Beautifully Broken

I lift my head up. “Promise?”

She grins. “Promise.”

“Fine,” I grumble.

“Oh, cheer up, Buttercup!” she shucks me on the chin, making me laugh.

“You’re lucky I love you, weirdo. I wouldn’t put up with this crap from anyone else.”

“You wouldn’t know wh—holy shit!” Her eyes are practically popping out of their sockets looking at something over my shoulder.

I try turning around. “What are you—”

She digs her fingernails into my arm. “No, don’t turn around!”

I pull my arm away from her and rub the sore spot. “What the hell is wrong with you, Breanna? Are you becoming a Bridezilla all of a sudden?”

“This has nothing to do with my wedding!” she whisper shouts. “Kat, you have to promise not to freak out.”

“Well, when you put it that way…of course I won’t,” I mock.

She squeezes my fingers. “No, Kitty; I’m dead serious. You have to be strong.”

I cross my arms over my chest. “Will you please tell me what the hell you’re talking about?”

She continues staring behind me. “What if I told you that someone from the past is about to invade your present?”

I roll my eyes. “Will you please stop being so cryptic? Just spit it out already!”

“It’s Gavin,” she sighs, “he’s standing in line for coffee right now.”

I freeze. “What?!”

“Gavin Cooper just walked in the door and he’s the third person in line at the register!” she repeats. “What are you going to do? What if he sees us? Are you going to talk to him?”

This is the moment that I’ve feared since moving to the bay. I haven’t heard from him once since graduation day. I’m not going to lie; a small part of me had wished he would reach out, despite the fact that I knew it’d be wrong. When a year had passed without contact, and then another, I pushed that hope aside, knowing it was pointless. Gavin has a family to take care of. Hell, he probably already has another kid by now. There’s no room in his life for me.

“Is he looking over here?” I ask.

Bree shakes her head. “No, he’s staring at the menu on the wall.”

I discreetly turn my body so I can follow her gaze. A loud gasp escapes my mouth the second I see him. Fuck, he still has the power to take my breath away. He’s dressed casually in a dark t-shirt and jeans, very similar to what he wore on the day we met. His sandy blonde hair is slightly longer than it used to be and there’s a healthy amount of scruff on his jaw. He looks older—the little crinkles by his eyes are deeper—but that only makes him more handsome. He’s slightly more built too; not by much, but enough to see that his clothes are a bit more fitted. I can’t force myself to look away as he waits for his turn at the counter. I think about Bree’s question. What am I going to do if he sees me? How am I going to act unaffected when I’m so obviously the exact opposite of that?

“Shit,” I mutter. “What do I do, Bree?”

“What do you want to do?”

“I should go up and talk to him, don’t ya think? I mean, it’d be rude to not at least say hi after all these years, right?”

“Are you sure?”

I gulp. “Yeah, I think I have to.”

“Do you want me to stay?”

I turn back toward her. “No, honey, you can’t be late for your meeting with the minister. I’ll be fine; I swear.”

“Kat, I can call Evan and explain. It’s okay if I’m late.”