"Yeah, I needed to check in at the bar. Had to make sure they didn't blow up my kitchen."
"Uh huh." He nods knowing damn well the reason I came out here. "And Jaylen had nothing to do with it?"
"Nope." The lie feels gross as soon as I say it. "What's up with Hudson and Kelly? I don't think I've ever seen that much hate between two people."
"You've been gone a long time and missed quite a bit. Maybe we'll fill you in when we're done here."
"Should I be afraid?"
"Not really. It's pretty funny, actually," he pulls open the door, "let's get back inside and impress our former classmates with our accomplishments."
Rolling my eyes, I follow him inside. Taking one more deep breath, I move toward the bar. Except Jaylen isn't there anymore. Her friends are, but she's nowhere to be seen.
A flash of red moving between the crowd catches my eye and it looks like it's coming in my direction. She's determined to get in my good graces tonight.
Finally, she comes into full view, and my breath catches. The same way it's done since we were teens. The way it did when I saw her walk into the bar less than an hour ago.
She's coming straight for me, and I slow my steps to gather my wits. She's less than five feet from me when she tumbles forward.
4
Jaylen
One second Patrickis in front of me, eyes wide as I approach him for the second time tonight. The next...I'm looking up at him from his arms.
"Are you okay?" His lips are less than a foot away from mine. It would be so easy to close the distance.
But I can't. Not when I need to figure out if there can be anything between us. At least, anything more than friendship. Everything hinges on him spending more time with me.
"Hello, Jaylen." He shifts me until I'm upright, and takes a step back. My opportunity to kiss him faded away into reality. "You good? It looks like you missed a step."
"Sorry." I shake my head. "I'm not used to wearing heels."
I knew I shouldn't have let Hannah talk me into wearing these. I can count how many times I've worn heels, especially this high, since I started teaching.
She said it would make my legs look amazing and would draw Patrick's eyes like nothing else. Little does she know, she lied. He didn't pay attention to me at all when we were talking, and then he rushed outside for some unknown reason. Honestly, I thought he was going to bail on the whole reunion.
"Not exactly great for chasing kids on the playground, huh?" So, he has kept up with me. That's good to know. Not all hope is lost.
"You'd be correct. After the first couple of years, I stopped wearing even sandals. Rocks kept getting stuck under my feet. It's not the most pleasant feeling."
Realizing what I just said, I cover my face with my hands. The last thing Patrick wants to do is hear about my feet problems while monitoring recess.
His warm hand encircles my wrists and pulls my hands away before letting go. "You don't have to be embarrassed. I've known you most of my life, and your feet have never bothered me."
It's only then I've noticed the music has softened. Not completely off, but much lower than it was five minutes ago. I can feel the eyes of our classmates on my back, and Iknowthey heard the comment about my feet.
Good Lord, can tonight get any more humiliating? "Um, thanks." How the hell am I supposed to respond to that?
Moving away from him, I take a step toward the door. It's my turn to run away. There's no way in hell I'm staying in here when most of the class, at least those in our proximity, heard our exchange.
Before I can go any further, he grabs my hand, stopping me in my tracks. The gesture, so normal in our past, feels heated now. Or maybe I'm choosing to see what I want instead of what is actually happening.
He pulls me toward him. His lips are mere inches from my ear. "Don't go. Let me buy you a drink."
I wait for the music to be loud before nodding. I already know this little incident will be what everyone is talking about when we leave. Plus, there's no way I'm trusting my voice won't shake with nerves if I speak right this second.
As much as I want to march out those doors, to my car, and act like none of this happened, I can't. He's actually showing some sort of interest in talking to me, and I can't pass that up. I want, noneed, to know the man he is now. That will tell me if I should go forward with my plan or not.
