Page 69 of Memories By the Shore
“Just making my rounds. How’s set up?” I ask.
He’s standing behind the table with two other employees, unpacking paper coffee cups. “We open soon. Shouldn’t you change into something moremayor-ly.”
I glance down at my board shorts and flip-flops. “Nah.”
He laughs. “So, do you think Arizona will show up?”
“Maybe.” I shrug, trying not to show how much I want her to. “I invited her.”
Suddenly, I get a pat on the shoulder from behind. “Wassup, guys,” Bodhi hoots. “I heard your long-lost love is back in town.”
I cock a brow at him.
“We need to give Jasper some sympathy. It’s been a hard few days for him,” Easton spits at my expense, then places a finger inthe air. “And she’s engaged to someone else.”
“You’re an asshole,” I say, jerking his hand off my shoulder.
Bodhi laughs. “I want to say hi to her. Where’s she staying?”
“At the Hannah beach house.”
“Damn, that’s like two houses down from yours.” Bodhi’s eyes widen. “Has it been tempting not to sneak over there?”
Annoyed with my friends, I roll my eyes. “No. It’s fine. Many years have passed. It’s all good.”
Bodhi asks the barista standing next to Easton for a latte, then turns back to me. “So, what’s she here for?”
Easton and I glance at each other. He smirks and then turns away, implying that I need to tell Bodhi why Avery was suddenly back in town. “She’s come back to ask for a divorce.”
Bodhi’s mouth drops. Speechless, he scratches his chin, like he realized that jokes aside, this was something very real and very legal. “Oh fuck.”
Rubbing my lips together, I nod in the shared gravity of the situation. “Yeah.”
“I thought you took care of that years ago?” he asks.
“He didn’t.” Easton tosses over her shoulder.
“Well, no shit …” Bodhi pauses mid-sentence, his focus captured by something in the distance. “Speak of the devil.”
My head whips around to see Avery walking up the narrow sidewalk next to City Hall—the same place we were married eight years ago this summer.Fuck me.Her brown hair is loose, and she’s wearing a tight black summer dress that makes my dick jump.
“There she is,” I mumble to myself.
“Are you going to stand here or say hi to her?” Easton pokeswith amusement at my expense.
But I ignore him, keeping my eyes trained on her. “I’ll be right back.”
“I want to say hi, bring her to us!” Bodhi calls out.
I jog across a small patch of grass near the center of the town square, quickly eating the distance between us. “Hi.”
“Hi, Jasper.” She smiles, leaving about ten feet between us.
I bite back a grin. “You came.”
“I did.”
Then, as if fate was reminding me of what reality is for us, my eyes darted down to the massive diamond on her finger.She put it back on.Avery catches me staring and swings her arms around back, clasping them together.
