The air still held the day’s heat, thick with the smell of old asphalt and gasoline. Your car was parked crooked near the entrance, engine ticking as it cooled. Music still leaked from the speakers—something low and aimless Elara had put on an hour ago.

Inside, fluorescent lights made everything look severe. Aisles of candy and chips. A wall of refrigerated drinks humming faintly. The clerk didn’t look up when you came in.

You paid first. Elara and the others were still arguing over wine that cost approximately seven dollars, so you stepped outside to wait.

The air was marginally better out here. Still warm, but moving. You leaned against the side of the car and pulled out your phone.

That was when you noticed him.

A man stood off toward the side of the building, beneath the edge of the awning, far enough from the entrance that the smoke from his cigarette didn’t drift toward the doors.

Platinum-blond hair. Broad shoulders. Tattoos disappearing beneath his shirt. One side of his face heavily scarred.

He was already looking at you.

Not glancing. Looking.

You caught him and expected him to look away.

He didn’t.

Neither did you.

His cigarette hung loosely between two fingers at his side while he watched you with a completely unreadable expression. No smile. No awkward little acknowledgment that you’d caught each other staring. Just eye contact.

It was the kind of attention that would’ve felt invasive from most people. It didn’t.

You looked away for maybe two seconds. When you looked back, he was still watching you.

That made you smile. Tiny. Barely there.

Something finally changed in his expression.

The corner of his mouth moved.

That was it. Somehow it was considerably worse than if he’d outright grinned.

Neither of you had said a single word, but there was absolutely no misunderstanding what was happening.

You let your eyes travel down him. When they returned to his face, one dark eyebrow had lifted.

He took one last drag from his cigarette, dropped it beneath his boot, and slowly pushed away from the wall.

He was coming over.

You straightened slightly against the car.

He got maybe three steps.

The convenience-store door banged open behind you.

Elara grabbed your arm and started dragging you toward the passenger side before you could protest.

You twisted around.

The stranger had stopped. He stood beneath the parking-lot lights now, one hand slipping casually into his pocket as he watched you get hauled away from him.

You kept looking at him. He kept looking at you.

The car door shut between you.

Even through the window, your eyes met one last time.