10 Years Later

“He’s linked to you forever because of that,” she said. “There are emotional ties between the two of you that will always be there. That’s why you’ve never been able to truly let him go. Not that I blame you.”

I nodded in agreement as I stared at myself in the mirror and willed myself not to cry. “I do feel connected to him. Even after all this time, it’s like nothing’s changed.”

“He’s always been the one guy you never truly got over. I think we all get one of those. Some of us meet him in college or at our first real job. But you met yours in high school. It is what it is.” She shrugged, spouting off this knowledge as if she were an expert at love. “Now get it together and let’s get back out there. I swear he was looking for you.”

I waved her off. “I doubt it was me, but I’ll be out in a second. Just go. Please.”

My best friend stared at me for a moment, indecision making her frown. Thankfully she had matured since high school—barely—and she made the right choice, leaving me in the bathroom alone.

I could do this. I was no longer a seventeen-year-old girl; I was a grown woman, for Pete’s sake. A grown woman who could handle facing her past and the one guy connected to it.

Once my pep talk ended, I sucked in a long, deep breath and flung open the bathroom door. I took my time as I walked back into the dimly lit room and toward my table. Dalton was still surrounded by a crowd of fans. It was like I was back in high school all over again, watching him from afar as he stood there, adored by everyone in his proximity.

Part of me wanted to walk right up to him and break this spell, but the other part of me refused to move. As immature a notion as it was, I wanted Dalton to come to me, to chase me, to choose me.

He smiled at someone, and even though I was sitting down, my knees trembled under the table.

“He looks really good,” Kristy whispered while I continued to stare, searching his left hand for any sign of a ring in the darkness.

“I noticed,” I said before forcing myself to look away.

“Oh Lord,” Kristy whispered. “The eagle has landed. Crash landed. Hard landing.”

Where Did She Go

Dalton

I scanned the room for her, feeling desperate, out of control, and needy. When I didn’t see her anywhere, I almost lost my shit and demanded that someone turn the damn lights on full blast so I could actually see.

People wouldn’t leave my side as they greeted me, annoying me by saying how great it was to see me and asking a million and a half questions that could wait for some other time. When I finally spotted Kristy but no Cammie, my heart sank to the pit of my stomach.

No.

She had to be here; she said she was coming. But what if I was too late? What if she had already left? Just as I was about to kick my own ass, Cammie rushed over to Kristy’s table, looking upset. I couldn’t take my eyes off her, even as other people chirped in my ears and surrounded me like I was a fucking Hollywood star or something.

“I’ll be right back. I need to go,” I announced as I pushed my way through the people next to me and headed toward her. It was rude to cut my old friends off that way. I knew they were only curious about where I’d been, but there would be time for catching up with them later. After Cammie. Cammie needed to come first. Everyone else could come last.

Walking over toward her table, I watched as she stood up quickly, as if trying to escape. She scooted her chair back and turned her body right into mine, her hazel eyes even prettier than I remembered.

“Cammie.” I smiled and couldn’t stop myself from taking in the length of her body in that red dress. She looked fucking incredible; her legs were still a mile long. How could one person still look so much the same, yet so different all at once?

She shifted her weight and glanced toward my hands before saying, “Hi, Dalton. It’s, uh, been a long time.”

When I opened my arms, she stepped into them, and a tiny ball of pressure lifted from my shoulders, just from having her near. I wrapped my arms around her waist and pulled her tight. She fit against my body perfectly, like she was made for me. Twenty-seven-year-old Cammie was built to fit with twenty-eight-year-old Dalton. My dick sure seemed to agree.

“You look beautiful, Cammie,” I whispered against her hair, and breathed her in as my pants immediately tightened.

Being a guy had only a few downfalls; the complete lack of control when it came to our dicks was one of them. I didn’t want to let her go, but knew that I needed to before something either pressed against her thigh, or she thought I was a lunatic who couldn’t keep his hands off her. Not that I wanted to. My hands belonged all over that body.

“Thank you. You look really good yourself,” she said, but her voice sounded off. It was too chipper, too forced.

“Dalton, dude! Where have you been?”

A guy I couldn’t place interrupted us, and as I glanced around the room at all of the people, I realized that if I wanted to talk to Cammie at all, I would have to get her the hell out of here.

I looked back at the guy and shook his hand. “I’ve been in New York. I’ll come talk to you in a bit; I want to catch up with Cammie first.”

He looked between us and raised his beer. “Oh, sorry. Okay. Come find me.”