But I’m nervous and what if I drop it? I need to get a fucking grip and have confidence. I look good tonight. I have a successful career. I’m happy. I have no reason to be nervous, even though my mortal enemy from my teen years might be going home with the only man I’ve ever really loved tonight.
Mason gets to me first, spreading his arms for a hug. I set the drink down, forgetting to be nervous for a few seconds.
“Fish-face,” he says affectionately and pulls me in for a hug.
“Fart-breath,” I say right back, remembering the stupid nicknames we made up for each other when we were kids. Mason is the youngest of the Harris brothers, and I know he had a crush on me for a few years. There were times when I wished I liked him back, but I’ve never been one to date a younger guy, and…well…he’s just not Sam.
My Sam.
“I heard you were back.” Mason gives me a tight squeeze before letting me go, taking a step back. He looks me up and down, not caring how obvious it is that he’s checking me out. “Rory might stalk you.”
I laugh. “If only all my stalkers were as sweet as her.”
“You have stalkers? For real?” The smile starts to fade, and I remember Sam telling me Mason is an FBI agent now. He probably takes stuff like this seriously.
“Kinda comes with the territory. I haven’t had anything too bad yet, though, and I’m trying hard not to take it personally. Like, aren’t I good enough for you to camp out outside my house for two weeks before you smell so bad joggers find you in a tent made from ripped bedsheets I threw away over a month ago?”
Mason laughs. “That’s oddly specific.”
“It might have happened to a friend.” I swallow hard, eyes shifting from Mason to Sam, who got held up on his way over by Lauren. He stops next to his brother, and my heart thumps like mad in my chest. The stupid thing is going to give me away.
“Chloe,” Sam says, and everything in the bar quiets. All I hear is the breath leaving my lungs and my pulse, bounding through my body. “You…you look good.”
“Now this time I believe you,” I say, shocking even myself at the ease of the words leaving my mouth. “I’m not wet this time.” Mason raises an eyebrow and looks from me to Sam and back. “I got caught in the rain,” I add quickly, unable to look away from Sam’s eyes. He looks good too, casually dressed in jeans and a t-shirt. His hair is still perfectly messy, begging for me to run my fingers through it.
I blink and get a flash of Sam, skin damp from the rain, and I feel the shock all over again. He was the last person I expected to see and seeing him all grown up was almost too much for my system to handle. He’s always been fit, but he’s filled out, far from the boy I had a crush on.
Sam is all man now, and he looks like a walking heartbreak waiting to happen.
“Who’s this?” Lauren pushes her way next to Sam and goes to rest her hand on his arm. He moves away at the last second, making me second-guess if they’re actually here together. Lauren plasters a fake smile on her overly made-up face and tips her head as she looks at me, doing a very good job of pretending not to remember me.
Mason shoots Lauren an incredulous look. “You don’t know who she is?”
Lauren keeps the smile on her face and shakes her head, blonde hair falling over her shoulder. She’s still pretty, just as she was before. I never understood how anyone could have such naturally smooth and blemish-free skin like Lauren. She has a lot of makeup on—it’s well applied, at least—but I can still tell her skin is just as perfect as before.
“It’s Chloe,” Sam says, gaze on me. Hearing him say my name sends a shiver through me, and my heart aches at the thought of what might have been.
What should have been.
“Chloe,” Lauren muses, acting like she has to think back to who I am. “Oh, now I remember you! We went to school together.”
“Yep.”
“What have you been up to?” Lauren asks, way too chipper.
Mason’s brows pinch together. “You’re kidding, right?”
“No, silly,” Lauren laughs, leaning closer to Sam. He doesn’t move away this time, and I hate the tension that fills me when I see her hand brush over his. “Why would I be kidding?”
Mason slowly looks from Lauren to me. “She’s famous.”
Lauren’s eyes go to me again, settling on my breasts for a second. “I don’t watch porn,” she says and then laughs. Once a bitch, always a bitch, determined to bring anyone else down to make herself feel better.