At First Hate (Coastal Chronicles)

“Yeah. Come on.”

I shrugged and turned to follow Lila out. This wasn’t my event anyway. I didn’t need to be here.

Then, I heard a voice behind us. “Marley Nelson.”

The sound of Derek’s voice slid down my back. I froze in place and suddenly forgot how to breathe. What was he doing here? Derek had been a Holy Cross boy, but he’d been two years older than us. Of course, he knew Ash Talmadge. I just hadn’t thought for a moment that he would come to this reunion.

And oh fuck, was his wife here? Did I have to suffer through seeing Kasey in all of her tall, blonde model glory?

Not to mention, I’d still never told Lila what had happened between us. I’d compartmentalized it and shoved it so far away from me that I never, ever had to look at it again. What the fuck was I going to do?

I slowly turned, my eyes narrowing to pinpricks. “Derek.”

“How are you doing? I haven’t seen you since—”

“I remember,” I snapped.

Lila glanced over at me with round eyes. She’d felt the full force of my anger in those couple of words to Derek. She didn’t know what it meant, but she knew it meant something. It was the first time Lila had ever seen Derek and me together. Of course, she’d know as soon as she saw him. Fuck.

“Hey, Derek,” Lila said quickly as if she could defuse the tension.

But Derek was still looking at me. He was fucking smiling. He’d married someone else, and he was smiling at me. In that moment, I hated him. I hated how goddamn handsome he was in his sharp suit. That he’d somehow filled out even more with broad shoulders and a tapered waist. His hair was shorter than ever. I could barely find the hint of curl that had been there for so many years.

Then, he glanced away from me to my friend. The one person he’d never officially met in my life. He grinned as if it were an inside joke.

“Delilah, right?” he asked.

“That’s right,” Lila said.

“You dated Ash Talmadge.”

As if the bastard hadn’t already known all of that.

Lila flushed. “I did.”

“He’s a cool guy.”

Lila nodded uncomfortably. “Sure.”

And something in me erupted. I couldn’t stand here and pretend that everything was okay. Sure, he’d never met Lila before and jumped at the chance. But he was the one who had married someone else. This was his fault this time. Not mine.

“Leave her alone, Derek. Can’t you see you’re making her uncomfortable?”

“Oh, calm down, Minivan,” he said with a soft laugh. The laugh that said the nickname with a caress and not the bite that other people had said it with. My toes curled in my shoes, and I hated that he could elicit that reaction from me. “We’re just reminiscing.”

“Minivan?” Lila asked in confusion.

“We should go,” I said. “Good-bye, Derek.”

I grabbed Lila’s arm and yanked her away from him.

“What was that?” Lila asked as soon as we were away.

“What was what?”

Lila gave me a pointed look. “You freaked out on him.”

“He’s an asshole.”

Lila pulled back on my arm, dragging me to a stop. “Okay. But I’ve never seen you act like this.”

I clenched my jaw. What the fuck could I say? How could I explain what I’d held back from her all those years? I told her the bare minimum. “He went to Harvard Law when I was there for my PhD. He’s an ass.”

“But he’s hot.”

My face flushed at those words. I pinched myself and looked away. “So?”

“Oh my God, are you into him?” Lila asked, all excited. It was as if she had just sprung water in the desert.

“No!” I gasped fervently. “How could you even suggest that? I hate him!”

“Fine line,” Lila said with a smirk.

“Maybe for you!”

“All right.” She raised her arms in surrender. “If you say so.”

Lila turned back to look at Derek but instead found Ash Talmadge waiting there for her. He smiled at Lila, an invitation for more. For everything with him.

I winced at that look. Ash and Lila were combustible and problematic. I hated how much it reminded me of me and Derek.

“Lila,” I whispered, “are you going to talk to him?”

Ash raised his glass toward us. Lila wavered. She wanted to go, and yet she wouldn’t let herself. Not after what had happened with her, Ash, and Cole.

“No,” she finally said.

I reached for her hand and squeezed. “Are you sure?”

“No.”

Ash stepped forward, need scrawled all over his face.

Lila shook her head. “We should go.”

So, we left.

I convinced Lila to head to the riverfront for a drink. We both needed one after that. We’d been sideswiped with feelings that neither of us had wanted to encounter. I still couldn’t believe that Derek had been there.

We sat down at a table overlooking the water, nursing our drinks in silence.