Page 48 of Melt With You

‘How are you here?’

‘Why are we meeting in 1988 rather than 2008?’

‘How’d you get back in time?’

But the reproach in his tone sparked her own memory of the dance – of feeling Luke’s hand on her shoulder and thinking the touch was Rowan’s, of the bitter disappointment that had flooded through her.

‘I looked for you, too,’ she said, and she felt anger swell through her and was grateful for the sensation. ‘You didn’t show up.’

‘I was late.’ He shrugged. ‘That’s all it takes for you to go and fuck someone else?’

Who talked like this? Nina was watching the two of them intently, paying careful attention to the interaction, as if trying to store up every tiny bit of information to share with Bette when her boss returned with the coffee. The buxom redhead appeared both shocked and intrigued by what Rowan had said about Dori. There was a soap opera playing out on the floor of the store and, although that wasn’t a strange concept in itself, the players were unusual. Good girl Emma had been out fucking someone other than Van? This type of gossip was pure gold in Nina’s world.

Dori turned to look at Nina. ‘I’m going to go for a walk for a minute. Tell Bette I’ll be right back.’

She headed out of the store, certain that Rowan would follow her. Now, her emotions were at war. She was still intensely curious – how in the hell was he in the 1980s, too? But she was angry, as well. How dare he talk to her like that? He’d ruined her night. Well, until Luke had shown up. God, was he right? It only took a man being a bit late in order for her to head off with someone else.

Had she fucked Luke to get back at Rowan?

She stormed down the street and he followed at her side. Neither one speaking. They both knew exactly where they were headed – the alley behind The Majestic. This was where they’d always gone, whether to make out, or make up.

Back in the graffiti-filled space, Dori leaned against one wall and looked at him. Yes, he was every last bit as attractive as she remembered, although she’d never envisioned him dressed in 1980s garb as a grown-up. She almost smiled. He looked good, not as if he were in costume, which was still how she felt – kicky black skirt, bright blue crinolines to match the spiked tips of her hair, net fingerless gloves – as if she’d plucked all the pieces from a dress-up box. She was enjoying the costume aspect of the clothing, while he appeared at home in his. He looked different.

He looked … sexy.

‘You have no idea how much time I’ve put into this,’ he said next, and as she watched him pace, she wondered what he was talking about.

‘Years,’ he said. ‘I’ve been working on this for years. A side project, you know? A wishful endeavor. And I just managed to get all of the kinks worked out – or most of the kinks, anyway – and you go along and leave with fucking Luke. Or, rather, you leave and go and fuck Luke.’

‘I don’t –’ she started finally, but he wouldn’t let her speak.

‘You did. I know you did. I saw the picture.’

‘That’s not what I meant,’ she tried next. ‘I mean, all of the other stuff you’re saying. I don’t know what you’re talking about.’

‘I sent you back here, Dori. I fixed it so that we could hit the 80s together …’

‘You did this?’

Again, she wasn’t sure what to think. Should she be angry? Or flattered? Or …

Rowan came forward and wrapped his arms around her, and Dori stopped thinking about how she should think for a moment, and just started to feel instead.

‘I missed you,’ he said.

‘You already said that. You were late.’

‘No.’ He shook his head. ‘I don’t mean that I missed you at the dance. I mean, over the past twenty years. Didn’t you miss me? Did you ever think about me? Did you ever wonder what would have happened if we’d stayed together?’

She swallowed hard and looked up into his eyes. She could see him in two ways, same as she had with Luke – the high school kid, wise beyond his years, but always slightly insecure. And then the man, a true man, who was holding her now, lifting her up in his embrace.

‘Yeah,’ she said honestly, looking into his beautiful eyes. ‘I missed you.’

‘Then why’d you go and fuck that egotistical bastard?’

Her eyes widened. She’d believed that now her whole gang was grown up, a hook-up like that wouldn’t matter. Damn Chelsea, with their phones. She tried to figure out what had happened. First, he must have called, to tell Dori he would be late, and Chelsea hadn’t given her the message. And then she’d gone and sent the bondage picture to him. The girl was a bitch through and through, but she’d always known that, hadn’t she?

‘Why would you do that, Dori?’

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