It was . . . pleasant. His hand was soft, not rough with calluses. Not like a man who worked with his hands. But his fingers were long, his palm wide. His touch comforted, and that was . . .
Pleasant.
Wait a minute. You already thought that particular word.
“Can I make a confession?”
His soft question accompanied by the equally soft smile curving his mouth temporarily rendered her mute. She could only nod in reply.
“It was . . . strange, seeing you at first,” he said as he squeezed her hand in his. “It’s been so long, and you’ve changed so much.”
Wren frowned. She had? Really?
“Yet you also look exactly the same. It’s crazy. And I mean that in a good way. Seeing you after all these years, all of those old memories came back.” He hesitated, tilting his head to the side so their gazes met. “And there were a lot of good times for us, right, Wrennie?”
She nodded, remaining silent, hating how he called her Wrennie. It sounded so stupid and immature—and incredibly intimate when they hadn’t shared any intimate moments in years. She didn’t feel close to him, not like that. And she wasn’t that girl anymore either. Though yes, she could admit there were a lot of good memories between them, there were some bad ones too. Like the big one, when he dumped her out of nowhere, leaving her a heartbroken seventeen-year-old while he ran off to college and partied into oblivion. She could only imagine the drunken escapades he got himself into. The parties, the drinking, the new friends he made, the girls.
All the many girls he banged.
Her teenage heart could hardly bear the thought.
“Talking to you reminded me of all those good times we shared. I realized then how much I missed having you in my life.” He interlaced their fingers together, the hand-holding turning intimate with one simple movement. “I know we can’t pick up where we left off. Too much time and too many things have happened since then, and we’ve both changed so much. I’m curious though. Would you ever considering giving me a . . . second chance?”
Wren blinked at him, her brain almost sluggish as it tried to compute his words. Was he for real? Did he just ask her for a second chance? After all this time? He’d left her and never looked back. Never bothered calling her, writing her a letter, an email, a text . . . nothing. Just up and left for college and continued living his life like she never existed. Once he was gone, she rarely saw his parents around town either. It was like the entirety of the Hamiltons had faded from her life once he broke it off.
And now he waltzed right back into town like he never left it. Flashed her a smile and held her hand while recounting those fond old memories, only to hit her with a, Hey, let’s try this again?
Um, no thanks.
“I’m flattered you would ask for a second chance,” she murmured, trying to tug her hand out of his, but he wouldn’t let go. “I think it’s great and all, that we have this shared history.”
“It’s a solid foundation to build a true and lasting relationship on,” he explained, his gaze gentle, his smile sweet.
“Right.” She nodded. He sounded so . . . sincere. Yet not. It was strange. This entire moment had just turned strange, and she hoped like crazy she could get herself out of it without inflicting any damage. Even after all this time, she still didn’t want to hurt him. Ridiculous. “But I think too much time has passed between us, Levi. We can’t try to get back what we used to share. It’s gone. There’s nothing we can do about it.”
She didn’t want to do anything about it. She was circling around Tate, and he was circling around her. He liked her despite her snarky defense mechanism and that she could beat him at swimming. She liked him too. She planned on telling him that she met with Levi the moment she got home. No secrets between them. She needed to be open and honest.
Tate deserved to know the truth.
His gaze was steady, his voice so deep and serious as he spoke. “Do you really believe that, Wrennie?”
“Please don’t call me Wrennie.” Ugh. He looked hurt over her saying that, but she couldn’t let this go on. “And I do believe that. Let’s leave our relationship where it was—in the past. And let’s focus on being friends now. That will be much easier.” She didn’t want to try again with Levi. He didn’t deserve a second chance. Yeah, maybe they could be friends, but they could never share such intimate moments together ever again. That ship between them had long since sailed, and she couldn’t imagine Levi as her boyfriend ever again.
But clearly he could. And he liked the idea too.
“You don’t have a girlfriend?” she asked, trying her best to keep her voice even. She didn’t want him to get the wrong idea. She was asking because she was curious, not because she wanted to pursue something with him.
“We split up a few months ago,” he admitted, hanging his head briefly before lifting it, his gaze meeting hers. “She got the dog in the divorce.”
“You were married?” She was shocked, though she probably shouldn’t be. Enough years had passed that he could’ve gotten married and divorced.
He laughed and shook his head. “Nah. Never married. We did live together, but we split about six months ago. She took the dog, claiming I was never home so I didn’t deserve to keep him. I loved that damn dog. Pretty coldhearted, how she took him away from me, don’t you think?”
Wren once again said nothing. They’d split only six months ago, meaning she was most likely a rebound consideration. And she deserved more than that.
“I’m ready for something serious. Something meaningful. Once Linda and I split, I kept thinking about . . . you. I Googled you.” He at least looked contrite with the admission. “I was curious. You never looked me up online?”
“No.” She shook her head. His disappointment was obvious, reminding her of what an egomaniac Levi had always been. It was always me, me, me. The world revolved around him.