Um, all of the above, but he did not need her to fluff his ego. “I’m going now.”
“Where did we land on the catch-up thing?”
She rolled her eyes again. “I’ll see you around, Jace.”
She turned and was just stepping out when he called, “You can’t avoid me forever, Tink.”
She kept her breaths even and her spine straight right until she dropped into her car. Then she let it all out in one big puff of air as she bent over the wheel.
Why? Why did Jace Walker have to return to Misty Peak looking and sounding even more gorgeous than when he’d left? To torture her? To pull her back into her harrowing teenage years of pining for something she couldn’t have while feeling insecure as hell?
At least she knew he wouldn’t be here for long. He had a restless personality. Always looking for the next adventure. Andthere was nothing in this town to tie him down. So she just had to protect her heart andnotfall for him until he left again.
For a moment,Jace didn’t move. He just watched Elle through the glass until she drove away from the bakery.
She was different. More distant. A new cautious look in her eyes. But she also wasn’t. Her smile was the same. Her gray eyes still darkened when she got mad.
Fuck, he’d missed her.
He scrubbed a hand over his stubble before moving back to his brother.
“Everything okay?” Kayden asked.
“No. She’s avoiding me.”
“Why?”
“Don’t know. I wasn’t expecting to come back to town and for us to be best friends again, but I thought she’d atleastwant to hang out every so often.” At Kayden’s silence, Jace looked up to see his brother watching him closely. “What?”
“What happened between you two? You were attached at the hip when you were younger.”
He blew out a breath. “Nothing happened. I left, we kept in contact for a while, then we stopped.”
His older brother lifted a brow. “Then you stopped? Did you ever see her when you came home on leave?”
“Not really.” That was his fault. He never reached out to her because he knew if he did, he wouldn’t want to leave again. That probably made him weak.
His gaze returned to the window, even though she wasn’t there.
“Well, if you’re wanting her back in your life, just give her one of those dazzling smiles of yours. Most women can rarely say no to those.”
Ah, but Elle wasn’t most women.
He looked back at his brother, one side of his mouth lifting. “You’re so different from how you were. What happened to my big angry, broody brother?”
“Guess he’s happy now that he’s found love, so he doesn’t have to be angry and brooding anymore.”
Love. Kayden, the brother he’dleastexpected to use that word, had actually just admitted to being in love. “Good for you. You deserve to be happy.”
“Thanks. Appreciate it. So do you.”
For a moment, something deep inside Jace’s chest pulled so fucking tight, he could barely breathe. Happy. Had he ever felt happy? True, unfiltered happiness?
He forced himself to smile. “Come on. We need to get back to work before they fire our asses.”
They rose and thanked Mrs. Sandler before heading outside and climbing into Kayden’s truck.
“How’s it feel being back?” Kayden asked.
