Page 79 of So I'll Know
I smile at her. “This only works if you keep still.”
“Sorry.”
I study her palm, trying to remember the terms Norah taught me. “So this is your heartline.” I drag my pointer along the line in the center of her palm. “Yours is curved, so I believe that means you’re a very empathic person.” She stares at me doubtfully, and I continue. “Your palm is square and you have long fingers, which means you’re very smart. I think.” I grin and lean back, bringing my glass to my lips.
“Impressive . . .”
I don’t hear the rest of Sabrina’s sentence because the back of my neck prickles like eyes are on me. Familiar eyes. And when I look out the window, Jeremy is staring at me, his face a mix of shock and hurt. Snow falls from the sky in fat flakes, stark against his jacket. His cheeks glisten in the streetlights, and his pink lips are parted.
He turns and runs, and I can’t stop myself. I stand, almost knocking my chair over. Sabrina looks startled, and I mumble an apology as I bolt from the table.
“Jeremy!” I yell once I’m outside. I dart around people as I keep an eye on his silver hair bobbing through the crowd. “Jeremy, wait!”
I have no idea what I’m doing, but please say I didn’t fuck this up.
JEREMY
It’s barely December,but Seattle is already draped in holiday cheer. Lights and garlands adorn windows and spiral around street lamps. The infamous hundred-and-sixty-foot Seattle star is mounted on the old Macy’s building on Pine Street, glittering over the bustle of traffic. Even though Macy’s closed a while ago, Amazon stepped up to keep the star lit. And even though I love that star, I can’t help feeling like it was part of the evil conglomerate’s plan to take over the whole damn city.
Bah, humbug.
Okay, so Christmas isn’t really my favorite holiday. I guess I’m not a holiday person—except Halloween, of course. But for once, this season I’m cautiously optimistic because Marcus and I have been good for the couple weeks. Really good. To thepoint where I feel like we’re on the cusp of something bigger. Like maybe he could actually be my boyfriend.
Maybe.
Either way, I had a key to my apartment made for him yesterday, which seems like a big step for us. Giving him unfettered access to my personal space is both heady and scary as shit.
Someone honks, and I realize I’ve been standing at a crosswalk with one foot in the street. I shake my head to get my head back into the present. Today, I told Marion that I’d help her find something for Elsie. She’s notoriously bad at giving gifts—think Joey-from-Friends-trying-to-give-his-girlfriend-a-pen-that’s-also-a-clock bad.
I cross the road and then turn up the street, where my gaze catches on a brightly lit, very overpriced restaurant. I pause, considering that maybe Marion should try to take Elsie on a fancy date as her gift. I step back and note the name of the Italian place, and that’s when a well-dressed man catches my eye. Well, not just any man.Marcus.
He’s wearing an expensive-looking charcoal suit, his dark beard neatly trimmed and his hair styled back away from his face. It’s jarring to see him looking more like Bruce Wayne and less like the Brawny Man. The only time I’ve seen him wear a suit was the day he had his meeting at Skynet.
But that’s not really the part that gives me pause.
He’s sitting across from a stunning woman with curly black hair in an equally expensive-looking black dress.
I glance around and then stare at him in shock and confusion.
What the fuck is this? Are they on a date?
The scene makes me sick to my stomach, but I can’t seem to move, like my feet are made of cement. I don’t understand. I can feel myself spiraling hard. My hand drops to my hip.
We haven’t been fucking around for that long, but Marcushas never seemed like the cheating type. He’s so loyal to his family.
Maybe she’s a friend?
Marcus leans over the table, tracing his finger along the woman’s palm, a mischievous smile on his face.
They look intimate. Perfect. Like they belong together.
Jealousy and hurt coil in my chest.
Whoever she is, he can sit in a fucking restaurant and hold her hand, and the world doesn’t give them a second glance.
My eyes burn with tears, and I hate it. I don’t want to cry. He doesn’t fucking deserve it.
People shuffle around me. The store down the street plays “Jingle Bells.” But all I hear is Marcus’s tender voice calling me Starlight. And all I see is Marcus touching this woman.
