Page 25 of When You Were Mine

“Not since we were kids. But Trevor and I can catch up later.” Elzy tapped the screen of her tablet. “Right now, let me fill you in on the progress we’ve made today.”

Trevor barely heard a word she said. Something about tastings, breweries…a trip up north to meet a man. A potential concierge.

But everything was a blur. Because he’d plummeted back through time.

To when he was four years old and kicking the back of his mom’s seat. A moment he never would’ve remembered had he not looked out the window and seen a curtain of blond hair swinging, and a girl his age stomping her legs and pumping her arms. He’d been mesmerized.

Because in the middle of all the Saturday morning chaos at the feedstore, this girl was in her own world, doing a weird monster dance, with not a fuck given to anyone watching her. He’d asked his mom to open his window so he could hear the music. But it turned out, there wasn’t any. The song played in her head.

In that moment,he’dwanted to be in her head. He’d wanted to hear the music. He’d wanted to know her.

He catapulted forward to when he’d tried to hold her hand for the very first time in middle school, and she’d smacked it away. As soon as she realized what she’d done, she’d laughed and told him she thought it was a bug landing on her.

The summer after her mom died, her dad sent the sisters to Illinois to spend time with an aunt. The moment she’d come back to town, he’d hopped on his bike and pedaled all the way to her house. He’d caught a glimpse of her through the open front door, so he’d jumped off the bike and run inside the house.

He’d slammed into her so hard, he’d knocked them both to the floor. But she hadn’t pushed him off. In fact, she hadn’t said a word. Just hugged him so tightly he’d lost sight of where he ended and she began.

On prom night, she’d come downstairs in a swishy, pretty dress, and he’d stopped breathing to the point that her dad had smacked his back.You okay, son? You choke on an ice cube?But he was so struck by her sultry-eyed, luscious-lipped beauty, by the fuckinghonorof this magnificent goddess choosing him, loving him, desiring him, that he couldn’t believe it.

He just couldn’t believe he got to be with Jessica Elsworth.

The girl who didn’t give a damn what anyone thought of her. Who was fiercely independent. She was funny, rebellious, creative, sexy, and deeply compassionate.

And he’d loved her with every fiber of his being.

“All right then. We’re all set.” Elzy got up.

He sped to the present so quickly he grew dizzy and felt nauseous. “You’re leaving?”

“Jet lag’s caught up with me, so I’ll see you in the morning.” She waved, not once looking at him. “Goodnight.”

Disoriented, he watched her go. How much time had passed? He hadn’t touched his dinner, and her plate was empty. He wanted to grab some food and leave it outside her door. Make sure she had a full meal.

But she was treating him like an acquaintance from high school. Someone she’d barely known.

And, after thirty years, he supposed that was exactly what he was to her.

The longing, the yearning, the love that simply would not die, was all in his head.

Not hers.

Because he’d extinguished it long ago.

“Does that sound good?” Darby asked him.

He’d missed another conversation. But he didn’t care. “Yep. I’m all yours.”

He’d meant his schedule was all hers, of course, but from her smile, he realized she thought he meant he was all hers, body and soul.

And that was when it struck him—he’d agreed tomarrythis woman.

The day before he’d finally found Elzy again.

And now, she was planning his wedding.

Chapter Four

Jess awakened with a dull headache.She rolled onto her back, blinking in the darkness.

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