Page 8 of When Forever Comes

“I know,” he states.

We stare at each other for a long moment before he closes the small distance between us. He looks down at me and the emotion in his eyes makes my knees weak.

“You vanished our senior year.” I leave the part out about how the last time I saw him, he had me pinned against my locker and kissed me with reckless abandon, not caring who saw his bold act of passion. I was teased about that kiss for the rest of the year, yet I never felt embarrassed.

“So you remember me?” he asks.

“You made a lasting impression on your last day.” I raise an eyebrow.

His lips tip up at that. “That was the goal. I hoped you wouldn’t forget me.”

“It’s been ten years. You look different.” As a teenager, he was lanky, with dark-rimmed glasses and shaggy hair. The glasses he wears now are more sophisticated and fit his professional appearance.

“There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t think of you.” West’s deep voice halts my perusal of him and cause goosebumps to rise on my arms.

I’m speechless for a moment before saying, “That’s quite an admission.”

He lifts a broad shoulder and drops it. “I’m not ashamed to remain” — he pauses, appearing to mull over his words before finishing — “infatuated with you.”

“After all these years?”

“It will forever be you.”

His declaration sinks in and embeds itself into the marrow of my bones.

“I can’t believe you’d do all this for Dana and me.”

“I’d do anything to keep you with me.”

My mouth drops open in shock. Not knowing how to respond, I let my eyes do the talking as they take in every inch of him. Everything from his perfectly styled hair, piercing blue eyes, to his designer suit with elegant cufflinks, down his long, muscular legs, and to his shiny black shoes.

“You look amazing,” I say with the utmost honesty.

I always thought he was cute, but in a nerdy boy next door kind of way. I secretly harbored a crush on him throughout the high school years we spent together. Other than a lingering touch here or there, West made no moves to make me his girlfriend. The first time he kissed me was his last day on our island. Sure, we’d flirt, but it felt like a natural part of our friendship. I guess neither of us wanted to mess up what we had. Because what we had was amazing. Despite not dating, my relationship with West ran deep, as if he became a piece of my heart.

Now, he looks like he walked straight out of some hybrid issue of J. Crew and a bodybuilder magazine.

“You are even more beautiful than I remember. These past ten years have been good to you.” His kind words send warmth to my cheeks.

I scan him again, trying and failing to calm my nerves and the thoughts infiltrating my overstimulated brain. In our five years together, Brad never made me feel like this. And he never kissed me with the passion West did on his last day in Emerald Springs.

“I can’t believe you’re here.”

He chuckles. “Well, I do own it. So…” He turns his head away from me, but I don’t miss the proud smile on his lips.

“It, as in…?” I ask.

“This resort and the island.”

My eyebrows raise at that. “You’ve always been ambitious but owning your own island is…” I trail off, unsure of how to finish that thought.

His focus snaps back to me. “You think I’m ambitious?”

“Definitely. If you can pull off running the most exclusive resort in the world, you must have some ambition. You always put your all into everything you ever did. Academics, band, even your failed attempt at skateboarding.” I can’t help but smirk at the memory of West’s tall form attempting to balance on a skateboard.

“You promised you’d never speak about ‘the incident’ again.” He puts the incident in air quotes.

“I couldn’t resist.”

---