Page 62 of Always Be Mine

Lucy pretended to think about it for a moment. “You know what? I don’t think so. I was never a very high swinger when I was a kid. But you know what I was good at?”

Meri stopped and stared up at her. “What?”

“Monkey bars,” Lucy said as seriously as she could manage.

“Whoa. I’ve never been good at the monkey bars.” Together, they looked at the bars attached to the play structure. “Can you still do it?”

Lucy shrugged. “Only one way to find out.”

She truly had no idea whether she could still manage the monkey bars. It had been at least twenty years since the last time she’d even attempted it. Lucy rubbed her hands together and hoped that the few months she’d actually belonged to the CrossFit gym next to her apartment building had paid off. While Meri looked on, she wrapped one hand around the bar and stepped off the platform. She swung for only a moment before she remembered the rule: go fast.

One hand over another, Lucy swung her body with each movement until, a moment later, she stood on the far platform. She thrust her arms in the air and let out a whoop.

“You did it.” Meri ran over and gave her a high five.

No one was more surprised than Lucy. She squeezed her hands together and was about to ask Meri whether she wanted to try when a friend from school ran over and asked her to play.

“Is that okay, Lucy?”

“Of course. I’ll be right over there.” She retreated to the sidelines to watch Meri play as her pocket vibrated with an incoming text.

You busy?

She felt a flash of guilt at the disappointment that washed through her when she saw Mandi’s name and not Craig’s. Even though their texts were mostly focused on Meri, Lucy still looked forward to hearing from him. Every time she saw his name on the screen, her stomach did a flip.

It was ridiculous and completely inappropriate, and she knew it. Which was exactly why she’d done her best to maintain the professional distance between them that she’d let slip that night in the kitchen.

She’d been absolutely mortified about the way she’d lost control of her emotions that night, but it was the kiss she couldn’t stop thinking about.

It kept her up at night, fantasizing about the feel of his mouth on hers and the way every single part of her had lit up with his touch.

It had been so fleeting, so soft. But at the same time, it had been so much more.

More than anything, Lucy had wanted a replay, but she’d forced herself to keep a distance and she could tell, Craig was too. That helped. She didn’t know whether she’d have the strength to have professional boundaries if he didn’t.

She tapped out a quick reply to Mandi and a moment later, her phone rang.

“I only have a few minutes, Mandi. We’re at the park and?—”

“I had to call. I couldn’t text this.”

Something in her friend’s voice stopped her. “What’s wrong?”

“Have you seen his social media lately?”

Lucy didn’t have to ask who Mandi was referring to. “You know I deleted it. Why?”

“He’s there.”

“Where?”

“There, Lucy. He’sthere.In Trickle Creek.”

Lucy froze, her blood running cold. It had been easy to forget about Ross and their mess of a relationship for the last few weeks. After deleting his social media accounts, she’d found it easier and easier to put him out of her head.Probably the space he’d occupied had been taken up by Craig.She pushed that thought out of her head and focused on what Mandi was saying.

“What do you mean, he’s here? Why?”

“You said yourself he used to talk about Trickle Creek all the time. Well, I guess he decided to go for a visit for the last few months of the pregnancy.”

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