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Chapter Three

Sawyer

Fuck.

What the hell?

I stand rooted in place, staring toward the girl I’ve been in love with for years. Her hair is longer now, though it’s the same beautiful color, and her smile is still lighting up the room.

Air. I need fucking air!

Sure, I’ve stalked her flower shop in the Springs and watched her work through the window. I’ve followed her hiking, swimming, out to dinner, and hell, at times I even took video to jerk off to later.

How fucked up is that?Turns out a man’ll do all kinds of crazy shit when he loses the woman he loves. But in five years, I’ve never been in the same room with her. Never breathed the same air. Never known she was five feet away and I couldn’t touch her.

Fucking hell, I’m not okay.

An espresso machine whirs in the background as a blonde barista calls out my name. “Two black for Sawyer.”

Evie glances toward the barista, then into the small crowd as though she’s searching.

Here we go.

Her eyes lock on me, and suddenly I’m back in the same place I was five years ago. The place where Evie was mine andeverything in the world made sense. The place where I wasn’t some weird stalker. I’m the guy she loved. The guy who was meant to be fucking her, not jerking off to her photos.

My heart pounds and I stand, staring in the crowded shop like a psychopath at a train wreck. The barista calls my name again, but I can’t look away.

“Sawyer.” Suddenly a soft voice is in front of me and the space between us is closed.

“Evie.” I breathe in the lavender on her skin and my heart squeezes. “Jesus. You look beautiful as ever.”

Her gaze tips down and a smile stretches bright and warm. “You look pretty good yourself.”

Fuck!

The barista calls my name again.

“I think your drinks are getting cold.”

“Right.” I pull myself out of the mud I’m stuck in, reaching for the drinks on the counter as quickly as possible. I’m only gone five seconds, but it feels like an eternity.

“Two cups?” She stares up at me with the same sparkling eyes I’ve thought about for years. “Someone waiting on you?”

“Shit, no. Not a girl… if that’s what you mean. I, ugh, I told Gage I’d grab us some coffee. We’re doing a deep clean at the shop this afternoon. You? I see you’re finally getting married. I mean,” I cross my arms over my chest, cups of coffee still in hand, “I saw the announcement in the Gazette. That took a while.”

What the hell am I saying?I haven’t talked to the girl in five years. I could’ve started with something a little less oppressive.

“I mean, it’s crazy bumping into you here. How’s the flower business? We have a few here in Rugged Mountain, but are they different in the Springs?”

Okay, well, that wasn’t the way to go either.

Thankfully, she laughs. “Yeah. It’s pretty dumb, if you ask me, but my father was hell bent on me running the place. If it wasmychoice, we’d have that pie shop.” Her eyes widen. “I mean,I’dhave that pie shop. Oryoucould’ve… it was your idea too. I mean… whatever. I just wish I was baking pies instead of bundling flowers. I’m allergic to some of them. My hands break out in this terrible rash, and it’s so gross. It kind of oozes.” Her hand filters through her hair and the flash of a tattoo catches my eye. “Anyway, how are you? You still at the tattoo shop?” She’s rambling, and I love it. Partly because I’ve missed the way she talks, and partly because it gives me a chance to study her and the tattoo she didn’t have before. I’m pretty sure it’s an ace of hearts.

“Am I keeping you?” Her eyes meet mine and she pulls down her sleeve as though she’s noticed I’m staring. “I should get back to work anyhow.”

“No. Fuck no. You’re not keeping me. I thought I saw a tattoo on your arm, and I was trying to figure out what it was.”

“What?” Her full pink lips part slightly, and it takes all my energy not to pull her close and crash into them.

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