Page 20 of Merry Me
EASTON
Was I having a heart attack? Because that’s what it felt like. As I hovered at the entry of Natalie’s house—a place that was almost as familiar as mine was growing up—it was all I could do not to lose my shit completely. My pulse was hammering, my hands slightly shaking…and it wasn’t because I was nervous to be Levi’s best man. It was because I’d just seen the love of my existence fall out a fucking window.
And I’d never wanted to catch someone so badly in my entire life.
It was like time slowed the second I laid eyes on her again. And yeah, she was covered in leaves, cursing under her breath, and her hair looked like it had been in a battle with a squirrel—but I’d never seen anything so fucking beautiful. Even when she was trying to disappear into a bush, she somehow managed to look like the center of the universe.
I’d never felt like acting was hard until now.
I felt dazed. Hungover. Not the kind that came from too many drinks, but the kind that came from too many emotions hitting you all at once. She was here. Natalie.
MyNatalie.
She was real, not just some dream I kept replaying in my head every night for almost two years. Not pictures that I’d stared at until it felt like my eyes were going to bleed out.
And she was perfect. More than perfect.
The second I saw her, it was like someone had punched me in the gut. She was even prettier than she used to be…How was that even possible? She had that same wild energy in her eyes, the same way she carried herself, like the whole world could either worship her or go to hell. But there was something new, too. A confidence that hadn’t been there before. It made her dangerous.
I was already a fucking goner, so it really wasn’t fair for her to be even better than I remembered.
I winced as I adjusted my dick, wondering how I was going to walk into her house, with her parents inside, when my dick was trying to break through my jeans. My need for her was painful…like I’d been dropped back into high school, unable to think straight around her because I couldn’t wait to get in her pants.
I’d kept waiting for the moment when I’d stop missing her. When I’d wake up and not feel the need to check her socials, or scroll through old photos on my phone like some lovesick loser. But that moment never came. No matter how many auditions I booked or how many flashing cameras I faced, she was still the only person I ever wanted to see at the end of the day.
And now that I was finally here, finally back, I felt like I was on the edge of a cliff, hoping like hell that when I jumped, she’d be there to catch me.
The only way to survive was to remind my dick that our sabbatical was almost over.
Almost two fucking years.
I was pathetic—or at least that’s what my friends all said. I hadn’t been with anyone since she’d walked away.
I’d tried, and I probably had a whole bunch of rumors out there about me having erectile dysfunction or not liking women because my dick took one look at someone else and…completely stopped working.
The only time I could get it up had been if I was thinking about her, or looking at a picture of her, or…staring at her.
My friends didn’t understand, though. My dick knew something they didn’t.
No one ever could have compared to her. Not even close.
Think of bananas, I coached myself as I willed my dick back inmy pants. Nothing could get me limper than that disgusting fruit. A few more seconds…
The door flew open, and there was Natalie’s mom, Emily. “Easton!” she cried, pulling me into a warm hug.
Fuck, I kept my hips far, far away, but evidently a mom hug had the same effect as bananas because I was blissfully, thankfully, limp as a fish.
She released me from her boa constrictor hug and squeezed my shoulders for a second before taking a step back. “It’s good to see you,” she told me, and I could tell she meant it. And fuck, she looked like she was about to cry.
Me too,Mrs.Bennett.Me too. I’d thought I’d prepared myself for what this was going to be like, coming back here, but evidently that hadn’t actually been possible.
I followed her inside, still trying to get a grip on myself. Levi came around the corner, greeting me with a grin and a clap on the back. “About time, man,” he said. “Thought you got lost, Mr. Hollywood.”
“Better late than never,” I said, proud at how normal and steady my voice sounded. He grinned knowingly at me, well aware that it was killing me to be in here—without her. Levi had been one of the only friends I’d kept in touch with after leaving town, and unfortunately for him, he’d also been my sounding board for how miserable I was without Natalie.
Possibly every time I got drunk. Which was quite often in the early days after she’d broken up with me.
The rest of Natalie’s family was gathered in the kitchen, and I tried to be my most charming self—after all, these people were going to be my family again in the near future if I played my cards right.
