Page 19 of It Happened Back Then
“About as jealous as you are of Savannah,” I throw back, and she laughs. Despite Savannah’s name being tossed out there, a comfortable silence falls in the room.
“It’s been some time, but I guess I shouldn't be surprised to find you here.”
“Why not?” she asks.
I take a breath. “You always loved to crawl through my window.”
“Should I not have?”
“I love finding you in my bed,” I whisper.
“Is Savannah going to be mad that I'm here?” Her eyes search mine for an answer. She wants me to say no. She wants me to say she won’t know. She wants me to say that I left her in Seattle for good.
Instead, I respond, “Would you care if she is?”
She licks her bottom lip, her eyes dropping to mine before she shakes her head no, and I chuckle. “Oh, Blossom.”
She’s always been the good girl, always the one looking out for others’ feelings, everyone’s except her own. I’ve wanted her in my bed since we were sixteen. And she knows it. But she forced me aside. Forced me to look elsewhere for a love stronger than this one, even though I knew I’d never find it.
“Why are you really here?” I lean on one arm beside her on the bed, hovering just above her. She shifts closer, wrapping an arm around my shoulder and gently playing with the hair at the nape of my neck.
“We always did this.” She nuzzles in close. “Remember when we were fourteen and you’d sneak into my room through the window?”
My lips turn up slightly and she laughs and crows, “Or even before that! Ten years old crawling through windows.”
“We’re not ten anymore.”
“No. We’re not.” She looks up, waiting for me to give the go ahead, clearly wanting me to make the first move, and when I don't, she leans in, pressing her lips to mine. I don’t kiss her back. I stay frozen, torturing myself as she lingers, my eyes closed, taking in her warmth, her scent.
She pulls back and runs her thumb along my bottom lip. “Why did you come back?”
“I had the interview–”
“No,” she interrupts. “It’s more than that, and you know it.”
I swallow, hard. She’s still so close, her hand resting onmy thigh while I lean over her. It’s been eight long years since we were first together. And it’s all I’ve dreamed about.
Dating, sleeping with others,Savannah,hasn’t ever lived up to my nights with Blossom. But she pushed me away. She put me back in the friend zone, and I haven’t been able to work myself out of it.
The pact lingers in the back of my mind, but this isn’t fair to me anymore. It’s how all my thoughts ran together at Bean Lake. So manywhat ifs, so manywhat nowsand so manywhat am I waiting fors?
“I needed to know, Blossom.”
“Know what?”
“If coming back here would change things.”
“Change what things?”
“Being with you always makes me feel different, but if you don’t feel the same way then you need to tell me.” She watches me with no emotion on her face, and frustration bubbles up inside me as I add, “You had to have known all these years that it’s always been you, Blossom.”
She shakes her head. “You've been dating Savannah.”
“You forced me to leave.”
“I did not!”
“You did, Blossom. You may not have realized but–”
