the rest of your life. It’s one of those laughs that is like fucking music to your ears. It’s the exact reason I turn around, trying to find the source. I’m not even all that surprised when I spot Selene. Her arms are full of grocery bags as she shifts them from arm to arm as she talks with Mr. Jackson, owner of Jackson’s Hardware Store that’s right next to the Grab-N-Go.
What are the fucking odds?
My grip tightens around the bouquet of red roses as I take her in. She’s dressed in another of those loose dresses she had on last night. She’s a tiny little thing. She can’t be over five-two. Her hair is in a loose braid that hangs over her shoulder. Stray hairs frame her gorgeous face, and I have a hard time looking away. She must feel the weight of my gaze. After she says goodbye to Mr. Jackson, she turns around with her brows pulled down in confusion. When our gazes collide, I see the shock register. Her mouth opens and then closes, like that of a gaping fish.
I watch as her gaze drops down to the bouquet in my hands and then back up. A myriad of emotions crosses her face. I swear one of them is even jealousy that I spot.
Closing the distance, I stop just a few feet in front of her, and unable to help myself, I grin. I can feel the gazes of everyone in town. Or maybe it just feels that way now that I know everyone in town knew about her crush on me. I had no idea so many people were rooting for me—rooting for us.
“Selene,” I say by way of greeting. I watch it happen, the way the soft pink tint of embarrassment starts at her chest, slowly creeping up, coloring her neck, until it travels up to her cheeks, flushing her entire face pink. “You look beautiful.”
A crease forms between her brows, and she looks down at herself, then shakes her head as though what I’m saying can’t be true. “No. What? No, I don’t.”
I chuckle, quite enjoying the way I frazzle her. “You have a hard time accepting compliments, don’t you?”
Her mouth pinches. “That’s not true.”
I quirk a brow that clearly says I don’t believe her. I decide to change the subject. “Out doing some shopping?”
She clears her throat, and when she opens her mouth to speak, a croak leaves instead. She starts coughing and banging on her chest as she tries to pull herself together. “Yeah. My dad had nothing in the house to eat. And as much as we’d like to eat out every night, we can’t.”
“Let me guess, all he had in the fridge was some Spam, sandwich meat, and pickles?”
Surprise alights her eyes. “Close. It was jelly, not pickles.”
I smirk, shaking my head. It definitely sounds like Gavin. I usually made a point to drop by with some groceries. He’d get mad, but thank me anyway. I’ve been out of town, closing up a contract for the past two weeks, so I didn’t have a chance to stop by before his family showed up.
“That’s probably my fault. I usually take him some groceries when I have time. Work has been a little hectic, and time got away from me.”
Her brows dip, causing the cutest little crease to form between them. She looks down at her feet, then back up at me through her lashes. “You do all that for him?”
“Yeah. I mean, it’s not really a big deal.”
“That is a big deal, Endymion. So, thank you. That can’t be easy. Especially when you have your own life and your own family to worry about.”
I shrug, suddenly uncomfortable with the praise. “He’s like family.”
With her head cocked to the side the slightest bit, Selene regards me with quiet curiosity. Her gaze darts down to the bouquet in my hands, and something passes over her features briefly before I can figure out what it is. She steels herself, adopting a passive expression and a smile that doesn’t quite reach her eyes.
“Those are nice,” she mentions, nodding toward the bouquet.
“You like them?”
“Yeah. I mean, sure. They’re pretty.”
“I actually planned on giving them to you at your house, but here. They’re for you.”
If it’s at all possible for her eyes to get any bigger than they already are, they do. Surprise is written all over her face as she looks from me to the bouquet.