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> Chapter Twenty-Three <
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Maya Todd
Blaine stares blankly at the section of ice creams and popsicles stored inside the large freezer. As the Walmart employee nervously walks away, obviously not trusting the two of us alone, I let my eyes follow her.
She turns a corner and disappears, leaving me and Blaine alone with the silence. Unlike most romance novels when the two people disagree, there is no tension. Not now, at least.
"Blaine, I'm serious..." she doesn't look at me as I murmur my words, but her eyes narrow slightly. "Something isn't right."
"Did you expect me to explain to that woman everything that's happening right now?" She snaps, her fists clenching by her sides. She turns and walks down the aisle, away from me, her fists loosening and resting by her side.
Blaine walks further and further away, but I don't want to follow. I'm not someone who follows in the first place. I don't lead, either. I do my own thing. Independence is my middle name.
But here and now with Blaine... something is odd. It's like all of a sudden I'm willing to bridge the gap between the two of us. The gap between my independence and her dependence.
Is this a crush?
I've never had one. Or at least I haven't ever said it out loud. It's never been considered an official crush. Just an interest peeking in a person I've been around.
"Are you coming, or not?" Blaine's voice snaps into my thoughts and I look up to see she's standing a foot away from me, her jacket tied around her waist by the sleeves, revealing her peach coloured, cropped hoodie.
The hoodie shows off her stomach, just below her ribs. She doesn't have abs, but she's fit.
My eyes stay on her bare skin for a few seconds before I realize she'll notice this, so I lift my gaze back to her face and nod. "Yeah. Let me lead the way."
The corners of her mouth upturn in the slightest motion of a smile. "Yeah."
And then I find myself reaching out an arm and wrapping it loosely around Blaine's waist, letting it hang between her hips, along her lower back.
The action clearly surprises her. I can see her eyes grow rounder and her lips twitch as if she's trying to form words. Her hands loosen up from the half-fist she was previously doing. She stares at me long enough for me to realize her cheeks are hued a soft shade of red and her eyes aren't just on my face. They're on my lips.
This is too much, a haze develops in my brain as I clear my throat, drop my arm back to my side, and say, "I'm sorry about Vesper."
I step away and stare at her quietly, unsure of what to do now. The tension still isn't here, but there's a new aura crowding the space around us.
Blaine's mouth opens and closes twice before she manages to speak. "It isn't your fault, if that's... if that's what you're thinking." Now her gaze rests more towards my cheek, clearly anxious about what just happened.
