Page 16 of Waiting for Her

Waiting for her to come to her senses.

Waiting for her to love me enough to fight.

“I did,” she nods her head sadly. “I wish I hadn’t.”

Me too.

I can’t take my eyes off her.

Can’t believe she’s here.

Standing in front of me.

Still looking too beautiful for her own damn good.

Life, man. What a mother-effingbitch it is.

“Yeah, well. It’s done,” Mia snaps. Bri breaking up with me didn’t hurt just me. That hurt and pain extended far and wide.

“Mia,” Bri whispers. Raising her eyes from where they’ve been fixated on the floor between us, she looks directly at me, rather than Mia. My gut clenches when our eyes lock, afraid she’ll see the hurt still living inside me. The sound of a chair scraping along the floor behind me startles me, breaking our stare down. She turns and starts to reach out a hand to Mia but pulls back. Rather, she lifts a hand and twists a finger through the thick strands. I used to be obsessed with running my fingers through her hair A flash of déjà vu hits me when I remember she would always mess with it when she was nervous, especially in front of a crowd of people. “I’m so sorry I missed it. I have no excuse. I won’t pretend any of what I did was okay.”

“You’re right. It wasn’t. But like I said, it’s done,” Mia says dismissively.

She doesn’t accept Bri’s apology, but I know Mia. She will eventually. The only reason she’s holding a grudge right now is because she thinks I need her to and because she’s more hurt than she’s letting on.

If Bri wants forgiveness, she’s going to have to earn it.

“So. You’re back?”

Bri takes a step in my direction, and I see realization hit Cole’s features.

He points a finger at her then me. “Wait. Is she the one?”

Out of the corner of my eye I see Drew’s head going back and forth like he’s at a tennis match, but I ignore him. I should introduce them, but I figure they’ll get to know each other soon enough.

Irritation suddenly settles in my veins. Being this close to Bri used to provide me with a sense of calm. “The one, what?” I growl, staring down at the girl I once thought was my forever.

“The one doing the article,” he explains. Cole’s not stupid. He knows she’s a reporter and who she works for. Her showing up after all this time obviously isn’t a coincidence.

I pause a few beats, breathe in deep as her eyes, so expressive and beautiful, blink up at me. “Yeah,” I admit, my heart in my throat. “She is.”

Bri

Guilt burned deepin my gut and a sharp pang of regret pierced my heart. Even with the age difference between Mia and me, we’ve always been close. Dating brothers will do that. Not to mention, our stories were similar. Best friends before we crossed the line to more. Only she didn’t make the biggest mistake of her life at the first sign of trouble.

I could blame it on the fact that I was only nineteen.

But really, I was an idiot.

And selfish.

So very, very selfish.

For the first twenty-four hours after I found out I was assigned the article featuring Grady, I felt nauseous. Then, like the sun was shining in my life for the first time in years, I felt hope.

Hope that I could find forgiveness from the one who got away and, if I’m lucky, forgiveness from people who I once considered family.

Did I come here tonight hoping I’d see Grady?

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