Except, it’s not his profile. Chris is staring right at me, like maybe he noticed me first.
My mouth falls open, as usual. How many times have I just sucked in air for ten seconds each time I see him?
God, he looks good. His snug jeans are doing him lots of favors right now with the way they’re molded to his thighs. The black T-shirt he’s wearing is stretched across his back and tight around his biceps, revealing every detail of his shape. He’s bigger than he was when we were younger, a little thicker. I don’t know why that makes him seem even more human to me, softer. A different level of sexy. He looks just as good with a shirt on as he did without one the other day after he high-tailed it out of the center, leaving me wondering if I dreamt the entire encounter.
Shit. I’m staring.
Say something, Remy.
Licking my lips, I have to swallow before I can form words. “Chris… Hey.”
I swear his gaze stays fixed on where I just wet my lips before it flicks up to my eyes. “Remy,” he says my name like a warning. “You following me?”
“What? No! I…I have a table,” I assure him, hooking my thumb over my shoulder, hoping I’m pointing in the right direction.
He doesn’t even glance to see where I’m aiming. His mouth ticks up at the corner, and he turns on his stool to face me.
Wait…was he just messing with me?
“So…you live in San Antonio?” I realize that’s probably obvious, so I amend it as though I only get a limited number of questions before he disappears again. “How long have you been back here?”
“About ten years.”
Tenyears? Chris has been here almost the entire time I floundered through hapless relationships? How is that possible?
Wait. Maybe it actually makes perfect sense why none of them ever stuck. Maybe there was some cosmic force interfering because we were still both within the same breathing space.
Yeah... Becausethatsounds totally plausible.
Jesus. Now I need a drink as badly as Jamie.
The bartender stops by, saving me from further gawking. I ramble something to him, hopefully an order for a hundred proof sensibility with a shot of erasing verbal diarrhea. When I dart a peek at Chris, my breath catches. I swear he’s…checking me out? His gaze flicks up to mine with something intense in it. I’m sure of it because I have the urge to clench my ass and groan.
“What are you doing tonight…Remy?”
“Just…having a drink with…” With…who the hell am I with? Turning back, I spot Jamie arching a brow at me curiously.
Yeah…him, I think to myself. That annoying guy I call my best friend, who will no doubt have a heart attack if he sees you.
This time Chris’ gaze does look in that direction. I watch his expression morph into one of terrifying displeasure. He lets out a snort and leans his arms back on the bar.
“Is that Jamie?”
“Um…yeah.”
He doesn’t seem to share the enthusiasm I put into that confirmation, picking up his pint glass and throwing its contents back with a scowl. What’s the deal with that? Did they have a beef in college that I didn’t know about?
Glancing back, I catch Jamie giving me a wide-eyed look. His mouth moves, forming words I clearly decipher as, ‘Chris? What the fuck?’
The only thing worse than listening to him bitch for the last two hours about how his family has invaded his personal space would be him reminding me of how depressed I was for months on end after senior year. If he thinks he even saw a flicker of interest in my face while I was standing here, this is going to bethe weekend from hell. One I probably could use to whip some sense into me that I’ve clearly lost, but still hell.
Grabbing up the drinks I ordered, I try to act unaffected for both him and Chris. Except my feet don’t want to move away from the bar. What if this is the last time I see Chris?
We’ve lived in the same city for a decade and have never run into each other. What’s to say that we never will again?
“It was nice to see you again. I’ll talk to you later?”
It takes zero courage to make that sound like a suggestion as I turn away and hurry back to the table. I blame serendipity and a curiosity that feels like it just got reinvigorated.Justcuriosity, I tell myself again as I refuse to make eye contact with Jamie when I set our drinks down.
