Fuck. I’d missed those eyes. I could easily drown in those eyes. His body, even his face might have matured into a man, but the eyes, the eyes were the same ones I’d seen the first time I’d turned around when he’d thanked me for saving a seat I hadn’t saved.
“You mean, for the last twenty years?” he asked flatly.
“Yep.” I grinned.
“Good.”
“You’ve been good?”
“Yep.”
There was obviously more to say, but it seemed neither of us wanted to say it.
“What about you?” he countered as he lifted his glass to his mouth.
I watched as he tipped the tumbler up and his Adam’s apple bobbed. A shiver of awareness rushed through me. He even drank sexily. How was that possible?
“Um,” I took in a shaky breath. “Yeah, good.”
He set the empty glass down and it thudded against the bar top. He motioned for Micah to make another. We sat in silence as Micah filled another glass and put it in front of him. Maddox wrapped his fingers around the glass, lifted it to his lips, and downed the liquid contents.
Hmm,I wondered if he always downed two double shots of whiskey within a five- minute timeframe or if running into me had inspired the four shots.
My phone vibrated and I looked down. It was Trent calling me.
“Do you need to take that?” he asked, his voice sounding a little deeper than it had before his second double.
“Nope.” I sent the call to voicemail and finished the contents of my vodka soda. I glanced over to the end of the bar where Micah was walking toward me with another drink.
The man was an angel.
Angel.
That’s what Maddox used to call me. I wasn’t sure I remembered that until just now. I’d worked so hard, for so many years to repress the memories because they were just too painful. But now it seemed that they were flooding back to me.
“Who’s Trent?” he asked.
I could feel my cheeks heating and I wasn’t sure if it was the alcohol, the company, or the question.
“He’s, um, a guy that I’ve been seeing.” My admission felt like a betrayal. It felt wrong to talk to Maddox about another man. Which made no sense. We hadn’t seen each other since our teens.
We were both grown adult people now.
I took a drink of my fourth vodka soda and my phone started vibrating again.
Shit.When Trent wanted to get a hold of me, he didn’t stop until he did. I knew that if I didn’t answer now, he’d just keep calling back.
I glanced over at Maddox and smiled apologetically. “Sorry, I better…”
He dipped his chin in a nod. “Of course.”
I watched my arm as I brought the phone to my ear as if it wasn’t connected to my body. This entire scenario felt so surreal.
Maddox Cruz was at the reunion. And he was sitting next to me. And I was answering a call from Trent.
None of this felt real. It felt like a dream. I just hoped it didn’t turn into a nightmare.
7
