Page 7 of Text Me Baby One More Time

Shame radiates through me. I feel horrible, and it’s all Shep’s fault. If he wasn’t all up in my personal space, I wouldn’t have had to move. Then I wouldn’t have tripped and run into the cart, pushing it into the woman.

Fine, fine—it’smyfault for letting Shep get to me, but whatever. Semantics.

“Add my stuff to her order—I’ll pay for everything,” I instruct the cashier. It’s the only way I can think of to make this up to her. My mom would whoop my ass if she’d seen what happened, and she’d demand I make it better…now. This is how I can do that.

The woman ahead of me mutters something I don’t quite catch before collecting the last of her bags and pushing her way out of the store.

That’s it. Nothing else.

“Are you serious?” I mutter to no one as I watch her walk away without looking back. “I accidentally hit her with my cart, offer to pay for her groceries, and she doesn’t even say thank you? This night cannot get any worse.”

“Better knock on wood, miss,” the cashier warns.

I ignore her and load my groceries onto the belt.

“I think I love tonight,” Shep comments.

Before I think twice, I launch whatever’s in my hand at him, and he barks out a laugh, catching it with ease.

Stupid freakin’ baseball reflexes.

“Ah, this explains why you’re extra grouchy tonight.”

I take a look at the box I launched and, yep, just my luck—I’ve thrown my tampons at him.

Awesome.

“I wish they would have smacked you right in the eye—with the corner of the box, to be specific.”

“Now that,” he says, tossing the feminine products into the air and catching them without looking, “is rude as hell, Andrews.”

“I hate you, Shepard Clark,” I repeat with as much venom as I can muster.

Cue famous grin. “You only wish you did.”

The worst part?

He’s right.

* * *

“How?How is this my life tonight? First, I run out of tampons, then I run into the king of assholes. Next, I accidentally ram my cart into an old lady, fork over sixty bucks I wasnotexpecting to spend in order to remedy that situation, and now I have a flat tire. Great. Just great.”

I toss my head back on a groan and stare up at the night sky.

“What in the hell is your problem, universe? Huh?”

No response.

I raise a hand and flip her the bird.

“Well, screw you too then!”

“I always did have you pegged as a little crazy. Glad I wasn’t wrong.”

Shep’s footsteps echo across the otherwise quiet parking lot as he comes to stand next to me, staring down at my flat tire.

“King of assholes, huh?”

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