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Suddenly I feltsomething. A summer breeze blowing hot against my skin. The sound of drunk high school kids carrying on partying to the soundtrack of the early 2000s. My best friend laughing and biting down on her pretty pink lower lip.
And the smell of fucking cherries.
“Fuck me sideways,” I blurted, staring at the shoulders, the neck, and the ponytail in front of me until the woman in the off-the-shoulder top turned around and I finally saw her face.
Cindy Lawless stood right here in front of me with the same big brown eyes, the same freckles on her nose, and a look of utter shock on her face. She looked older, of course. And a little more worldly. But it was her.MyCindy.
I racked my brain for the perfect words for this moment, but nothing came out. I struggled foranywords, but all I could do was stare at Cindy with my mouth partly open and gawp at her.
“Umm.”
“Luke?” she asked, blinking me into focus. “Is that really you?”
“Yeah, Cindy. It’s me. Um…” I ran my hand through my hair, my mind completely blank.
“Luke, I…”
“Cindy, what the fuck happened to us?”
Seven
Cindy
“What the fuck happened to us?”
Luke stared at me. I stared back, breathless, my head spinning, and my knees threatening to go out.
Luke was a little taller and had packed quite a bit of muscle over the years. His jaw was sharper, and his eyes were a little wearier. His hair had gotten a little long and unruly, and he clearly hadn’t shaved in a few days. I itched to touch it and see if it was soft or scratchy.
He didn’t look like the boy I’d left behind in Blue Creek. He looked like a man.
A smoking hot man.
But he wasn’t here for compliments.
“I, um…” I started before I’d really thought of an answer. “I got busy.”
“You got busy?”
He raised an eyebrow and I shrugged. It was a lame answer, but it was better than the truth.You married your pregnant girlfriend and broke my fucking heart.
“Too busy to text or send a fucking email?” he asked brusquely.
“I…”
“I was worried about you, Cindy. I didn’t know where you were or whether or not you were safe.”
“I know, but…”
“I missed you. I mean, you were my best friend and, just like that, you were gone.” Luke reached out like he was going to touch my upper arm. I wanted him to. I wanted to feel his hands on my body. But he pulled back. “It made me feel like I meant nothing to you.”
“Fuck, that wasn’t it, Luke. I missed you. So much.”
I wrung my hands so hard I practically dislocated my thumb.
“It was hard, Luke. I was far away from home and I was missing so many people,” I stammered. “It was easier to just put some distance there.”
Luke nodded slowly. “I guess I get that.”
