Page 4 of Fastlander Fighter

“Captain Walker. I remember.” She offered a sad smile, and her cheeks blushed up. “It’s good to see you again.” Lie. He was a shifter, so he could hear if there was a lie just by someone’s tone. She didn’t like seeing him at all. One-night stand, maybe? He’d gone on a streak of those for a while during a drunken spiral. Fuck.

He scratched the back of his head again and looked around for inspiration on how to continue this conversation and jog his memory.

…I don’t even know me…

Something about the conviction in her tone as she’d uttered those words pulled at the numbness in his chest.

“Look, if I was rude after a one-night-stand—”

“Sloane,” she said, offering her hand. “For a while I was married and my name was Sloane Hage, but now I’m back to Sloane Middleson.”

He froze.

Sloane Middleson.

Well, that name brought back a mountain of memories.

Slowly, as he studied her face and clicked all the familiar parts of it into place in his memories, he shook her hand. “High school.”

She nodded her head and smiled the kindest smile he’d ever witnessed on anyone’s face, human or shifter. “Sometimes I wish I could go back.”

“Do it all over again?” he asked softly, gripping her hand gently.

She shrugged and released his hand. “Do it differently maybe.”

He couldn’t believe it. Couldn’t believe he’d forgotten Sloane, but in his defense, “You look so different now.”

She huffed a laugh and pushed some fried okra around her tray with a fork. “Been through a lot.”

“No, not in a bad way. The Sloane I remember had short, bleach-blonde hair, and…”

“I was curvier. I lost weight after graduation.”

“You didn’t need to,” he assured her. “I mean…fuck, I’m not trying to insult you. I don’t know about women’s feelings. I just mean…” He inhaled deeply, muttered another curse, and looked out to the woods like he often did on work breaks. “You looked fine to me. You look fine now too.”

That kind little smile was back. “Thank you for saying that.” She gestured to her face. “I know I look different. You look great though. The bear got big, huh?”

He studied her face. How could he have forgotten the arctic blue in her eyes? They still had green middles that seemed to glow from the inside out—a rare thing for a human. She’d seen his bear once, after the homecoming dance. He’d never talked to her again. “The bear got big,” he agreed softly.

She seemed to search for something to talk about. “I’ve heard amazing things about this place, and here you are. Working here.”

“Yeah, I’ve been running the barbecue side of Moosey’s over in Saratoga for years. We opened this one up six months ago. I moved up here with a new Crew. Actually, do you remember Gunner?”

“How could anyone on this planet forget your brother? He’s terrifying.”

He chuckled and nodded. “He’s my Alpha now.”

She frowned. “From what I remember, you two hated each other.”

“That hasn’t improved a bit. Hey, I heard you moved.” He frowned, trying to jog his memory on who had even told him that. Maybe one of her friends, after graduation? It felt like a hundred years ago. “Are you in town for a visit?”

She pressed her fists onto her lap and locked her arms, looked uncomfortable. “I moved back to the area. I found a little place between here and Saratoga. I just came to get out of the apartment. And out of my head. It’s a lot being back.”

There was so much more to those admissions than what she was saying.

He wanted to ask questions. He wanted to know why she was back and why she needed to get out of her head, but things had ended weird between them, and this was a lot. He didn’t want to push her too hard. “Have you seen any of your old high-school friends?”

“Frankie.” She had a smile in her voice when she said his name. “And Sabrina. We all went out to catch up when I got back to town. It’s strange though,” she said softly. “I lived a whole life outside of this place. Feels like I’m an outsider now.”

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