AllFreeNovel
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Maybe they just weren’t looking. Who knows.
I scoot through town, never hitting a red light, the streets deserted at this hour. Windows down, the humid salt air fills my car, and I hum absently to the music. Some sad country singer crooning about a breakup.
#relatable
Ten minutes later I park my SUV on the edge of the dirt road, tucking it out of the way as best as I can. Not that there’s traffic out here, but just in case. Then I hike the short distance through the woods until I come to a clearing.
The sun’s up now, the sky streaky with pink and orange. A fine white mist sits over the still lake, the soft chirping of crickets breaking the quiet. Some animal or large insect hits the smooth, glassy water, sending out a ripple of concentric circles. The skin on my arms puckers, a chill racing through me. Early-morning dew’s wet on my shoes, soaking through the white canvas as I cross through the tall grass to the edge of the lake.
Our spot.
King and I used to spend hours out here, kissing and talking. Touching and laughing, hiding away from the world. Our families, my problems.
Some of the best moments of my life happened out here, beneath this very sky.
It’s entirely possible we conceived our baby in this grass, naked on a blanket from his truck, our bodies twined together.
A shudder rolls through me, flutters of desire twinging in my belly.
What am I doing back here? I’m playing with fire, and I know it.
I slide my cell out of my pocket, click on the message again. For the hundredth time.
King of My Heart: I’m sorry
Chest tight, the skin beneath my shirt flushes. A slight sheen of sweat breaks out between my shoulder blades, and now I’m chilly.
With a shuddery breath, I walk along the edge of the lake until I come to an old, sprawling oak. The tree’s massive, shading the water even though it sits well off the shoreline. Making my way over, I reach out and touch the rough bark. Run my fingers along the smooth indentation.
K & J, enclosed in a heart.
King carved our initials in the trunk over fifteen years ago now. Seeing the sharp lines of our letters takes my breath away. Together forever.
“Juliet.”
I freeze, my fingers still touching the tree. My stomach swoops at the deep voice.
Slowly, so slowly, I glance over my shoulder. King’s standing behind me, and my heart lodges in my throat.
I still don’t know what to say, so I say nothing. Only nod at him, the waves of my hair rustling against my shirt.
He scrubs a hand over the back of his neck, rolls his head like he’s trying to work out a crick.
“You look like shit. You sleep at all last night?” I ask.
“Gee, thanks. Good morning to you too, sunshine.” He drops his hand from the back of his neck, shoves it in the pocket of his jeans. My eyes follow the movement, dropping down to his crotch. Realizing I’m staring somewhere I have no business looking, I pop my gaze back up to his face.
“You never texted me back.” He presses his lips together, the corners of his mouth turning down.
I shrug, acting way more casual than I feel.
“Not much to say.”
He pins his navy eyes on mine, and I’m a butterfly trapped under glass in biology class, getting scrutinized. He’s watching, observing, wondering.
He clears his throat, and the sound bounces off the water. I kick at the grass with the toe of my sneaker. Mainly for something to do, somewhere to look.
Anywhere but at him.
