AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Those words came as they stopped next to her car. She was fishing her keys out of her right coat pocket, but his words stilled her movements. This was it. He was letting her know whatever had happened with them, it had to be in the past. It had been a mistake, and he regretted it now.
The thing was, she had not a single regret. Even if he never spoke to her or looked in her direction again, she’d always be glad she had that one, perfect kiss.
“I guess that’s for the best.” Georgia looked over at the courthouse. “Keep all communication to our attorneys.”
“From this point forward until it’s over,” he said. “And it will be over soon enough.”
Did that mean…? Her lips parted. She was speechless and so absolutely confused. Was he pushing her away because he didn’t want to be with her or because of her family?
He looked around, probably verifying that nobody was nearby, and leaned forward, whispering in her ear. His words stayed with her as she got in her truck and drove away.
“That was the most amazing kiss of my life.”
8
Like most kids who grew up in Cupid Ridge, Clayton had logged a lot of hours sitting in this very movie theater. As he entered the lobby, inhaling the all-too-familiar aroma of popcorn, so many memories came back to him.
Things were much easier when he was sixteen, bringing Lucie Cooper here on their first date. The only daughter of one of the town’s wealthier families, Lucie was perfect in every way. She was the bubbly cheerleader-homecoming queen that every boy wanted to go out with. He’d felt honored to be her boyfriend for most of sophomore year.
But even then, he’d known it wasn’t quite right. She dumped him for Jonathan Armstrong, a kid with a fancy sports car and an obnoxious attitude. Jonathan left town after graduation and never returned, but Lucie remained in town and avoided Clayton like the plague for some reason.
But Lucie wasn’t who was on his mind as he stood in this lobby. He was haunted by another memory—of seeing Georgia and her friends here senior year. He was single then and would have loved nothing more than to ask Georgia on a date, but she breezed right past him and into the theater, her friends following. They’d waved and said “hi,” so he knew it wasn’t the fact that he was no longer dating their friend Lucie that bugged Georgia. She just always refused to even look at him.
It’d been almost a week since he’d last seen Georgia Ludington. A week since he’d pressed his lips to hers in a kiss that had filled his every waking and sleeping thought since. Even though Cupid Ridge was a small town, they somehow managed not to run into each other. Probably because she spent most of her time working at the inn, and he’d been running back and forth to Reno, meeting with Marnie and trying to broker a truce between the two families.
Clayton stepped up to the counter, smiling at the teenager in the white shirt and bow tie. He smiled back at Clayton.
The teenager, whose name was Dean, recited Clayton’s regular order from memory. “Small popcorn. Heavy on the butter, extra salt.”
“Perfect.” Clayton nodded and dug his wallet out of his back pocket. Jonathan was a sophomore at Cupid Ridge High School. He made independent movies that he posted online in his free time and hoped to go to film school in California when he graduated.
Clayton was here every Sunday afternoon, catching whatever movie the one-screen theater was showing that week. It was a way to unwind as the weekend drew to a close. So, he supposed that made him a regular.
The door behind him opened, letting in the cold air. Luckily, Clayton’s coat was still on. He’d take it off and drape it over the seat next to him when he got into theater, trying not to think about the fact that he was still seeing movies alone.
“I get the popcorn this time,” someone said.
Something about the voices behind him set off alerts, but it took Clayton’s mind a few seconds to register. And then he recognized the laughter. That was definitely a Ludington. Where there was one Ludington brother, there would be at least one more. The youngest sibling had moved away after an incident a few years ago, so three was the max on brothers he might run into, but they occasionally had a sister along with them—a sister he had a particular interest in seeing again.
And that was what prompted him to turn around when normally he would have stayed facing front. He grabbed his popcorn and soda and rushed toward the theater without making eye contact. Not that the brothers would start anything. They ignored him as much as he ignored them. He just didn’t like any drama whatsoever.
“Clayton Mills,” Bobbie Ludington said. “We keep running into each other.”
She was walking ahead of the group, a smile on her face. As usual these days, that smile didn’t quite reach her eyes.
Sure enough, Sawyer stepped up to stand on the other side of his mom, arms crossed over his chest. It looked like he was preparing for a standoff, but really, he was just protecting her. From what, Clayton had no idea.
“Nice to see you.” Clayton smiled at Bobbie.
He’d only had one encounter with her in his life, and that had been the night he’d come to see Georgia at the inn. She’d been super sweet to him. He had no reason to believe she’d be not-so-sweet just because her children were here.
Speaking of her children, Georgia had just walked through the door. He lifted his gaze to look directly at her, and she spotted him over her mother’s shoulder. The bored expression on her face changed immediately when she saw him, those beautiful eyes widening and her lips twitching up at the corners a little.
“Clayton?” she asked.
Bobbie Ludington had stepped back a little and was looking from her daughter to Clayton. “Sawyer, Brendon, grab the refreshments. I’ll go save us some seats.”
She gave Clayton a wink—an actual wink—as she put her hand on Sawyer’s well-defined right bicep and pushed him toward the concession stand. Clayton stepped awkwardly toward her, still holding his popcorn and drink. They might have been left in this small area alone, but her two brothers were well within earshot.
