Page 114 of Hate To Love You

“I’ve wanted to do that for so long,” he told me. My heart skipped a beat, and I couldn’t believe he was saying that to me.

“Why?” I didn’t know why I was questioning it, but I wanted to know.

“You’re just… you’re beautiful.”

I thought my heart was going to burst out of my chest at his words.

“Hey, what are you guys doing? Mom wants us to go in now,” Dawson yelled from the deck on the back of the Sawyer house. It startled me, and I jumped back from Hayden.

We never spoke about that night again. Every time all three of us would hang out, there would be this tension in the room, we’d exchange longing glances, and sometimes we’d even flirt. But Dawson never seemed to notice.

Year’s later, Hayden went off to college at Weston U and left Dawson and I behind at Kingston Preparatory School. To this day, I don’t think Hayden ever mentioned it to Dawson, and I certainly never did.

Dawson wasn’t a second a choice. I fell in love with him, and the memory of that night I spent with his brother faded every day.

I haven’t seen Hayden since he left for Weston U, and honestly, I wasn’t expecting to see him ever again. Our mom’s stopped being friends after Dawson broke up with me.

The last I knew, Hayden went to Weston to be a lawyer. He’d always been into law and talked about becoming a big-time lawyer, moving to New York, and having his own firm one day. I was so proud of him for chasing his dreams, and I always hoped they’d come true for him.

But if he’s here, working at the coffee shop, I have a feeling he never got there.

“He’s still an asshole,” Hayden says, bringing me back to the present.

I chuckle. “Yeah, well, some things never change,” I tease, and Hayden smiles earnestly.

“Yeah, some things never do,” he says softly as he looks over my body, landing on my face. My cheeks blush and my stomach flutters, reminding me of the way I used to feel around him all those years ago.

I don’t know how to respond to that, so instead, I change the subject.

“I need a pie,” I blurt out. Hayden smirks.

“Okay… what kind?”

“Apple,” I tell him. “Please.”

Oh, man. I sound like a total idiot. Why am I so nervous right now? My heart is going crazy in my chest, and I feel like I’m sweating. Get it together, Gwen.

“Apple pie it is,” Hayden confirms, walking back around the counter and grabbing an apple pie from the stack of various pies in the bakery. He brings the pie over to the register as I walk up to the counter to pay.

The smirk is still on his lips as his blue eyes search my face. He can tell I’m nervous and I hate it. Why am I so damn obvious?

I haven’t seen this man in years, and yet he still has that same effect on me as he did when we were kids.

I pull out my wallet, ready to pull out my card to pay, but Hayden holds his hand up to stop me.

“It’s on the house, Sharpe,” he says, and my stomach flutters. I used to love it when he’d call me that. He’d only do it when he was flirting, and it made my stomach flutter every time.

“What? Are you sure?” I ask hesitantly. He nods.

“Positive. Tell your mom to enjoy the pie,” he says as he leans over the counter on his forearms. A piece of his blonde hair falls into his face, and he uses his hand to push it back. I watch the muscles under his sleeve as they contort when he moves his arm.

“How do you know it’s not for me?” I ask, placing a hand on my hip. Hayden chuckles.

“You hate apples,” he states. He remembers that? How does he remember that? It’s such a miniscule detail, and he remembered.

I smile shyly, looking down at the floor because for some reason, I can’t look him in the eye.

“You’re in town for a couple weeks, right?” he asks, and I nod.

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