Example of an Accidental Touch Scene

They both reached for the last copy at the same time. Her fingers landed on the spine. His landed on hers. The bookshop was warm and quiet — old wood shelves, the smell of paper and dust, afternoon light slanting through a window that hadn't been cleaned since the Clinton administration. A perfectly ordinary Tuesday. Until now. "Sorry," he said, pulling his hand back. "No, you — it's fine." She pulled hers back too. They looked at each other. Then at the book. Then at each other again. "You can have it," he said. "You saw it first." "We saw it at the same time. That's the whole problem." She laughed. He didn't. He was looking at his hand like it had done something without his permission. "Have you read her other stuff?" she asked, trying to drag the moment back to normal. Normal wasn't cooperating. "All of it." He rubbed his thumb against his forefinger — the one that had touched her skin. A small, unconscious gesture. She watched him do it. "Your hand is warm," she said. And then immediately: "That's a weird thing to say. I don't know why I said that." "It's not weird." He reached past her for the book, and this time the back of his hand brushed her wrist. Not an accident. The kind of not-accident that looks like one. Her breath caught. A tiny hitch, barely audible, but in the quiet of the shop it sounded like a door opening. "Have coffee with me," he said. Still close. His hand still near hers. "We can fight about who gets the book." "I'll win." "Probably. Come anyway." She took the book off the shelf and held it against her chest like armor that wasn't working. "Okay," she said. "But I'm keeping the book."

Explore this theme

More Examples