Page 54 of Harvest Moon (Riverbend 3)

She arched a brow at him, her thumbs still moving.

A memory flashed in his mind of that summer after theirfreshman year of college when he’d been so desperate to win her back. Despite his efforts, she refused to engage with him, but Mallory had been on his side. He fished all the information he could from her.

But Mallory was gone now. And there was no hope of reconciling with Laurel this time. He’d burned down that bridge long ago.

Chapter22

When August rolled around Laurel was both relieved and depressed to return to Clemson. On one hand, she wouldn’t come face-to-face with Gavin anymore. On the other hand, she wouldn’t come face-to-face with Gavin anymore.

Which must be why, when she was exiting her dorm building, late for her second day of classes, she thought she spied Gavin. The man faced the other direction, ball cap tilted just so, black T-shirt stretched across broad shoulders. He looked down at something in his hands, his posture and movements screamingGavin.

She gaped, unblinking. She must be losing it. She’d heard of this happening when someone close to you died—seeing your loved one in a crowd. The mind could play terrible tricks.

But then he turned and their gazes connected.

It reallywasGavin.

Her heart dropped like an anchor even as liquid fear shot through her veins. Her feet froze to the pavement, and their gazes held for a long moment. What was he doing here? Sure, his classes started a week later than hers (yes, she’d checked), but Clemsonwas more than two hours from Riverbend and certainly not on the way to Appalachian State.

He walked toward her, lowering the paper he’d been studying. He had the nerve to smile at her as if their last meeting hadn’t been full of friction. As if it hadn’t tied her stomach in knots and stolen her appetite for days.

“Hey,” he said.

She blinked at him. “Hey?”

“Your dorm’s hard to find. Even GPS couldn’t help me. And this campus—jeez. A man could walk for days. Don’t even get me started on the parking situation.”

“What are you doing here, Gavin?” She gave her head a shake—why give him the chance to sweet-talk her? “Never mind. I’m late for class. You need to go.” She headed toward the science building.

“Hey, wait up.” Gavin caught up to her and strolled beside her as if they were still in high school, and he was walking her to calculus.

She told her stupid, traitorous heart to chill out. It didn’t listen. Thank God the science building was close by. She could see it from here—just twenty yards ahead. She quickened her pace. He could only do so much damage in that short amount of time.

“Don’t you want to know why I’m here?”

“You shouldn’t have come, Gavin. We already talked. I met you at the coffee shop like you asked, and you said you’d leave me alone after that.”

“Actually... I said I wouldn’t bother you at work again and I didn’t.”

He was still smiling—she could tell by the tone of his voice. Her blood pressure ratcheted up about twenty points. “And I told you this wouldn’t work.”

“You said you couldn’t do the long-distance thing again.”

She reached the building’s door and turned. “Exactly. Now I have to go. My class started five minutes ago. Good-bye.”

He opened his mouth to say something, but she darted into the building—heart quivering, legs quaking—before he could speak.

Two hours later as she left class, she couldn’t remember a word of her professor’s lecture. And when she exited the building, if her stomach squeezed a little at the sight of the empty grounds, she wasn’t about to admit it. Not even to herself.

The next day Laurel found her EnglishII class and headed inside the lecture hall. She was only a few minutes early, but there was an empty seat in the front row right next to—

Gavin.She gasped.

He glanced up just then and their gazes collided.

Someone ran into her from behind. She’d forgotten to keep walking.

“Sorry,” Laurel muttered as the guy slid around her and headed up the stairs along the wall.

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