Lexi and Cole had insisted on coming with me, so we all sat on the curb watching the SUV. As the door opened, I held my breath.

“Or her,” Cole said with a smirk as a platinum blond woman stepped out.

I grunted. “She wasn’t having a lesbian affair with some Aspen Grove golfer’s wife.”

“You never know.” She laughed. “Who’s to say Shay’s even a him?”

I shot her a look.

“I’m just sayin’. It’s one of those names.”

“He’s not coming,” Lexi repeated for the tenth time. “It’s been over an hour.”

“He might be coming from Golden or Boulder.” Golden was the halfway point between Kismet and Boulder. I’d calculated all the options, the distances. And that one made the most sense. They’d met in the middle. Not something a drug dealer would’ve done.

Cole dusted off her butt as she stood. “Well, I’m going inside. Anyone want a Slushee?”

I shook my head.

As she went inside, the sleigh bells hanging on the door clanged. I scanned the street and watched as a black Acura with deeply tinted windows pulled up to the pumps. My skin tingled. “It’s him.”

Lexi stood up quickly. “How do you know?”

“I just do.” I hoisted my pack onto my shoulder as I stood up. “Wait here.”

A man’s leg stepped out of the driver’s side. Lexi stammered something as I started walking toward the pumps. I couldn’t really hear her over the sudden pounding of my pulse. I was scared, like I was with all of Kori’s dares, but I also felt something else, something that kept me walking. And it wasn’t anticipation. It was determination.

The man who stepped out of the Acura was dressed well, a suit. Dark car, dark hair, dark suit. He was good-looking, slick. Twentysomething. More city than was typically found in Kismet. A downtown guy, loft district. Not exactly what I’d expected, but truth be told, most of the time I didn’t know what to expect with Kori.

The closer I got to him, the shorter my steps became. But he wasn’t watching my approach, he was getting gas. I hovered on the opposite side of his car, thinking maybe he wasn’t Shay after all. But as soon as he got the pump going, he scanned the storefront like he was looking for someone. I cleared my throat. “Hi,” I blurted. When he turned I caught my reflection in his mirrored sunglasses. I’d done my eye makeup thick, let my hair hang loose and free, and replaced my usual layered shirts with a tight-fitting one. I looked so much like Kori, I wasn’t even sure it was me. At least on the outside.

His grin was slow, easy. “Hi.”

“So, it’s … um … good to see you.”