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“In that case, I’ll think about joining your group.”
She grinned and held out her hand. “Excellent. Your application has been accepted. Give me your phone.”
I unlocked it and handed it over, watching her send herself a message before she gave it back. “There you go. Now you can reach me and I’ll text you the schedule. See you around, Holden. Watch out for box-wine hangovers. They’re a bastard.”
With that, she flashed me one last grin and walked away, seamlessly sliding into another group and completely taking over their conversation. I chuckled, my head shaking, then finished my wine and decided that my work here was done.
Price was networking, and evidently, I’d found a study group. That was good enough for me. So I set down my jam jar and left, honoring my long-standing tradition of the Irish Goodbye.
As I pushed through the slightly busted main door of the apartment building, the cool air outside smacked me right in the face. After a couple hours in that stuffy basement, it felt genuinely cold out here. I shoved my hands into my pockets and started walking.
My phone vibrated against my fingers with a notification of some sort, but when I pulled it out and saw I’d missed a call from Alex, I slid the phone back into my pocket. He could wait until the morning. Or next week. Possibly forever.
As much as I loved the guy, he and I were not on the same page at the moment. When he’d married my sister, I hadn’t been convinced we would ever be on the same page, but over the last few years, he’d become more of a father figure to me than my own father had ever been.
I looked up to him. I just didn’t want to talk to him about what I knew he wanted to talk to me about.
Halfway across the street toward my block, a car came speeding through the intersection and a woman who’d been crossing on her bicycle swerved. The car missed her by inches and my stomach clenched as I registered the narrow miss.
“What the fuck?” I muttered, seeing her trying to keep the bike upright, but the basket attached to the handlebars tipped and groceries scattered all over the road.
The driver didn’t even stop to check that she was okay. I scowled after him but immediately doubled back toward the woman. Because some people still have common decency.
“Are you okay?” I asked as I jogged closer.
Already on her haunches next to the bike, she barely looked up at me as she nodded, her voice coming out in a dazed, breathless rush. “Yeah. Yeah, I think so. That was a close one, though.”
I grabbed a packet of ramen before the next car could crush it, then collected a few more before I realized she had a truly impressive amount of the stuff. College student, then.
As I handed it over, she took the packets from me, still gathering a few other things from all over the pavement. “Thank you.”
“You should wear a helmet,” I said bluntly. “If he’d hit you, we’d be cleaning up way more than your groceries right now.”
Her eyes finally snapped up. I looked into them and it was like I could feel the world shifting. Obviously, there was no dramatic music and no lightning strike to indicate that anything had changed, but for a moment, I completely forgot what I’d been talking about.
She has beautiful eyes. What color even is that?
In the ambient light on the street, I couldn’t quite decide if they were blue or green. Maybe both. With a dash of gold in there too.
Her cheeks turned pink as she held my gaze, but then she pushed to her feet and looked away. “Thanks again for your help.”
“It was nothing. I’m just glad you’re okay.”
Without looking back at me, she dumped all her stuff into the basket and climbed onto the bicycle, taking off and disappearing down a narrow alley between two buildings before I’d even regained enough brain power to ask for her name.
Maybe it’s for the best, though.
My life was busy enough right now. The last thing I needed was a girl with pretty eyes to complicate things even more.
CHAPTER 2
ALICIA
Seven thirty in the morning was way too early to be contemplating the possibility of life without caffeine, but when only three beans fell out as I shook the coffee container, I was forced to confront the truth that it might be today’s harsh reality.
Unless coffee beans could be reused, I was screwed. Maybe if I put yesterday’s grounds back into the machine and add water, I’ll be able to see if they operate on the same principles as soup.
As tempted as I was to try it though, I didn’t really have time to get too creative. There have to be more beans somewhere. I just have to find them.
