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It took me six years to bury what I feel for Lennon and only seven days for her to dig it all back up.

Chapter 4

Lennon

Nothing Like Fighting a War within Yourself

Three Years Later (Nine Years After High School)

“See? I told you that you needed a night out.” Ginny bumps her hips against mine as our eyes pass over the crowd in the bar tonight.

“You’re right. We worked our asses off this semester.”

She clinks her glass against mine. “Damn straight. One more week of freedom, and then it’s back to the grind.”

I groan. “Don’t remind me.”

“Hey. We survived the first semester of the nursing program. Now we know what to expect, so the next one has to be easier. Right?”

“Let’s freaking hope so.” I bring the straw of my margarita to my lips, scouring the dance floor in The Charming Bull while trying to command my shoulders to relax.

This bar is about forty-five minutes away from Garnet Valley, which makes it the perfect place to meet people outside of the small town that I grew up in. Ginny is from a small town in North Carolina called Blossom Peak that is also about the same distance from the bar, so she’s familiar with some of the clientele, but also enjoys the fact that we can meet people outside of our usual circles.

Elodie lives in Blossom Peak now too, but when I invited her out, she already had plans with her new man, Henley. And off to my right I see two men I recognize as friends of his. For a moment, I debate going over to say hi, but Ginny interrupts my thoughts.

“Hey, Easton!”

Those two words startle me, and I twist in her direction to see Easton Buckley walking over toward us, wearing a cowboy hat of all things.

Lucky me.

“Hey, Ginny. Lennon.” He tips his chin at me but doesn’t say anything else.

And why would he? It’s not like we left things on good terms.

And whose fault was that, Lennon?

“Fancy seeing you here tonight,” Ginny says to him as I avoid his gaze. The two of them have only crossed paths a few times, but I filled her in on the whiplash of our friendship, divulging all the honest details to her about how things have gone downhill, so she knows how uneasy I must be feeling.

In fact, I can feel Easton’s eyes dancing all over me, and I hate the way it makes my body turn warm.

It could also be the tequila, though. Yeah, let’s just go with that.

“Beau and the guys convinced me to come out, so here I am.” He nods toward a group of guys who work at the fire station with my dad.

“Lennon and I needed a night out before our next semester of school starts up,” Ginny says.

I grimace at her mention of school.

“You’re taking classes?” Easton asks, surprise coating his voice. And it should. I didn’t exactly tell my former best friend that I started the nursing program this past August, or that the year before I was working on my prerequisites so I could enter the nursing program at GVCC.

“Yep. Nursing program,” Ginny states proudly.

“I—I didn’t know,” Easton says, pulling me from my thoughts.

I spin to face him. “Well, now you do.” Spite coats my words in an attempt to cover up my embarrassment and uneasiness from seeing him again.

“Lennon…”