"Grace?" Harrison's deep timbre interrupted my thoughts.
I jumped, turning to glance at his lone figure. How had I missed him? A quick look around showed me he was the only one present.
Fuck.
"Where is everyone?" I did not want to be stuck making small talk with him of all people.
Harrison gave me that same boyish smile that had the girls in our class swooning. Not me, of course. However, my face heated when his appreciative gaze swept lazily down my figure.
Since it was a hot evening, I wore white shorts and a black tank top. I didn't miss how his stare lingered on my bare legs.
As long as he was unabashedly looking, I gave him my own quick perusal. He was wearing a plain white T-shirt and black shorts. It didn't escape my notice that we were wearing the same colors on opposite parts—like a couple that had purposefully coordinated their clothes to match.
Goddamn, he looked handsome, though. His body was all muscular, toned, and tanned. It so wasn't fair.
"They'll be here soon. You're actually early." He stuck his hands in his pockets and regarded me with a small smile. His demeanor felt non-threatening, but I would never let my guard down around him.
"Oh. Yeah, I thought I would take a walk around the school. Check out my old haunts," I joked. "I saw the lights on in here." I looked everywhere but at him. "Um, so, when did you get here?"
"About thirty minutes ago," he answered. "I wanted to set up before you came. And all the others," he tacked on.
"So, who exactly is coming?" I moved past him towards the table in the center of the hall. Four chairs surrounded it, and a blank notepad lay beside a blue ballpoint pen. I frowned at the sparse details. "Uh, how many of us are on this committee?"
"You, James, Ruth, and I." I jumped when I heard just how close he was. Turning quickly, I stared up into his chocolate eyes. Ones that were currently settled on my mouth. I stepped back and met the back of a chair.
"Only four people?" I quizzed.
"Mmm hmm." He moved a step closer. My heart had calmed down since I entered the hall, but it was kick-starting that erratic beat again.
"I still don't see how you need me. The reunion is, what, three weeks away, give or take?"
An uneasy look crept onto his face, and he stepped back. "Uh, yeah. The Saturday before the wedding. Umm, so this is just a relaxed meet-up. It's true; most details have been finalized, but we're just meeting up to make sure everything runs smoothly."
"Wait, did you say James was coming?" I asked.
My anxiety started to creep back in. While Harrison and Jessica were my harshest abusers, James was also part of that crew. He never initiated any nastiness with me. After all, he had been in my biology class and never said boo. But I had also seen him laugh along with the popular crowd at my expense. I caught him muttering a few snide words here and there at Harrison's bidding, but to me, that was almost worse. James was secretly nice to me during the start of my bullying before he, too, succumbed to peer pressure. When it came to teenagers doing the right thing and being popular, hardly any of them would take the former option.
In some way, the person I least respected was James. Either be an asshole or not. Too many times, I had seen James wince when a comment about me went too far, his soulful eyes glancing at me guiltily. And I know I had witnessed him open his mouth to call out Harrison a time or two, but he never actually did. I had always labeled him a coward because of it.
Despite Harrison's behavioral change and Amelia's insistence that he had cut out his old friends, he clearly retained some of the former crew.
"Yeah, you remember him, don't you?" I gave him a look that said, 'You gotta be fucking kidding' me before he rolled his eyes and flushed. "Of course you do; sorry, I wasn't thinking."
A snarky retort was on the tip of my tongue, but I refrained from releasing it. Maturity and all that.
"He's on the committee, yeah. And his wife, Ruth. You may remember her as Ruth Van Hoffman?"
"Oh my God," I gasped. I remembered the petite dark-haired girl from our class. She played the trombone for the school band and was on the yearbook committee. She was part of my crew. I mean, okay, we had been friendly acquaintances, but we had hung out in the same circles. She was a fellow nerd.
"Wow, I did not put them two together. I mean, I don't even think they talked when we were at school."
"Yeah, it turned out James always had a secret crush on her. They ended up at the same college studying law and have been together ever since. They both work at his dad's firm."
"Well, color me shocked, O'Connor." I shook my head. "Are there any other odd couples who ended up together?" I joked.
Harrison gave a small, almost sad smile. "I'm hoping for one other."
I frowned at that cryptic comment, but before I could ask further, footsteps sounded up the hall's steps.
