Second Chance (21 page)

I set the comb down on the porch step
.
“What?” I ask
.

“You’re the only girl I’ve ever met that goes out of
her way to dress
badly
.
”

“It’s okay,” I say and tug on the collar
of my jacket
.
“It’s vintage.” I open up the front of the coat
to show Gray the inside
lining
and he shudders at the
sight of the striped flannel
.
His reaction makes me laugh
.
I
pick myself up and stick my hip out to t
he side like I’m posing for a magazine cover
.

“Hey,
this
style is
the rage in
Europe
right now,
”
I say.

Gray studies his fingernails
.
“I’m sure.”

He
turns and heads for
the sidewalk and I fall into step next to him
.
“
It’s not my fault
this country’s
lagging
behind in fashion.” 

“It must be hard
being
a trendsetter,” Gray says
, keeping
his eyes straight ahead
.

“
It’s a huge
responsibility
,” I
agree
.
“
Fashion is
a risk
.
I
pull it off with a balance of
confidence
, myst
ique
a
nd rebellion
.” 

Gray shakes his
head and his lip
twitch
es
at one corner
.
It isn’t
even
close to a smile, but it’
s a start
.
I
sneak looks at his
profile
while
w
e walk
.
His
thick, shaggy
dark
hair
spill
s
out from under his hat
,
his
blue eyes mirror the sky
,
and he’
s tan and
even more gorgeous than
I remembered
.
I glance down at
his
long fingers with
veins wrapped around the knuckles
—the
sexiest hands in the world
.
I remember things his hands have done to me and
my face flushes
.
Meanwhile, his face has all the emotional investment of a rock.

Gray
informs
me the team
’s
leaving
this afternoon
to go on the road until Sunday
.
My heart sinks a
t the news
.
I have to wait three more days to talk to him
?
I haven’
t seen him
for
months
and my
stealth
reentrance into his life
has consisted
of
passing out like a drunk, sleeping for twenty hours like a
bum
,
and then making a scene
in front of his roommates
worthy of a Most Dramatic Female award
.

“You can crash
at my place if you need to,
” he offers
,
but his voice is still hostile
.

No way
.

I
shake my head
.
“
No, thanks
,” I say
.
 

He regards me with blue eyes that
are darker
, stormier
than normal
.
A
shadow
slides over
them
every time he looks at me
.
“Y
ou have other options?” he asks.

“I might.”
 
   
 

“Who
else
do you know in
Albuquerque
?”

“Catherine,
” I say.

“Catherine, who?”

I stall because I’m terrible at remembering names
.
“Catherine
, um,
Catherine
K
ra
-
ker
-
krin
-
s
ki
n
,” I
stammer
. H
e
’s fro
wning
,
which
means he knows I’m clueless
.

“Ca
therine
Kra
ker
krins
ki
n
?” he mocks.

I
laugh
and admit I don’t know her last name
.
I tell him I met her in Interlaken
.
He just stares at me li
ke I
mentioned a planet in the
Triangulum
G
alaxy.

“Where’s that?”

“
Switzerland
,” I say
.
I explain she plays for a band here, named Charlie’s Angels
or
Angels in Cha
rge
or—

“Chuck’s Angel?” he asks
.
He stops halfway up the steps in
front of the café
and
stare
s
at me
.
“You met Cat Parker in
Switzerland
?” 

“Parker,” I say
.
“I was close.” 
He rolls his eyes and we stand on the steps in the sun while I perform a dramatic retelling of the evening I lost my luggage and was stranded and saved all within the same hour.
He
shakes his head
and opens the door to the café
.
We
’re met with a buzz of commotion
.
I glance around to see an entire restaurant full of college students studying
,
or pretending to study
,
but mostly talking on cell phones or
to each other
.
I
watch
girls checking out Gray
,
whispering and smiling and laughing
like they’re all in on
a
secret
.
I glance at Gray to see if he notices the attention
,
but he’s watching me with a frown
.
 
 

“What?” I
ask
.

“
You’re like Forest Gump
,” he says while we wait in line
.
“E
verything works out for
you
.
You always
meet the right people at the right time and it’s all
an
accident.
”

“Maybe it’s not an accident at all,” I say and
study a
long chalkboard
suspended
on hooks
over the cash registers
.
“But I always love a good Tom Hanks movie reference.”  I smile at him but he won’t meet my eyes
.
I look back
at
the menu
,
written out in small, block letters
.
I lick my
lips
and feel my stomach
buc
kle from hunger pains
.
 

“I
c
an
loan you some money
,”
Gray
offers
.
I stick my nose up in the air
and shake my head
because the last thing I want from him
is a
handout
.
All I want are his lips and his mind
and his body
.
I decline to mention this.