Page 19 of Entangled

“What do you mean?”

“We’ve been through this entire store and the only things you have in your cart are baked goods, oranges, avocados, cabbage, ranch dressing, bread, peanut butter, pretzels, coffee and toilet paper.”

“Cabbage?” I murmur, looking at what I had been sure was a head of lettuce.

His face scrunches up in confusion for a moment before transforming into a look of genuine horror as his eyes flick between me and my cart.

I cross my arms defensively, standing firm against his judgment. “It looks just like lettuce.”

“You can’t be serious.”

“Shut the fuck up.” I push my cart toward the checkout. “You’re the one who wanted to shop with me.”

“Next time I should probably just shop for you,” he mutters under his breath behind me.

Bringing our carts to the checkout, I spend the next twenty minutes filled with irritation as Ms. Mabel, the painfully sweet elderly cashier, takes her sweet time checking us out. Using the opportunity to fawn over Jace and cast suspicious glances my way every sixty seconds. As if I’m the bad influence here. I’m finally able to escape after Jace, the sweetheart, just promises to try and make it to her Sunday school class this week that he hasn’t attended sincefifth grade.

I come to a stop on the sidewalk outside the store and shoot him an annoyed look. “I was about two seconds away from asking if you would take me to Sunday school too just for the sheer amusement I would get from forcing you to go.”

His eyes widen in horror at my threat, mouth dropping open as he brings his cart head-to-head against mine. “Vicious.”

“Always.”

“Noted.” Lightly bumping his cart against mine, he eyes me intently. “So, you going to come to my bonfire tonight?”

“Oh, so now it’s your bonfire?”

He flashes those dimples and shrugs. “It’s a concerted effort.”

A soft sigh leaves me as I stare at him with no answer and nothing but confusion filling me. The problem is a part of me actually does want to go. Part of me really does like him with his ridiculous charm and playful eyes. And that part, well it scares me even more now than it did last summer. Scared isn’t even the right word, what I used to be was scared, what I am now is downright terrified.

Could I keep things purely physical? Probably. Most likely.

I’d had no trouble keeping things casual with the string of guys before Coop.

But something in my gut tells me Jace Dawson is a master at slipping through the cracks in people’s walls. And I just can’t afford another hostile invasion that ends in nothing but tragedy. Last night did nothing but prove that to me.

“I’m not su—”

“It’s only like four blocks from Mrs. Delacriox’s place,” he cuts me off, sensing the direction I was headed in. “You could literally walk there, pretty much a straight shot.”

“How do you know where my gram’s lived?”

A roll of his eyes is followed by an amused shake of his head. “Small town, Blondie. Small town.”

My brows drop as I look down to the ground for a moment, gathering my thoughts before tipping my head back up at him.

“Jace…” I start, feeling oddly guilty, like I’m letting him down even though he’s a virtual stranger. “It’s not that I don’t like you. It’s just that I’m kinda m—”

“Jace!” a girly voice calls from the parking lot, breaking the moment and drawing both our gazes.

I watch the girl coming toward us, quickly placing where I know her from as she makes her way through the parking. She’s the cute brunette bartender from last night. But what I had mistaken for brunette is actually stunning auburn waves under the sun and her body pinup-girl perfection.

“For fuck’s sake,” Jace mutters on a harsh exhale.

She comes to a stop in front of us, seeming oblivious to my presence she bounces lightly on the balls of her feet. A hyper energy pours off of her and makes me think someone definitely had one too many Red Bulls this morning.

“What are you doing here?” Bright-blue eyes filled with idolization are locked onto the man across from me. “I thought you said that you had just been to the store yester—”

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