Page 11 of Until You Found Me

“It used to be short. Really, really short.” She runs her fingers through those red strands he’s admired, with anamused purse to her lips. “I dunno why I did that, but I remember shaving it in the bathroom by myself. The vibrations of the electric razor in my hand and how prickly it felt afterward. Weird, right? Of all the things to remember.”

He tries to imagine her with short hair, looking every bit the pixie. “I like it up like that. Bet it looked nice short too, though.”

She reaches up self-consciously to ghost the elastic band in her pony tail, and he worries he overstepped and made her uncomfortable. “I wasn’t sure what to do with it. It’s wild. Maybe I’ll dye it next.”

“Really?”

She shrugs, popping another chip into her mouth, her tone matter of fact. “It sticks out, it’s too bold. Not sure why I didn’t dye it already. No one wants to look at this, they’ll burn their retinas.”

“I do.” He blurts out, his gaze following the long tendrils framing her face that escaped, curling in gentle waves and glinting like copper. “I mean, forget I said that. Don’t matter what I think. You should do whatever you want. I’ve got no business talking about hair.”

The last thing he should be doing is giving his opinion on how she looks. If she wants to dye it blonde or pink or purple, then she should if it helps her feel more like herself, but here he goes running his mouth anyway, making everything weird. She probably thinks he’s trying and failing at flirting and he face palms.

When he looks up, she’s smiling down at a half-empty bag of chips and he allows himself to entertain a concept that he’s been ignoring…that he really likes looking at her. There’s a dainty little slope to her nose and a pretty dusting of freckleson her skin, muted enough that he has to focus to see them. He knows without a doubt that no one’s ever had a warmer smile. It makes his stomach twist up in all the right kinds of knots.

As soon as he permits those thoughts guilt overtakes him. She’s in no condition or mood for him to ogle her. “Anyway, it’s good you’re remembering things, right?”

She only nods, changing the subject quickly to the topic of chips again and reaching in to steal a few more of his in case she was wrong about finding them inedible.

He gets the distinct feeling that she’s not so eager to remember anything more than past hairstyles or food preferences, not that he can blame her for that.

* * *

Later, he finds Audrey in the cafeteria, pouring coffee like she didn’t kick someone out who deserves to be here.

“What’s going on? Why is she getting booted so fast?”

“That’s not my decision.” She frowns. “You know that. Admin won’t pay for a Jane Doe long term. Right now, the shelter is her only choice until we determine her identity.

“She can’t go to that place. It’s a fucking dump.”

“There’s nowhere else because we have no one to bill yet. I’m sorry, Logan, I know it’s not ideal.”

“Not ideal?” He scoffs. “She just climbed outta the damn ground and now we’re putting her somewhere covered in bugs and mold. That’s worse than not ideal.”

Audrey narrows her eyes, hands on her hips instead of on her coffee cup and he knows he fucked up. “I don’t make the rules. If it were up to me, she could stay here indefinitely.You, of all people, know how much I hate the system.”

He’s taking his anger out on her and that isn’t fair. He rubs the space between his eyes with a wince, remembering all the times he was rolled in here half dead and she saved his life. “I know. M’sorry. I’m just worried about her.”

Logan would arrange a hotel for her if he had the money, but he doesn’t and won’t for a while. He also doubts she has any desire whatsoever to shack up in his little trailer in the middle of nowhere. He may be visiting her, but he’s still closer to being a stranger than a friend.

“I am too,” Audrey admits softly. “I don’t like it either. I put a call in to the shelter two counties over. They might have room in a couple of weeks. It’s better there, they have more funding. It’s right across the street from a Whole Foods for fuck’s sake, so I doubt there’s any roaches.”

“Good, that’s good.” His heart relaxes a bit at knowing there might be another option even if she’d be further away. “Thanks.”

“You’re taking her tonight?”

“Mhmm.”

“Tell her it’s only temporary, okay?”

“Yeah. Only temporary.”

“And Logan? Be careful. She’s vulnerable right now, more than a little confused about everything and rapidly getting attached to you. If you suddenly disappear, it might set back her progress.”

“Who says I’m gonna disappear?”

“I didn’t say you would. This is a sensitive situation, that’s all, and in the long run, it might actually be kinder to part ways now.”

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