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“You left me,” I bite out.
He sighs and wipes his brow with the back of his hand. “We were just kids doing the best that we could. You had your issues with your parents, and I had mine, too.”
My face falls when he says that. “Have you heard from either of them?” I ask about his mom and sister.
He shakes his head. “No. You?”
I shake my head. Family secrets are what destroyed us, and now here we are. It feels like we’ve come full circle.
He shakes his head and leans down to reposition another piece of wood to chop. I know he’s acting like it’s not a big deal, but he’s been through a lot. I heard he had joined the military, but I tried to shut him out and wouldn’t let anyone bring him up again after he left and didn’t contact me. Goldie tried to talk to me about him, but I always shut her down. I didn’t want to know. There’s so much about SJ that I don’t know. So much he took from me. I never imagined we’d be strangers like this. I didn’t want to hear about him through Goldie. I wanted him to care enough to reach out to me himself.
“Change your mind on that coffee yet?” he asks. His husky voice incinerates my panties.
I narrow my eyes. “No.”
“Come on, we used to be best friends.”
I bark out a laugh. “Best friends?”
He nods, his whiskey eyes on me.
“A best friend doesn’t justleavewithout a word. Not one word. Friends don’t even do that, let alone best friends.”
“That’s not true,” he says softly. “Did you know that I wrote you letters every day for a year? I sent them to your house, and Goldie even tried to give you some.”
I didn’t know that. My hand flies to my mouth. I never got any letters from my parents. I vaguely remember that with Goldie when she mentioned SJ. That was a horrible time for me with my parents, and I never felt more alone in my life. I left not long after so that explains why I never got any of his letters. I’m sure they just threw them away.
“It’s too late for us.” I shake my head. We can’t fix this.
“Nope,” he says. “This is our spot.” He waves his hand. “Why would you come back here if you didn’t miss me?”
“I’m surprised you remember that,” I say quietly. “You forgot about me so easily, I figured you forgot everything else about us. And it isn’t our spot anymore. I guess it’s just yours now. Enjoy your spot.”
He throws the axe into the log and stalks over to me like a puma, sleek and dark, his torso dewy with perspiration, his long legs eating up the distance between us, stopping in front of me. The look on his face is determined.
“Not a day goes by that I haven’t thought about you. Not a single day.”
As he says this, he gets closer until I can see his eyes, and they’re locked on me. I close my eyes. I can’t look at him. My SJ. He’s not mine anymore. His face is so close to mine, his mouth inches from my lips.
I open my eyes and see hope in his, and I can’t take it anymore. I reach up and pull him to me, and my mouth crashes into his.
And he pulls me in, his mouth taking over and his hands cradling my face, not letting go and kissing me like he was meant to do. And it feels…right. God, it feels right. And wrong. He built this home and a life here without me. This was our spot. And now I don’t know what any of this means.
“You weren’t just my best friend, SJ. You were my everything.” I pull back, choking out a sob.
I turn to walk back to the path, wiping my eyes as I go. “Now you’re my nothing.”
“Callie,” he clips in a hoarse voice.
“What?” I call back without turning around. I can’t look at him. I brace myself because I know whatever he says has the power to destroy me. He holds all the power, always has. And he’s dangerous with it.
“I was your first kiss. I plan on being your last.” He goes back to chopping wood and the back view of him is even hotter than the front. Jesus.
eight
SJ
Then
