I’m glad one of us does. I’ve been trying to resign myself to the fact that Indigo Bloom has, once again, slipped through my fingers. And for someone whose life revolves around not letting things past him, that’s tough to accept.
“This isn’t a romance novel, man. I’m not going to bump into her in the middle of the grocery store. There’s no happy endi?—”
Pain ricochets up my shins and I let out a grunt as something shoves our cart, hard, into my body.
“Oh god, I’m so sorry,” a panicked feminine voice cries. “I should know better than to text and drive a shopping cart at the same time.”
“No big deal,” I assure her, wincing as I bend down to rub my shins. That’s going to bruise.
“But I ran into you pretty hard. Are you sure you’re okay?”
I nod, straightening up. “I’m sure. And I’ve taken harder hits than that?—”
The woman lets out a startled littleeepwhen I give her my attention. Her piercing blue eyes grow comically wide as her lips open into an exaggeratedOshape.
“Oh, shit.” She looks between me and Griffin, her dark ponytail bouncing wildly, before her gaze settles on me.
There’s something familiar about her.
“Sorry. Again. I should…” She glances down at my left hand before meeting my eyes again. “Yeah. I should go.”
“Do I know you?” I ask before she can maneuver her cart around mine and run.
“What?” She shakes her head violently. “Nope. Never met you before. I have no idea who you are.”
Griffin watches our interaction with growing fascination, and when she says that last part, his lips quirk up in a grin. “That’s a weird thing to say. Are you sure you don’t know who he is?”
“Nope. Not a clue. Should I? I’m not from around here.”
And that’s what makes it click. Because I don’t know this woman, but I have seen her before. Briefly. And from a distance. “You were with Indie at the game.”
The woman’s face loses all its color and she audibly gulps. “Huh?”
“Indie Bloom. I saw you with her. Is she here?” I scan the store, hoping to see a flash of pink hair and familiar hazel eyes.
“I have no idea who you’re…” The dark-haired woman sighs when I level her with a look that callsbullshit, shoulders slumping. “She’s not here, no.”
“Well, shit,” Griffin mutters, placing a palm on my shoulder and squeezing.
I barely feel it. I’m too busy trying not to freak out. Because I’ve spent the last two weeks trying to track Indie down, only to have her friend literally collide with me in the alcohol aisle.
“But she’s stillhere? In the Twin Cities, I mean?”Please still be here.
“I…” The woman rubs the back of her neck as she looks between me and Griffin. Her face displays every thought and emotion with startling clarity. “Shit. Yes. She’s still here.”
“Told you.” Griffin claps, his hazel eyes twinkling under the harsh fluorescent lights of the grocery store. This is the kind of thing he lives for.
I’m simply trying not to hyperventilate.
Indie is still in town. I’m talking to her friend. This is the break I’ve been hoping for.
“I need to talk to her. Please, if you could give me her number, the one I have for her is ten years old, and it belongs to some old guy with a smoker’s cough now.”
“I wish I could, I really do, but I can’t.” The woman frowns, her lips twisting to the side as she stares at me. “When I saw you trying to get her attention at the game, I tried to get her to stay, but she’s…”
“Going through some shit,” I supply, finishing her sentence.
She nods. “Yeah. She is.”