Page 3 of Eight Years (The Trident Trilogy 1)

Chapter Two

Millie

Washington, D.C.

2019

Chase is persistent. I’ll give him that. In the past eight years, I’ve changed my address three times and my phone number five times. I’ve lived in three different cities. He’s found me every time. This last time it took him a while though—almost three years. I know what tipped him off. I knew it would when I did it. But, it had to be done.

I’m rereading the yet-unanswered text he sent me last night when I hear, “Millie?” For a split second, I think it’s him. But when I look up, I see a guy from my high school smiling so broadly at me that I think his face might break.

“Heeeeeeeeeeeey,” I say, stretching out the word as far as possible as I try to remember his name.

“Will. Will Peters. I was a year younger than you in high school.”

“Of course. I’m sorry, you caught me off guard.”

Living in D.C. now, I rarely run into anyone from back home. Even though it’s just a four-hour drive down the coast, D.C. and the Outer Banks might as well be on two different planets.

“So, wow, do you live in D.C. now? I never see you around The OB anymore.”

God, I used to hate when people called it that. Apparently, I still do.

“Yeah, I haven’t been back in a while.”

Unfortunately, Will starts to give me a play-by-play of what’s been happening back home since I left. Thankfully, my always punctual boyfriend shows up just in time to save me.

“Hey, babe.” Drew kisses me on the cheek before walking right in front of Will to take the seat across the table from me. I think he thinks Will is the waiter.

“Is this your husband?” Will says, extending his hand out to Drew.

“Boyfriend. This is Drew. Drew, Will and I went to high school together,” I say, giving Drew a warning look across the table. He knows I hate talking about my childhood.

“Ohhhhh, high school. Millie talks nonstop about those days.” Drew’s voice is dripping with sarcasm that Will obviously doesn’t pick up on.

“Yeah, man, best years of our lives. Right, Mills?”

I kick Drew under the table to try to get him to control the smile that’s now about to burst off of his face.

“Yep, those were the days,” I say.

In honesty, I did have a great time in high school. Amazing time. But, with everything that has happened since then, I’ve tried—and mainly succeeded—to block that time from my memory. It’s the only way I’ve been able to survive.

“Millie, I never got a chance to tell you how sorry I was about your grandma and dad dying. Especially that close together. That had to be tough,” Will says.

Drew stops smiling. That’s something else I don’t talk to him about. I’ve been dating him for almost two years, and the amount of information that I’ve been able to keep from him is almost shocking. It helps that he’s not a very curious person.

“Thank you, Will,” I say with a forced smile. “It’s been really nice seeing you again. Take care of yourself.”

“Yeah, yeah, you too,” Will says, finally taking a few steps away from the table. “You still look amazing, Mills. Just like that beach babe from high school. I guess D.C. hasn’t changed you that much.”

Thankfully, it’s changed me completely. The old Millie couldn’t have survived.

As Will walks away, I look back to see Drew’s disappointed face. “Really? I have to find out that your dad and your grandma are dead from Bill?”

“Will. His name is Will.”

“Millie, do I give a fuck what Mr. High School’s name is? Why didn’t I know that? We’ve been dating for two years. You don’t talk about yourself enough.”

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