Shit. I looked up. Sure enough there was a healthy overhang that could have been shielding me from the rain for the past two hours.

I shrugged, feigning nonchalance. “I like the rain.”

She bit her lip and looked around. People walked around us with their umbrellas, all trying to duck into the shops until the rain stopped. I shivered in response and waited for her to say something.

“You chose the right place to be then.”

If she only knew I had no choice whatsoever in the matter.

“Yup, guess I did.” Seriously I was getting nowhere with this girl.

All flirting genes apparently died in the car accident, while I was left very much alive and very much a loser. What a bright future I had!

I walked underneath the overhang and gently pulled her to my side. I could see drops of water fall out of my messy blond hair and onto my nose. “What’s your name?”

She shrugged. “That’s not important.”

Okay, different tactic. “Why the sudden Good Samaritan act?”

She laughed. “Ah, so he has read the Good Book.”

“Once or twice.” I grinned seductively.

“Then you should get your story straight.”

“Pardon?” I had the sudden feeling I was way out of my league. Trapped, without a way out.

“I wasn’t coming to rescue you.”

“So you were just going to walk by?”

She threw her head back and laughed, causing the hood of her jacket to fall back. Golden brown hair cascaded down her back.

My mouth dropped open. She really was a beautiful girl.

“Actually…” She placed a hand on my arm. “I was thinking of beating you and then passing you by.”

“And what purpose would that serve?” I smiled. I couldn’t help it.

“I would feel better.”

“And I would be beaten on the side of the road? Is my lot in life to be killed by roads or something?”

“Huh?” Her eyebrows drew together.

“You don’t watch much TV, do you?”

She shrugged. “We don’t have a TV.”

“Internet?” My mind was seriously going to explode. How did she live?

“Nope.”

“Phone?” I was grasping at straws here.

“For our house?”

I leaned in, my eyebrows raised up as if to say, Duh.

And again her teeth held captive her bottom lip as she looked away in thought. “I think we used to. But now we just have cell phones.”

“Thank God!” I shouted a little too loudly.

She shook her head like I was the weirdest person on the planet.

“I, umm…” I shifted the bucket to my other arm and scratched my head. “What I meant was…” Channel the Bible. “You should be thankful, or blessed, or something that you have, um, technology?” Yes, Demetri, she’s going to be eating out of your sticky taffy hands in no time.

“Right.” She chuckled and looked away. “Well, guess I’ll see you later.”

As she walked off, she stopped in her tracks and turned around. “By the way, I really did have a reason for coming out here… you know, other than to cause physical harm.”

“Oh yeah?” I grinned slyly and winked, waiting for the inevitable.

“Yeah.” She nodded her head and pointed behind me “Your car’s about to be towed. It’s parked in the handicap spot.”

Chapter Three

Alyssa

It was harder than I thought. Talking to him, I mean. To be honest, I hadn’t any idea how famous he was until some girls I’d graduated with ran into the shop and began giggling like little kids.

That was kind of how my life was, though.

Ever since the accident two years ago, I felt shut out of everything. Like I was a shadow going through the motions. Trying to smile at all the right times, and laugh when it was expected. I was the best worker my parents could ask for. I was first to arrive, last to leave. First to take up someone else’s shift. I even graduated early, so I wouldn’t have to be around the reminders anymore.

I liked life better that way. Predictable.

When you planned things, well, it was almost like some cruel joke from God. That once you told Him your plans, He’d try to ruin them. My parents said it wasn’t God’s fault — they also said it wasn’t mine. Did that make it Brady’s?

I shoved my hands into my pockets and hurried into the store. Rain always depressed me. That meant I was living in the worst place on the planet. If I needed cheering up, I had to go tanning in order to soak up some fake sunlight.

Last Christmas my parents even put special lights in my room, so I would smile more.

I’ve smiled less ever since.

Well, until five days ago.

When that idiot rock star actually stood on a street corner and sang about Taffy, and then proceeded to roll his hips to the beat in his own head, I wanted to call him a dang fool, but I couldn’t pull my eyes away. Something about him was magnetic — which should have been my first clue to stay away.

Brady had been magnetic too. He was perfect, charismatic, the star of the football team.

And look where that love got me.

A year out of high school, still living with my parents, and the inability to drive anywhere more than an hour away for fear that I would have a panic attack and die.

I pushed the door to my parents’ store open. The bell jingled.

That idiot had started work today, and our sales had never been worse. He was such a spectacle that even people who didn’t know his music wanted to go check out the taffy store. Which was great for our competitors, crappy for us. It’s not as if I could just find some famous person and beg them to wear one of our shirts and throw taffy at people. What the heck was he doing anyway? I even watched him schmooze an old lady. Did the guy have any shame at all?