Tate’s answering chuckle unsettled me when I felt my skin prickle at the sound of it.
“You’re not hot for Tate. You’re just losing your mind because you’ve been too busy, you’re coming back home, and you’re embarrassed and feel like you failed at life,”my mental critic announced.
Oblivious to my train of thought, Tate grinned down at me. “It’s so good to see you. How long will you be here?”
“She’s moving home!” Janet called over.
Tate’s eyes widened slightly. “For real?” he prompted.
“For real!” I squeaked.
He cocked his head to the side. Once again, his smile started on one corner of his mouth and stretched slowly to the other while little sparks scattered through me, tingling everywhere.
“Well, you’ll have to get me up to speed on your life. Haven’t seen you in two years,” he said.
“I know. I’m starting here at the café tomorrow. I promise you’ll see lots of me.”
When he reached out and curled his palm over my shoulder, giving me a squeeze, I legit thought my knees might buckle right there. This was insane.
Once upon a time, seeing Tate had hurt. Not because Tate had hurt me but because he reminded me of the two people who had shredded my heart and taught me that you really couldn’t trust everyone. Even people who you thought mattered.
As if on cue, the door to the café opened, and my once-upon-a-time best friend walked in. When her eyes landed on Tate and me, I actually experienced a little jolt of satisfaction as her footsteps faltered. She gathered herself quickly, lifted her chin, and kept walking forward.
Janet’s tone was not all that warm when she greeted Kayla. “Hi, what can I get you?”
I could tell Casey was wondering just what the hell was going on because her brow furrowed as her gaze bounced among us.
“I’ll take a coffee, please,” Kayla said.
I felt childish because I experienced a little bit of satisfaction at the uncertainty in her voice. Kayla finally looked at me directly. “Hi,” she said, a little too brightly.
“Hi!” I replied.
“You’re over it; you’re over it; you’re over it,”my brave little voice chanted in my brain.
Kayla, my former bestie, cheated on Tate withmyboyfriend right after we all graduated from high school. They’d declared they were in love. She got pregnant pretty much right away andwent on to have three kids with my ex. Back in high school, Kayla was one of those people everyone loved. She was funny, smart, and seemed nice. The whole thing had been a disaster for my self-esteem when it came to friendships and relationships.
So yeah, fun stuff.
