Chapter 3

Arrick Carrero is standing straight as a rod a few feet away, obviously just arriving with two men behind him, all casually dressed, and I recognize one of them as someone he regularly hangs out with. The familiar face casts a friendly smile, a nod of recognition that I return with a half-smile before bringing my focus back to Arry. I don’t know how to react, so I grip Christian’s fingers harder, begging him to help me. He squeezes them back silently. His little show of support.

“Hi.” I breathe weakly, unable to hold the gaze of those perfect hazel eyes in that flawless, clean-shaven face. Not a thing about his appearance has changed, and he’s still as devastating to my soul. He looks like the guy I miss in every little tiny way, and it only hurts me irreversibly that he seems so normal and unaffected by finally seeing me again. There is definite weirdness and uncertainty in how I should act, and I feel like I don’t know him anymore. My heart is playing the rhumba, and my legs