I turned to see him standing in the doorway. I’d never seen that tattooed, mean motherfucker look so…look so fucking emotional. Not like he was on the verge of tears, but he looked so surprised and so…fucking happy?
“Am I really seeing this?”
Who the fuck is—
Wait.
Her?
“Rachel Reid?”
I looked back. The one we all fought to avenge. It washer.
“Hi, Connor.”
Rachel
My eyes had been fixed on Mason when I first pulled up.
I could tell he didn’t remember me at first, and that gave me some mixed emotions. On the one hand, I didn’t like being forgotten. I wasn’t sure anyone did. But on the other, it would have made this transaction a lot simpler, a lot more fluid and easier.
But then Connor showed up.
And he looked…
Wow.
I knew that when I’d met Connor, he was in the act of transforming himself from awkward nerd and dork to a fighter. But this…if not for those haunted eyes and that floppy hair, I doubt I would have recognized him. He probably had more tattoos than the rest of my social network together.
But he was still Connor Burns. I could tell by the tenor of his voice when he spoke.
“Rachel…it’s you,” he said.
“It is,” I said, a smile slowly forming on my face.
Poor Connor looked so uncertain as to what to do. I wanted to hug him. And so…I decided to do just that.
It was weird taking the initiative like this to human contact. I wasn’t a fragile doll teetering on the edge, but my past didn’t allow me to move forward just so easily. So this was a big deal.
Connor, for his part, looked hesitant to do so, but mostly because he looked afraid of hurting me. Knowing how much he’d been there for me back in the day, and how close we’d become as friends, it gave me just enough courage to hug him.
And when he hugged me back, I could feel him shaking. It was so adorable—and also kind of sad. How long had it been since I’d hugged this guy? How long had it been since I’d spoken to any of the Bernard Boys?
“I thought…we thought…”
“Shh,” I said.
Behind us, Mason took his leave. I opened my eyes and watched him go inside the garage. I had my own questions for him. He looked so much more adult than when I’d last seen him, which was ironic considering he was already like the “big brother” of the group when Brock and I were a thing.
But for right now, it was time to catch up with Connor.
“You’re here,” he said.
“Of course,” I said. “I never went anywhere.”
“I…but we didn’t see you for years.”
I smiled and pulled back.
