Page 8 of Walk Off

He closed his eyes and ran a very frustrated hand down his face. “She was the love of my life, and for no reason I could understand, she broke up with me.”

“You were what, twenty-one?” Ruby asked. “How could you have known she was the love of your life? And for that matter, what does that matter now? It’s been years.”

“Love doesn’t work on a timetable. It didn’t matter how old I was or that we were both young. I knew the minute I saw her that she was it for me. And it matters because that kind of love doesn’t go away just because the person does.”

“Are you telling us that you’re still in love with Celia?” Dallas asked.

He shrugged and groaned. “I don’t know, not really. But the feelings I had for her came rushing back as soon as I knew she was here. Hell, for weeks since I got the invitation to this wedding, I’ve been going over and over the possibility that I could meet you and hear just a little bit about Celia and what she’s been up to. I had no clue she’d be here and I definitely didn’t know she was a bridesmaid.”

Ruby sighed, looking at Dallas. “I’m going to do something that I probably shouldn’t.” She looked back at Kyle. “I’m going to go get Celia and bring her out here.”

“Do you think that’s wise?” Dallas said.

“I have no idea, but I do know she can’t ignore him forever.” She walked away, leaving him with just Dallas.

“I didn’t mean to cause a scene.” His mind had stopped working the second he’d heard she was there.

“I know and really, it wasn’t a scene. Or not anything this group isn’t used to. There’s always some sort of drama going on.”

Kyle let himself relax as much as he could. It was hard to do when he knew Celia could walk out the door any moment.

He thought back to Dallas asking if he was still in love with her. That was a question he’d asked himself so many times over the years, and even though he knew he still had feelings for her, he wasn't sure if it was love. He’d loved her so much during those three months they’d been together. And when she’d broken up with him, he’d thought he’d die. Everything on him and inside him physically hurt for days. When he’d finally let her go and moved on, he thought things would be better.

Only, he never really got over her. All he’d done was push her into a box in the back of his heart.

At some point in the last few weeks, that box had burst open and all the feelings he’d had for her had resurfaced.

There was no way to push them back down in the box and lock it away again.

And he wasn’t sure he wanted to.

Chapter 3

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Celia

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