Cuff Me

So far, I thought I had done a good job raising him. He was a sweet, polite little boy. All his daycare teachers loved him. His uncle Joe was his best friend and my friends adored him.

Still, I wanted more for him than a cramped one bedroom apartment. I wanted to give him everything.

As class continued, I glanced around the room again. I couldn’t stare at my notebook any longer. My eyes were beginning to water. I squeezed them closed and looked around me. It was a short break, but it was long enough to take in the faces of my fellow students. There were so few of us that I knew I would learn everyone’s name by the end of the month. We would be in all the same classes and labs. Our clinical would be together. At the end of these four years, I imagined we would all be like family.

When my eyes fell on a familiar face, I almost fell out of my chair.

I felt my body go weak and my heart begin to race. I blinked hard, sure I was seeing things. When I looked back at him, I knew I wasn’t mistaken.

It was Wyatt.

Wyatt Murphy was sitting three rows in front of me with his eyes locked on the professor. I could only see the side of his face, but it was enough. I would know

him anywhere.

Wyatt’s sandy blonde hair was shorter than I remembered. It no longer covered his face, but it was still long enough that he had to toss it out of his eyes every few minutes. The curve of his nose and the set of his chin looked so familiar it made my heart ache.

I couldn’t believe my eyes. Class was almost over, but I had completely lost where I was. My notes lay forgotten in front of me and I couldn’t hear a word the professor said.

My ears were ringing and my pulse was still picking up speed. Shit.

I watched Wyatt closely, wondering why he was there. The last thing I knew about Wyatt Murphy was that he was stationed overseas.

I didn’t even know he was back home. I wondered how long he had been back in Bradberry, if he was staying with his mom, if he was out of the Army for good, and a thousand other things.

My mind was racing when the professor dismissed us. His words shook me back to reality and I jerked my head away from Wyatt. The need to get away from his presence had me grabbing my things and haphazardly packing them into my bag.

I needed to get out of there, and fast.

I flew out of the room a few seconds later like hounds from hell were nipping at my heels. I was the first one in the hallway and I didn’t stop running until I reached the women’s restroom.

I hurled myself into a stall and fell against the wall.

Breathing heavy, I tried to calm down, but I couldn’t.

Shit. Shit, shit, shit!

Everything was spinning and I didn’t know how to make it stop. If Wyatt was in that class, he would be in all the others. I knew I couldn’t avoid him forever, but I also wasn’t ready to face him. Not after the way things ended between us.

Over four years ago, Wyatt left town with barely a goodbye. We had been together for years, but he didn’t bother to discuss his decision to enlist with me. His father died and Wyatt pulled away from everyone and everything he once loved.

Everyone including me.

He became a different person. Someone I didn’t recognize.

A sad, lonely soul.

I wanted to save him, but I couldn’t. His father’s death ruined us both.

I could still remember the day he told me his father died. It stood out so clearly in my mind. Just thinking about it made my stomach tighten and my throat feel dry. I swallowed hard and tried not to think about it anymore.

I could push him from my mind. I could if I tried really hard.

It had become easier to do as the years passed.

But seeing him again had undone all the work I had done trying to put him out of my mind.

I knew this time I couldn’t push thoughts of him to the back of my mind. I was already reeling after seeing Wyatt for the first time in almost five years.