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“Joey.”
“Traitor.”
“Hey, he was my friend first, so I get dibs on loyalty. Sorry. If it makes you feel any better, he used to give me, like, detailed transcripts of all your conversations and show me any pictures you sent him, to the point I had to tell him to stop,” Parker told her. She laughed.
“Did he stop?”
“What do you think?”
She laughed again.
“I just can’t believe it’s you. It’s been so long. How have you been? When did you get back?” she asked.
“About two months ago,” he replied.
“Two months ago!?” she shrieked. He winced.
“Yeah.”
“You waited two months to come see me!?” she shouted.
“Well, you’re kinda scary, Paige! Can you blame me? I didn’t know if you’d hug me or kick me in the balls. I certainly didn’t expect crying,” he pointed out.
“Paige!” a voice called out from the cafe. They both looked to see Chad poking his head out. “You okay?” he called. Parker raised his eyebrows at Paige and she crossed her eyes back at him.
“Yeah, I’m fine, just ran into an old friend!” she called back, waving. He waved back, gave Parker a glare, and then went back inside.
“Ooohhh, looks like you have a secret admirer,” Parker teased. She waved him away.
“It’s not very secret,” she joked back. He raised an eyebrow.
“Boyfriend?” he asked, and she laughed out loud.
“No. I tried that once and it almost got me killed.”
"I'm not sure if that's funny, or just plain wrong," Parker replied, but he laughed as well.
They stood in awkward silence for a minute. Parker’s eyes wandered over her face and she shivered. He smiled at her, and then took in the rest of her, all the way down to her feet.
Do I look the same to him? How did I ever look to him? Can I look that way again?
She couldn't stand it.
“Do you want to go to my place?” she asked abruptly. He raised an eyebrow at her.
“Smooth, Paige.”
She hit him in the arm.
“Shut up. It’s warmer there and I have free coffee. Coming or not?”
*
PARKER HADN’T RECOGNIZEDPaige when he'd first seen her in the cafe. Seeing her sitting with a group of people, talking and laughing, had been quite the shock. The Paige he knew had generally avoided groups – making friends had never been “her thing”, she'd told him more than a few times.
Also, her hair was just different enough to throw him for a loop. When they'd been traveling together, it had barely brushed past her shoulders, and ninety percent of the time, she'd worn it up in a ponytail. Now, though, it was so long, and thick, and had a lot of texture. A thick braid curved over her shoulder and hung onto her breasts, while wispier hairs framed her face, softening her intense looks.
She was also wearing more clothing than he'd ever seen her wear before,ever. He knew Seattle in March wasn’t exactly summer weather, but he'd still kinda expected her to be in her shorts and t-shirts, or her leggings and sneakers.
