Never Let Me Go by Jasmine Carolina Page B

felt like Michie…just Michie. I didn’t feel like I was any of the things that he’d mentioned.
    “Yeah, okay. I’m absolutely ordinary.” I crossed my legs, extending them a bit over Hayden’s lap.
    He shook his head and gave a deep belly laugh, holding his hand at my waist. “Nah, you’re far from ordinary. And I think, if I’m not careful, I could end up falling for you.”
    My heart surged at his words. Things were moving faster between us than I’d thought was possible, but I wasn’t afraid.
    For the first time I felt like I had a chance to start something new…something better. I had a chance to open up to someone who wasn’t Brody. I was looking into the eyes of this man, into the face that represented my new beginning, and I felt hopeful for the first time in what felt like forever.
    “You wanna know something funny?” I asked, my voice coming out breathy and low.
    “What’s that?” His hand cradled my face then, our foreheads touching.
    I gulped, taking a deep breath.
    “I was just thinking the same thing.”
     

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter Eight
    “Thank you so much for your tip, and I hope you’ve enjoyed your visit to Buck and Doe’s,” I said, waving toward a small family that’d just eaten in my section.
    I had about twenty minutes left of my shift for the day, and then Hayden and Skylar were stopping by to pick me up for my first date with the both of them.
    Hayden and I had been seeing each other every evening after our second date. During the evening we talked, and every time one of us was free, he took me out for yet another date. On our third date, we’d gone to a small concert on the pier. On our fourth , he’d taken me to see the Big Springs Community College’s production of Wicked. On our fifth, he took me on a hayride through a local vineyard.
    A month and a half into my trip to Big Springs and I was getting incredibly close to Hayden. He’d decided, finally, that he was ready to introduce me to Skylar, and I was more than happy to do that.
    “You’re doing good, Michie,” Melanie said, grinning as I walked behind the counter, putting my tips in my apron. “If you decide to move here for college, I’m sure Pat will always save a spot for you here.”
    Melanie and I had become close friends over the past few weeks—in spite of the fact that my best friend had beat up her little sister—and I was glad to have gotten to know her. I was glad to know that she didn’t care how much disdain her sister held for me and Nickayla. She’d told me that she liked to decide for herself who was worth getting to know, and that Madilyn hated a new person every week, so if Mel had tried to keep up, she’d never make any friends. It was refreshing to know that she’d decided to give me a chance. She’d become like a mentor of sorts to me, showing me the ropes of the small restaurant and even handing over some of her regulars so that I’d have the chance to win them over, but even more than that, she’d become my friend, and I didn’t make friends easily.
    I smiled as I walked over to the blender to make myself a smoothie. I put fruit in the blender, and then added coconut water and yogurt. I put the top on it and started blending it, waiting for it to stop.
    The bell rang, notifying us that someone had come in.
    When I looked up from the blender, Hayden was walking into Buck and Doe’s with a tiny, blonde, three year old girl with one side of her hair pulled back by a pink butterfly clip. My heart raced at the sight of them and suddenly I was nervous.
    “There’s your boy,” Mel said, nudging me. The bell rang again, and her head turned. “And old man Jenkins just sat in your section. Looks like it’s your lucky day today.”
    I nodded, removing my hand from atop the blender, motioning her to come over. “Finish blending this for me, yeah?”
    She nodded, taking over as I grabbed my order pad and stuffed it into the pocket of my apron just as Hayden made his