through my shoulders.

“This is my taproom,” he says, gesturing out the window. “I have an apartment upstairs.”

Oh. I’m unprepared to find myself face to face with the brick and mortar version of my brain blip. My heart is in my throat as I peer through the windshield for a better look. It’s a two-story converted industrial building, navy blue brick. Long picnic tables and Edison lights sit outside in a parking lot beer garden. It’s very Portland cool. The type of place I would hang out if I lived here.

Then I see the sign—Fortune Brewing—and my arms break out in gooseflesh. Somehow, I know it’s a nod to me. The fortune teller he thinks I am. And why wouldn’t he?

I’m going to need a minute to wrap my head around this. Alone. Elsewhere.

Or maybe I won’t. Maybe when he climbs out of this car, we can just chalk the whole thing up to a weird story and go back to being complete strangers. “Okay, well if you’re all set getting in… ”

“Wait.” Jamie touches my wrist and I practically jump through the sunroof.

“Sorry,” he says, pulling back.

“It’s okay. It’s just, I don’t know when it might… We probably shouldn’t touch.”

“Right.”

There’s no psychic flash when I meet his eyes, though. Instead, I’m surprised by a sort of desperation on his face that would beclear to anyone, no sixth sense needed. “Come back tomorrow night.”

“What?”No.

“To the bar. It’s sort of a big night and I want you to see it.”

I glance at his hand wrapped around his ribs. “You’re working?”

“I don’t think so.” His shoulders sag like I’ve reminded him of an assignment that he forgot to do. “I was supposed to, obviously, but we’ll have time to talk now.”

I’m shaking my head before he even finishes. Iamsorry I was rude to him, but this isn’t something I want to play with. Jamie’s charming, sure, and there’s obviously something weird between us, but I don’t have a good handle on whether it’s a good weird or a bad weird. I definitely shouldn’t go out of my way to hunt it down. “It’s not a good idea,” I tell him.

“Why not? It’s Friday night. Beer is on the house, of course.”

“You don’t have to do that.”

“Does that mean you’ll come?”

“Jamie…”

“Please, Noel,” he says. “I just want you to see it.”

I pull my lip between my teeth. He looks defeated and desperate the same way he did on that roof. And just like that night, a soft spot for him appears. “Okay. I’ll try.”

“Come at seven,” he says. “If you like music, that’s when the band starts.”

He winks at me and then he’s gone.

five

Noel

Katearrivesfirstthingin the morning, a flurry of squeals and nearly-dropped take-out coffee cups. She took today off of work so we could spend the day catching up, and I didn’t realize how much I needed to see her until she was standing in front of me.

“I can’t believe you’re here!” she says, bounce-hugging me on the porch. She breaks the hug, pushing my shoulders out. “You look like a fucking supermodel.”

I snort. I’m still in the pajamas I wore to bring Jamie to the hospital since I spent the last few hours staring at the ceiling until sun-up, wondering if there was maybe a book somewhereon how to handle running into the guy you slept with in a psychic vision. “Why do lies and cuss words come so easily to you?”

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