Page 15 of Bryce

Looking around him,he noticed the blaze of flowers surrounding the trees and thetranquility of the morning. It felt other worldly, he mused. Taking aseat on an old bench leaning against the tree, he stretched his legsout and leaned back, one hand stretched across the back of the seat.

He was here withZahra. Shaking his head, he turned to look at the sugary whiteness ofthe building. From where he was sitting, he could see the cobbleddriveway and would be able to see when she gets back. They were goingto have that talk, even if he was going to stand outside her door.

He had to clearthings up between them.

*****

She lingered over hertasks. Tasks that had not been on her schedule in the first place.Ones she had manufactured and obvious enough to have Jessica givingher a puzzled look.

But she had nointention of revealing to her friend that the ‘hottie’ asJessica had put it, staying at her inn was someone from her past. Hehad booked under an assumed name, so she realized that he wanted toremain anonymous.

Good luck with that.She thought sourly as she parked under a maple tree in the parkinglot of the children’s home. He was a hot ticket and besidesthat, he was gorgeous. Flower Hills was a tiny town, but they werenot exactly living under the earth. Someone was bound to recognizehim sooner or later.

The children's homewas a place she often visited, a sanctuary where she could silencethe tumult of her thoughts. As she stepped inside, the familiar scentof crayons and the sound of children's laughter greeted her,grounding her in the present moment.

She exchanged a warmsmile with Mrs. Thompson, the head of the home, and handed over thedonations she had brought.

"You're alifesaver, Zahra," Mrs. Thompson said, her eyes crinkling withgratitude.

"It's nothing,"Zahra replied, her voice softer than usual. She watched the childrenfor a moment, their innocence and joy a stark contrast to thememories that had resurfaced with his arrival.

After spending sometime helping out, Zahra felt a bit lighter. She knew she couldn'tavoid him forever, but she wasn't ready to face him just yet. Notwhen the wounds of the past still felt so raw.

There were times whenshe felt the urge and wondered if she should consider adopting. Sheloved children and was almost thirty-three years old. Her biologicalclock was ticking off the wall and reminding her that she was fastapproaching the age when it was not safe to get pregnant. And she wasnowhere near that journey yet.

She had yet to find aman she considered worth the effort, one who kick started heremotions and send them into a tumble of confusion and she was notwilling to settle.

Except one. The voicecame out of nowhere and she had to force herself not to look aroundthe interior of her vehicle to see if there was someone else there.And trying to silence it was not happening.

Bryce. Closing hereyes, she leaned back and took a deep fortifying breath. It was inthe past, she reminded her treacherous inner voice, which had takenthis time to shout out loud at her.

It did not count; sheargued with the voice. We were fricking kids who had no idea what wewere about. And besides, we were comforting each other. Our homes hadbeen minefields of disasters and upheavals. That was why it had beenso intense. The first time and every time after.

Her hands gripped thesteering wheel as memories came crashing back. He had been sounhappy, so vulnerable and at an awkward stage where everyone wanteda piece of him for one reason or another.

She was used to theawkwardness, the whispers and the mean and unkind words utteredbehind her back. She was big and was the butt of more jokes than shecould remember.

She had learned toignore them or simply stand up for herself.

Bryce had beenplucked from the familiar to a place where he might as well have beenan alien.

She had told herselfthat she would not get involved. She had her own problems and therewere many. She would leave it alone. But when she saw him beingharassed by several of the jocks, she had stepped in and defendedhim. She had gone warrior goddess on their asses, and they had beenforced to leave him alone.

He had been gratefuland kept wanting to hang out with her. She knew who he was of course,who his dad was, and that his mother was a famed cardiologist. Theirworlds were poles apart.

That had entered hermind, but over the few weeks, it had weakened, and they had becomefriends. She had told herself, warned herself that it would never goany further than that.

It had been slow andinsidious. The conversations had become intense, the laughter and theeagerness to spend time together had not escaped them. Their toucheshad become tentative and then they had kissed. It had been the firstfor them and it had shaken them to the very core.

His lips brushinghers, breaths mingling, the difference in the contours of their lips,the marvel when he pressed his wiry body against hers. It had senther into a dizzy spin that had her hands curving around his thinshoulders.

And she had draggedherself away and fled.

She had convincedherself that it was a fleeting moment of weakness, but the bondbetween them only grew stronger. Each encounter left her yearning formore, and the magnetic pull between them was undeniable. Yet, shebattled with the societal expectations and the looming shadows oftheir disparate worlds.

It was during one ofthese stolen moments that Bryce had revealed his deepestinsecurities. He spoke of the immense pressure from his family, theexpectations that weighed heavily on his young shoulders, and theconstant feeling of inadequacy.

She had listened, herheart aching for him, and in that instant, she realized how much hemeant to her.

---