Between the Lives - By Jessica Shirvington Page 0,16

and quickly shoved it in my bag. ‘Thanks,’ I mumbled.

Now who looked like the drug dealer?

‘Not a problem.’ He raised an eyebrow, and I was again struck by how dark his eyes were. A deep, ocean blue. My gaze travelled down to his mouth and somehow became stuck there. I stared at the arc of his full bottom lip just as his teeth slid smoothly over it as if he were contemplating something important. He cleared his throat and I blushed, caught in the gawk. ‘We should get going then.’ He gestured towards the door.

‘Oh, no. You don’t have to … I’ll make two trips, it’s fine.’ Then, finding some backbone, I narrowed my eyes and added with a little bite. ‘Really.’

He shrugged and half smiled, enjoying my discomfort. ‘I’ve got nothing better to do.’

Oh, the flattery.

‘Whatever,’ I said. If he wanted to play help-the-invalid, that was his issue. And I did not stare at his backside after I shrugged out of my white coat and followed him out of the store. It was more of a fleeting glance.

CHAPTER SIX

Roxbury, Saturday

If Ethan had been frosty to me in the drugstore, he was positively arctic after we left. I let him suffer the awkward silence I had no intention of fixing. It was clear he didn’t want to be doing this any more than I did.

‘You at college?’ he asked finally.

‘Graduating senior school,’ I answered, avoiding eye contact. I didn’t want to encourage small talk with this guy.

‘Graduation, huh? Big plans for the future?’

I rolled my eyes. Like he cared. ‘I suppose. I’m looking forward to finishing school and some new possibilities.’

‘Oh?’ He raised his eyebrows. ‘And what are those?’

I shrugged, confused by his interest. ‘I’m not exactly sure yet, but I like the idea of a future I can take one day at a time and, I don’t know, live each day to the fullest, I guess.’

He nodded, his gaze moving down to my cast. ‘So what’d you do?’

I cringed, shaking my head at myself. ‘Tripped on the subway steps.’

‘It happens.’

‘Not to me it doesn’t,’ I said without thinking.

He gave me an odd look.

‘I mean, I just … I’ve never broken anything before.’

He was still staring at me curiously, but thank god we hit the dry-cleaners and he stopped asking questions. He didn’t speak again until we were back out of the shop when he insisted on carrying the white coats wrapped in plastic.

‘Thanks,’ I said, trying to stop my gaze travelling below his rolled-up shirt sleeves where his forearms flexed as he gripped the hangers. He wasn’t super built or anything – if anything he was lean – but everything was just … annoyingly nice to look at.

I cleared my throat. ‘So you work at the clinic then? You a doctor or something?’

He didn’t look like the doctor type – dark jeans, black shirt rolled up to his elbows, and overgrown dark hair curling at the ends – but you never knew.

‘Or something,’ he said wryly, shooting me a look as if he knew exactly where I’d pegged him. ‘Your mom owns the drugstore?’

We went into Starbucks – thankfully no queue – and I ordered Mom and Denise their usual caramel lattes. ‘Nup. They just manage it.’

‘Surprised I’ve never seen you before. I used to go there every week.’

I remembered what Denise had said about the Monday scripts. ‘I’m at school on Mondays. For one more week anyway.’

Ethan nodded. After I’d paid for the coffees I turned and caught him staring at me with the same odd look on his face before he quickly glanced away.

‘Here, I’ll carry one,’ he offered.

I loaded one on top of the other and lifted them easily in my good hand. ‘I’ve got it,’ I said, heading for the door.

As we neared the drugstore I tried not to pick up the pace. I knew that if he was going to say something it would be now. But we made it all the way inside without so much as a: ‘I read your notebook. That’s some messed up stuff in there.’ And once the coffees had been handed out and dry-cleaning hung on the rack, Ethan collected his pile of drugs, loaded them in his bag and left with barely a nod in my direction.

I busied myself restacking shelves and made a point of not thinking about Ethan – every single time his curvy lips and muscly forearms crept their way into my mind.

Mom let me go just before two, which was perfect timing to