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“Seemed like someone.”
“James Robert,” she says with a huff, using my full name.
I smile at her, loving that she’s a bit flustered. My mom and dad split up ages ago. They just weren’t right for each other, and my dad’s found someone new, but my mom never has. Although with the way she’s still blushing, it makes me think that maybe she has an eye on someone. Someone with a head full of hair.
“James, I’m serious. You stop that.”
Just as she says it, I see Braxton appear to my right. His cheeks are flushed slightly, and I wonder if he just got done lifting something heavy.
“That’s your name?” he asks, his voice slightly raspy. “Thought it was Jimothy Bobert.”
“Pfft, no,” I say with a laugh, running a hand across the back of my neck. “James Robert, but I just go by Jimbob. Have since I was a kid.”
He clears his throat and then eyes my mom. “Yeah, okay.”
He shuffles on his feet, almost as if he’s unsure what to do, when my mom pipes up, “What can I make you Braxton? My treat.”
He fidgets with his earring and then shakes his head. “Can’t, I have to work.”
“Alright, well come see me after you’re off and I’ll make you something to go.”
He nods and then shuffles past me, bumping into me with his arm as he goes. I stare after him, my eyes sliding to his ass once more.
Damn, I need to stop doing that, I think as I turn back to my mom and give her my order—a large iced coffee with white mocha and half and half. She makes it the best, always knows exactly how to get the ratio of cream to coffee just right.
When she sets it down next to me, she leans over the counter a bit and lowers her voice. “How did things go with Braxton the other night?”
“What?” I ask, taking a long sip.
“After choir practice, you talked to him. How did it go?”
“Oh yeah, I messed up somehow. He got mad and left. Think I said the wrong thing. I don’t think he wants to be friends with me.”
She purses her lips and sighs. “Well, I don’t know about that. He’s been asking about you.”
My eyebrows nearly fly right off my face. “What?”
“Yeah, I think he’s intrigued by you. He can’t keep his eyes off you.”
Well, it seems that Ryan and my mom are losing their damn minds if they think that guy is interested in me. Every time I see him, he’s glowering at me. He even purposefully knocked my arm when he walked past, just to be a little punk.
I sigh and drink some more of my coffee, my gaze on the wall of shovels.
“I should go, Ma. I have a lot to do today.”
“I bet you do. Maybe give Braxton a little friendly goodbye before you go, yeah?”
I nod my head but decide I don’t much plan on following through. I don’t want to get my head bit off.
But I find myself wandering the aisles anyways, looking at all the fun stuff they have for sale, and run into Braxton on accident.
I wasn’t looking for him. At all. This was pure coincidence.
Braxton is stocking shelves, his gaze intent on his task, and my sudden looming form makes him drop a bag of fertilizer on the ground.
I lean down and pick it up for him, our hands brushing when he takes it from me.
“What do you want?” he asks, turning his gaze forward and staring at the shelves.
