“We’ve been here for two hours, Holden, and you haven’t complained once. That’s like, an epic level of patience for you, which means something isseriouslygoing on.”
“It’s nothing.”
Hattie sighs, holding a shirt up to me. “You should wear red more. It looks good on you.”
She drapes it over her arm as we continue on.
I tug at my shirt, feeling strangely exposed with the way my twin keeps eyeing me. Maybe I should’ve gone through my list of contacts before leaving the house. Cole might’ve been safer company.
“Mom said Reece got a good report from her oncologist this year.”
“Yeah, that’s good.” I nod along, only half-listening. I don’t want to talk about our aunt. Or anything, really. I’m a mess, vibrating with energy with no outlet. Maybe I need to go to the gym again.
You could always talk to Korie…
I stamp that thought down quickly. That’s not happening. I saw the hesitation in their eyes last night when I reached for their hand.
“Caleb said he spoke to his manager, and they’re going to try a different shift.” Hattie turns to me. “He said that was your idea.”
I shrug. “It sounded like he needed a change if he wanted to stay in L.A.”
She says nothing.
We exit that store, and Hattie immediately tugs me into another one. “Come on. I just need to grab my online order.”
I grunt. “You said that three stores ago.”
“This time I mean it.”
“Uh-huh.”
I follow her anyway, shoving my hands into my pockets as we step inside. The bright lights disorient me for half a second, but then my tennis shoes squeak against the tile floor as I come to an abrupt stop.
“Oh, for fuck’s… You dragged me into the lingerie section? Seriously?”
“Hush, it’s not like you haven’t seen any of this shit before.” She tosses her hair over her shoulder and stalks to the check-out area. “I’ll just be a minute.”
I linger awkwardly near the edge of the section, staring at literally anything that isn’t… all of this. Racks of delicate fabric I very much do not need to be thinking about.
I’m halfway through pulling my phone out when a familiar head of bleached hair captures my attention. My heart soars.
Korie.
They’re a little ways away, flipping through a rack, completely unaware of me. I start toward them, then stop when I remember where I am.
Korie holds something up—a small piece of red fabric that iswaytoo appealing—and my brain short-circuits for a second.
I mean, I know Korie wears feminine underwear. It’s not new information. It’s not even something I’ve ever thought twice about. But now…
Like everything else recently, something shifts in my head and suddenly, it’s like I’m seeing a whole new layer of someone I’ve known my whole life, and it’s sucking the air from my lungs.
Fuck me.
I should go. I should turn and walk away to respect their privacy. Korie will be none the wiser.
But I can’t. I can’t make myself move. I’m too drawn to them. Too curious for my own damn good.
When they turn in my direction, I immediately look down at my phone, pretending I don’t see them. But curiosity twists low in my gut—sharp, immediate, and dangerously tempting. I sense them drifting between racks, and watch them from the corner of my eye like a total creeper. What colors and textures are they drawn to?
