Page 18 of Four Times Taken

"Where have you been?" I called out to him as we got closer.

"We were worried. You've been gone for over an hour," Matt said. Even the guests were getting ready to leave, and Ryan's was packing up.

"I needed to take a walk to clear my head," he responded as we fell in line next to him.

"What she did, man? It was out of order." I wrapped my arm around his shoulder.

He shook his head. "I shouldn't have left the way I did, treating her as if she was no one to me."

"Did you tell her that?" Matt asked.

"Kind of. She didn't want to hear it." He wiped his sigh away, swiping his hand over his beard before loosening his tie.

"Well, sounds like her loss to me." I patted his back.

He froze and when we followed his eyes, we watched as Lily walked toward the exit. "No, it's my loss," he groaned.

"Hey! What was all that about? I heard everything, but I couldn't leave the reception area." Ryan jogged toward us with his camera and gear backpack. "Why was the girl in purple dress yelling at Eric?"

"That's Lily. The girl he was telling us about back in Italy?" I spoke up.

Ryan came to a stone-crunching halt. "That's her?"

His eyes widened as he looked toward us and back. Something told me he also appreciated her as much as I did when I first saw her before we knew she was a bit of a jerk. The way he looked at her as she walked out of our sight, was the same way I had looked at her, on the verge of drooling. Lucky for him, Eric's wasn't looking at him. Catching Ryan's attention, I made eye contact with him, telling him without words to gather himself.

"So, I'm guessing the reunion didn't go so well?" he asked.

Eric flashed his eyebrows in response as if to say, 'Bingo. Got it in one.'

"Now, Eric's over here, beating himself up over something he can't change. Look, man, you made a mistake when you were a kid. You tried to correct it as an adult. Too bad, she wasn't adult enough to accept it. But that's not your fault."

"She's entitled to the way she feels," Eric defended her, giving Matt a warning glance. "I wish I could go back in time and tell her I was leaving. It was the least I could do. Damn, why was I so stupid?"

"Hey, stop that."

Matt shakes him. "You can't change the past, and you can't force the present."

"Yeah, I don't think I have any choice but to let her go." Eric resigned, and my heart crumbled.

"Let's get out of here." I nodded toward the exit.

If I were an asshole, this would have been my moment to shoot my shot and go after my best friend's girl. I'd have been celebrating right then, seeing my opportunity. But fuck that, my boy's hurting, and he didn't deserve this. It's like she has to keep punishing him for something that shouldn't even matter anymore. None of us need a girl like that in our lives. She's dangerous. Damn, though. Can't say I'm not a bit peeved over not being able to see her again.

"I know you can't see it now, but this worked out in your best interest," I reassured him. "If it was meant to be, then nothing would keep you apart. You'll get over this. Tomorrow, we could be in another country, and it'd be like none of this ever happened."

Eric

"Like none of this ever happened? Bro, have you ever been in love?" I asked Ethan, seriously. This isn't just any rejection from a girl in my past.

"We've all had puppy love at some point in our lives. Right, guys?" He turned to the rest of them, and they nodded. "That's all this is." I knew he meant well, but trying to make light of this was cheapening what we shared.

Hissing under my breath, I shook my head, walking ahead of them. "It's not, though. She's the one who got away."

It didn't occur to me that I'd ever see her again. If it had, I wouldn't have left the way I did. To this day, there are so many people I've left behind in my childhood years, moving from state to state, and country to country, and I haven't run into them since. It just didn't seem possible. She's the one I still kept a piece of my heart open for in case our paths ever crossed again. Okay, let's be honest here, she has more than just a little piece of my heart. A once in a lifetime opportunity occurred today, and I blew it.

Again. Fuck!

I'm not a forceful person, but as she stood there, refusing to give me a chance to explain everything to her, I wanted to shut her up with a kiss. Show her how I feel, without telling her. Invade her space and pull her desires from her until she remembers what we shared. When she walked away, I wanted to pull her back to me and keep the promise I made to myself, to never let her go if our paths ever crossed again. I had to pull myself away, deep into the gardens to keep myself from reverting to the days of the caveman and respect her request, because I know that pushing past her boundaries wouldn't work with Lily. Not after living around beasts who paraded themselves as men.

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