Page 1 of After You

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Only one thinghad not gone according to plan in Kyle Ames’s entirelife.

Her name was Hannah McIntire.

And she was currently sitting at a back table in the bar in his tiny hometown of Sapphire Falls.

Even from across the room, with the inside-a-bar-at-night lighting, he could tell she looked exactly the same. Her long brown hair, streaked with red and gold highlights, was perfectly styled. Her long legs were crossed under the skirt of a pretty flowered sundress, paired with a sweater and sandals that matched exactly. He couldn’t see her hands or face from here, but he knew that her nails would be manicured and her makeup would be flawless. He also knew that the glass in front of her was filled with iced tea and flavored with one packet of calorie-free sugar substitute, and that the only thing on the menu she would be interested in was the grilled chicken sandwich. And she would scrape the cheese off that as soon as she sawit.

Hannah McIntire was the most put together, predictable, organized, goal-oriented person he’d ever met. She was his soul mate in everyway.

Or, at least she had been, before she’d become the most unpredictable thing to ever happen in hislife.

Kyle’s chest tightened and he took a step in her direction. It was time for some answers.

But he was brought up short after step two by his best friend. Derek stepped in front of him, putting a hand on Kyle’s shoulder. “Whoa, what are you doing here, man?”

Kyle scowled and tried to move around him. “I'm here to welcome Hannah back totown.”

Derek moved with him, cutting him off. “Well that's a horribleidea.”

“Knock it off,” Kyle said, stepping the other way. “You texted me to tell me she washere.”

Derek took a wide-legged stance in front of Kyle, blocking his view of the room. “That’s bro code. I can’t see my best friend’s ex back in town after three years and not tell him. But I was really hoping you wouldn’t come downhere.”

Kyle gritted his teeth. “Why were you hopingthat?”

“Because I was kind of hoping that you wouldn’tcare.”

Yeah, well, Kyle had kind of hoped that he wouldn’t really care too. He’d assumed that at some point before he died, Hannah would show up back in their hometown. And he’d really fucking hoped that by then, he wouldn’t care. But he’d also hoped he’d have another couple of years before that happened. Or ten. Or that he’d be old and senile and not rememberher.

That hope had been dashed the second he’d read Hannah’shere.

Because he cared. He definitely cared.

He just wasn’t sure if he cared because he’d never been so pissed at someone in his entire life as he was, still, at Hannah McIntire.

Or because he’d never loved someone as much as he’d loved Hannah McIntire.

“So all your bullshit about being over her was actually bullshit,” Derek said, giving Kyle a look that said I knowyou.

Kyle glared at him. “I amoverher.”

“Then why did you come running the second you knew she washere?”

Because he hadn’t really thought it through. He’d just reacted. It had been instinct. Is that what Derek wanted to hear? That Kyle had seen the words Hannah’s here come across his phone screen, and he’d gotten in his truck and driven straight over? “Maybe I came to yell ather.”

“Yeah, you can't do that either.” Derek wrapped a huge paw around Kyle’s upper arm and nudged him, not so gently, toward the kitchen.

Derek was taller than Kyle by about three inches, but built more like an All State wide-receiver than the All State running back Kyle was. Kyle took three steps with him, only because he realized that it was possible Derek had a point, but as soon as they were behind the bar, with a solid piece of wood between him and Hannah, Kyle yanked his arm out of his friend’sgrip.

Unfazed, Derek pushed open the swinging door that led to the kitchen area. “Inhere.”

Kyle sighed and stepped through the door. Derek followed, letting it swing shut behindhim.

“So I can’t talk to her at all?” Kyle asked.

“Not in this mood,” Derek said. “Whatever this mood is. You need to calm the helldown.”

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