Chasing Ivy (Oak Hill 1)

“See! It’s fine. I bet you two will be best friends again in no time. But before I get off here, is he hot?”

My breath hitched. “Um…” Saying Dawson is hot would be the biggest understatement of the year. Dawson Lanning was strikingly handsome, and rough around all the right edges.

“I freaking knew it; he’s sexy, isn’t he? Emmett is so hot with those tattoos splayed all over his chest. My God, have you seen his pictures on Facebook? I always wondered if Dawson had them, too. Does he?”

I started to stutter. “No, I don’t think so… I didn’t see any.”

Heat filled my lower section at the mere thought of Dawson having hidden tattoos on his body somewhere. I wonder what he’s hiding underneath his clothes?

I shook my head, blowing out the trapped air in my chest. “Look, I gotta go.”

“Me too, have a good first day of work. I’m coming home this weekend, okay?”

“You are? Yay! I love living this close to you.”

I could tell she was smiling as she said, “Me too! Oh, and I told Uncle Timothy we would video chat him!”

I laughed. “Okay, sounds good. Love you.”

“Love you, too!” Then the phone went dead.

I knew, after hearing the joy in Mia’s voice, that I’d made the right decision moving back here to this sleepy ol’ town. Eric was wrong… I could be happy here. Even if it was without him.

Working at the main branch, right in the center of town, taking over Judy’s job, was literally perfect. She was so excited to see me this morning that she took me along, her wrinkly hand clasped in mine, and introduced me to every single person who was now considered my new co-worker.

She was showing me off like I was her daughter who had just announced she was pregnant or something. She’d say, “This is her, the brilliant Ivy!” I laughed the first couple of times, feeling embarrassed, but then I just grew to adore the fact that everyone already knew who I was.

She must have been gushing about me for quite some time now, as everyone (including the big boss) was waving and smiling at me like we were all long-lost best friends.

Which only reminded me of Dawson.

He’d texted me while I was working at the bank and told me he was coming over after I got off work to take some measurements. My finger hovered over the “send” button after I’d typed up a text explaining that there was a spare key underneath the floormat that he could use, if he wanted to head over now, but I just couldn’t bring myself to push my finger down on my screen.

I didn’t hit send because the thought of seeing him after work made me as excited as a child going to the zoo for the first time. I was semi-embarrassed that I was already looking forward to seeing him since we could barely even be considered acquaintances at this point.

Sure, we shared a large pizza the other night and I felt like I was fifteen again, throwing pineapples at his head when he wasn’t looking, causing us to crack up, but that didn’t mean we were best friends again.

I couldn’t consider us best friends again after sharing one pizza and falling into easy conversation. Aside from going over the blueprints of the house, we’d filled each other in on the last six years, skimming over what we had been up to: his business college experiences and what it was like living with my uncle and Mia. We didn’t touch any of the awkward “Are you seeing anyone” kinds of questions or the “How are you since your parents died” segment but nonetheless, I couldn’t deny that things felt right. I felt like… the old Ivy, for the first time in six years.

Not even Eric could get me to feel like my old self the way Dawson had the other night. I thought Eric had lessened the hard shell I had formed around myself since losing my parents, but I was wrong.

And what did I expect? Eric and I seemed so real and like the perfect couple on paper, but he never made me feel the way I should have felt. And I obviously didn’t make him feel those things, either, considering he dumped me over one fight about moving back here.

Eric didn’t fight for me, but I couldn’t really blame him. I wasn’t sure I would have fought for him, either.

As soon as I got out of my car, I rushed around the front bumper so fast that I actually scraped my calf. I ran up the porch steps, eager to get inside to at least wipe off the layer of grease my face had probably obtained from being stuck in an office all morning, but a voice caused me to shriek and fall backwards.

“Oh my God!” Becca laughed as she tried to pick me up off my wooden porch. “I’m so sorry!”

I quickly got back to my feet and threw my arms around Becca’s neck. “What the hell are you doing home!?”

“Well, I’m glad you’re still happy to see me after I just made you fall.”

I pulled back. “It’s not that hard to make me fall, Bec.”

“True,” she agreed, thoughtfully. “I came home a little early to set up my classroom and wanted to surprise you! I still can’t believe you moved back home. It’s like… my childhood dream coming true.”

“I can’t either,” I said as a matter-of-fact.