Page 35 of Make You Mine

“It’s been fucking forever. I didn’t think I’d ever see you again.” He pauses, his lips stretch, his eyes harden. “Especially after…everything.”

“Y-yeah.”

A smile softens his face. “How have you been? What brings you back here?”

I don’t know how to react to all the questions. Many things happened in the past, but they’re not the reason I’m here. I can’t exactly tell him why I am, though.

Good thing I’m relatively good at lying, and I think fast.

“Man, a lot.” I push my hands into my pockets. “Mostly just got in my feels. Wanted to check how everything was back here after forever.”

“Your girlfriend?”

Maddy startles at the question. Her cheeks redden.

I consider it for a moment. He has no idea I have a stepsister. I could lie.

I’d like that. To pretend, for once.

In fact, it might come in handy.

“Yes.”

Maddy’s mouth opens to complain, and I press my arm against her shoulder, ducking my head to reach her ear.

“Go along with it,” I whisper.

She quiets.

Mike nods. “Cool. Glad to see you moved on.”

I don’t say anything. Of course, I moved on. It’s been over ten years. I want to ask how his sister, Laurie, is.

But I don’t. It’s better to leave the past in the past. If I moved on, I’m sure she has.

There’s no need to satisfy that curiosity. Maddy may start asking questions, too.

“Anyway, sit wherever you’d like, and I’ll be with you in a moment to take your order.”

“Thanks, Mike. Actually—” I put my arm around his shoulder before turning to Madelyn. “Pick a seat and take a look at the menu, baby. You can order anything you want. I’ll be there in a minute.”

My little demon doesn’t fight me or refuse. Reluctantly, she goes ahead and sits somewhere near a window.

I shift my focus to Mike. “I wanted to talk to you about something.”

Mike’s eyebrows shoot up. “Okay.”

“It’s going to sound weird. And I’m totally popping up out of nowhere, but…Has anyone been asking about me?”

“About you?” He purses his lips. “I don’t think so. Heck, man. If it weren’t for your face looking the same, I wouldn’t even have recognized you. You got bigger. And more stylish. I haven’t thought about you in a long time. It’s been what, nine years?”

“Ten,” I correct him, keeping my voice low. “So, no one?”

“No.” He reassures me. “People used to ask about you back then. Especially after what happened. And how you left. But not now.”

It doesn’t make any sense.

Someone has to have said something. There’s no other way. How else could this anonymous person know about my past?