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Her light brown hair is loose and brushes along the tops of bare, sun-kissed shoulders. Has she been spending some time by Misty Lake? As teenagers, we’d spent as much free time as we could there during the summers. And that time had always turned her skin the same shade it is now, but set against the ivory color of the dress she’s wearing? She glows.
Jagger whistles under his breath and I shoot him a glare.
He lifts his hands and retreats a step with his eyebrows raised.
Like a magnet, my attention is drawn back to her. To the way the pastel floral-print dress hugs her curves in a way that I want to. My dick twitches in my jeans, and the urge to stand up, to move closer to her, is so strong that the muscles in my legs tighten to do just that.
Until a man’s arm appears and rests against her lower back followed by the rest of him. Sandy-blond hair that’s styled to perfection. Dress slacks and a button-down that look freshly ironed. I glance down at my own jeans that have several grease stains and my black T-shirt.
Who the fuck is he and why is Jade here with him?
“Who’s that?” I hiss.
“Brian Jessup. He’s the math teacher at the high school,” Jagger replies quietly.
Another teacher. He’s perfect for her. They look like they belong together. So why do the two of them together make me want to punch something?
“Hey, Jade. Two?” Jagger asks.
“Yeah.”
I try to ignore the dropkick into memory lane her voice sends me to. The different ways I’d heard it through the years. The laughter of friendship, the shyness of first love, and the way her voice broke over my name when we took that next step. Then that final day when her voice had been colored with confusion and hurt.
All of that from one little word.
I am in trouble.
“How about that second booth over there?”
How can Jagger just pretend like everything is normal?
It is, dummy. You’re the only one freaking out.
Jagger hadn’t dated Jade in high school. Jagger had been here when she got back from college and started teaching at the high school—and no, it wasn’t stalking to ask my mom about her when I moved back. It isn’t weird for any of them.
Just for me.
And I need to get over myself.
We are both living in Aspen Falls now. This town is big enough for the both of us, right? Then why am I back to second-guessing my decision to attend the reunion?
TWO
JADE
This is awkward as hell.
More uncomfortable than walking into Expedition Brewing with Brian last month. On a date. In the same place my ex-boyfriend frequents.
In his defense, Shep’s best friend owns the bar. Where else would he go?
In my defense, this is a small town. And I’ve lived here longer. Also, he broke up with me. Not the other way around. Why should I feel uncomfortable being on a date in front of Shep?
Might be because he is even hotter than Hades in a heat wave.
It had been uncomfortable. I had felt like I was doing something wrong. But on the outside, I pretended that Shep didn’t exist. That should count for something.
More uncomfortable than when the reunion attendees had taken a group tour of the high school yesterday, the day before the reunion dinner. I’d managed to be professional as I showed them around. It was easier for me to do it since I worked there. At least that’s what Danielle had told me when she cornered me at the grocery store to volun-tell me. Being tour guide meant I got a distraction from Shep. I was at the front of the group. Per his usual, Shep lingered at the back with his thumbs hooked into his belt loops while he swaggered through the school.
