Page 34 of Agony of Our Regret

“Oh, yum.” Gwen set a ham sandwich on a plate before picking it up and then handing me an empty one.

Nachos had been calling my name since Bruce mentioned them earlier, and by the look of the towering pile of chips, meat, and toppings, I would not be disappointed.

My friend and I both loaded up with food before claiming two seats at the smaller dining table in the kitchen rather than the one in the attached dining room. I ate, listening to her update on Steph and CeeCee’s move to Orlando, but my focus stayed on the new arrivals.

I tensed when Chris, Michael, Robert, and Jolene walked in, but Sky wasn’t with them. I waved with my free hand, the other guiding a chip to my mouth. Gwen twisted and greeted them before facing me again.

“Chris knows, right?”

I nodded. “But Renae checked with him yesterday, and he hasn’t told anyone else.”

His partners didn’t glare at me or do much more than offer a normal hello, so I believed him.

“How long will that last?” she asked, but I didn’t answer.

He and Wes wanted me to tell their sons as soon as possible, but I refused to let that pressure me into doing anything before I was ready.

“Oh!” Gwen exclaimed, eyes wide.

It was all the warning I got before I was lifted off the ground.

“There’s my Sweets!” Sky’s voice boomed through the room, and I let out a nervous laugh.“Did I surprise you? I came in through the side door!”

He sat me down, and I spun in his arms, gazing up at his much more rugged and hairy face. He smiled and rubbed his beard. “How do you like the new look?”

I tried to hide my initial disgust, but he caught it.

“Don’t worry. I just wanted to shock my parents and get your reactions. It will come off tomorrow.” He stroked several inches long patch of hair covering the lower part of his face. I liked the scruffy look from his graduation, but this was far too much.

And unruly as if it could be a hiding spot for foreign creatures.

He’d tied his hair back in a bun, and I had a bad feeling about it too.

“Maybe a trip to a barber is in your future?”

He grinned, making his eyes sparkle. “If that’s what my girl wants.”

His girl?

I stepped back, and another arm slid around my shoulders. “Wow, you look like you’ve been living in the jungle for three months,” Luca teased.

“Yeah, pretty much,” Sky chuckled.

Gwen observed us from a few feet away. My eyes went wide, and she mouthed “my girl” with a lifted brow.

Sky and I were on good terms. We spoke often, and I understood his decision to stay with Noah. Still, a distance had definitely grown between us—even greater than since I last saw him. The contradiction was confusing and not quite fair. Maybe I could blame the hormones, but things had changed.

Did he think we’d simply go back to normal, whatever that was?

“So, how was it?” I didn’t know what else to say or where to start. Should we wait for Noah so they could tell us about their adventures together? Where was Gavin? Why did I suddenly want to cry?

Sky was here. I could touch him.

But it didn’t feel real. Or right.

“Great, we took plenty of photos and videos to show you all.”

“Should we hook up your phone to the projector in the theater room? We can go through the slides like back in the day when someone got home from vacation,” Luca suggested.

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