I took a deep breath and pulled myself upright. No shrinking violet here, damn it.
Maysie and I walked towards Jordan. Towards Mitch. I kept my chin up and my back straight. A spine of steel.
Mitch watched me the entire time. It was obvious. And I totally pretended that I wasn’t watching him back. But it was hard when I could feel his gaze like I had once felt his hands. It pressed against my skin. Hard. Rough. But so, so gentle at the same time. He slowly ripped open a package of Twizzlers, his favorite, and put one in his mouth. Was he doing that on purpose? Drawing attention to his mouth. His lips. His tongue.
Ugh!
I was so busy trying to not stare at him that I almost stumbled. His eyes met mine and the heat of memories we could never take back branded the both of us. God I wanted him.
Even worse…I missed him.
Then I saw her. And he looked away.
Sophie.
She seemed to materialize out of nowhere and was at his side in an instant. They looked cute together. He was all dark and gorgeous and she was all sweet and perky. It made me want to gag.
See, he’s happy. He’s so much better off. No need to beat myself up anymore.
“I was getting ready to call out the cavalry,” Jordan teased, leaning down to kiss Maysie. She leaned up on her tiptoes and wrapped her arms around his neck. He lifted her up so that her feet were off the ground.
She giggled when he finally put her back down on her feet. He ran his fingers down the side of her cheek and gazed at her lovingly. Like she was everything. Which for Jordan Levitt, she was.
“You look beautiful, Mays. Like you finally caught up on sleep. Have the girls been treating you right?” he asked, smiling at me.
I pulled my eyes away from Mitch and his girlfriend and forced a laugh. “We’ve been making sure she eats all of her veggies and takes her vitamins. No worries, Jordan.”
Jordan chuckled and then leaned down to ruffle my hair in brotherly sort of way. “It’s good to see you, G. You’ve been away too long. We’ve missed having you around.”
My eyes flickered to Mitch again and found him still watching me. “Oh yeah?” I asked a little breathlessly. “It seems you guys have been fine without me.” Wow, I was all but spitting snark in his direction.
What was I doing?
Jordan glanced from me to Mitch, his brow furrowing. “Oh, yeah, well we’ve been getting along. But you know it’s always great to have the gang all together again.”
Sophie said something to Mitch and I watched as he leaned down to hear her. It was annoying the way she twirled her hair around her finger. Who the hell twirls their hair after the age of twelve?
And I hated her shirt. It looked like something my mother would pick out. It was all eyelet lace and pearled buttons. What in the world does Mitch see in her?
I realized I was staring. Mitch knew I was staring.
So of course he purposefully gave his girlfriend his attention, his body angled towards me but his head bent low so that his face was close to Sophie’s. He pushed the hair back off her forehead. His eyes were on her face and he gave her soft smile that I recognized only too well.
A smile that I had thought, at one time, was only for me.
Get over it, Gracie! It’s been a year! What did you think would happen? That he’d pine over you forever? Get a grip!
I started to turn away when Mitch looked back towards me, his eyes locking on mine.
I forgot how to breathe.
My heart thudded almost painfully in my chest.
My mouth went dry and my hands began to tremble. A need that I had almost forgotten about thrummed through my body. My belly tightened and my nipples hardened. The air hummed and sizzled. I was altered completely. Just by a look.
How had I never felt this electricity between us before? The answer was obvious.
I had been totally blind. I hadn’t wanted to see it. Because if I had acknowledged it, everything would have changed. And at that time I couldn’t handle that. The truth was I had been absolutely terrified.