Surrender to You Read Online Free Page B

terms of pocket money, we just hung out.
    Except that particular day.
    Penny had somehow smooth-talked her way into a grocery-bagging job, so she had a few bucks for snacks. Namely, some brain-freeze-inducing snow cones. Since she supplied the cash, I was given the fun job of fetching it.
    “Don’t get me grape to be spiteful,” Penny said to me before I left.
    “You’ll take grape and like it, bitch,” I replied. The walk to the snow cone stand and back wouldn’t take me long. Less than ten minutes later, I reached the intersection at Seventy-third Street, clutching a box full of snow cones. There wasn’t much in terms of traffic, but the cab drivers today seemed determined to run down anybody who ventured out into the street. While waiting for the light, I plotted how I’d tease Penny.
    “Where did you get those?” someone beside me asked. His accent was rather thick. Maybe French.
    I turned to my left to see a tall guy with his hands stuffed in his wrinkled jeans pockets.
    He was a foreigner and I’d seen plenty of them. To visitors with cash to blow, we were just a tourist attraction.
    My elbow moved to indicate back the way I came, but I paused when I saw how cute he was. You couldn’t walk around NYC without bumping into a model, so I’d seen plenty of beautiful people, but this guy was gorgeous. He had the kind of blemish-free, sun-kissed skin you wanted to touch, bright brown eyes, and a smile that I couldn’t help but return.
    “You plan to cross the street?” he asked, his smile growing wider.
    I glanced over to see the walk light was about to change to red.
    “Shit.” I’d dawdled way too long holding melting food.
    “We can make it.” He grabbed my snow-cone box and we sprinted across the street. I squealed as irate NYC drivers had to hit the brakes. I was breathless with laughter by the time we made the curb on the other side.
    “That was so fucking stupid,” I finally managed to blurt, as he handed back the snow cones. I was still smiling, even when a passing cab driver cussed at us.
    Without blinking, the guy beside me yelled back in a language I didn’t recognize. We started walking, and for a moment, I waited for him to walk away. He just kept on going.
    “What are you doing?” I said.
    He grinned and my insides turned to goo. “I’m still waiting to find out where you got those snow cones.”
    “Oh.” I jerked my chin back the way we came. “Rich’s Snow Cones. Can’t miss it.”
    He nodded. We were still walking, and I tried to stop myself from looking down at my torn T-shirt and failed. My jean shorts weren’t that nice, either.
    The entrance to the park loomed ahead. I had to say something or go crazy. “What did you say to that driver?”
    He shrugged. “Nothing good for a lady’s ears. Especially a pretty ginger like you.”
    I laughed, ignoring his compliment. He thought I was a
lady
? “No, really. What did you say?”
    “I said he shits out of his mouth instead of his ass.”
    “Hi-larious. Was that French or something?” We were almost to the park now.
    “Portuguese.”
    I nodded. “I guess that means you’re from out of town.”
    “You could say that, Gingerbread.”
    I scoffed. “Gingerbread? The name’s Carlie.”
    He chuckled. “I rather like gingerbread.”
    My friends waited around a dark green park bench. I tried to think of something witty to say, but came up with nothing.
    When I reached my crew, it was Griffin who noticed him first. “Who’s this?”
    I glanced at him and he still had that beautiful smile.
    “It’s Tomas,” he said.
    Just thinking of his carefree grin made my heart flutter. We were fools back then. Everything was simple and we fell head over heels with ease.
    I finally hailed a cab. I had too much to do today to let myself sink into the past.
    But I knew I’d fail. I’d head back to my room and curl up under the covers until my mistakes, both present and past, faded.
    —
    A few hours’ rest was good for the soul. For