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  I watch as he stops rowing to remove his jacket and roll up his sleeves. When he reaches up to pull his tie loose, every female part of my body goes on high alert at the skin exposed on his body. Suddenly I’m just as hot as he is out here, and it’s only getting warmer.

  “Like what you see?” He wiggles his eyebrows playfully, and I roll my eyes.

  “Have you gotten cocky in your old age?”

  “No, just hoping you like the view.”

  “It’s not so bad,” I hedge, not wanting to stroke his ego. But then I immediately think of all the things on him I’d like to stroke.

  Jesus, get it together, Summers. Focus. He broke your heart.

  “I’ll take what I can get,” he says as we come to a spot under a canopy of trees that has lanterns hung all around it.

  “Do you do this for all your dates?” I blurt out, unable to stop myself. “Never mind, don’t answer that.” My cover-up is terrible and I wish I could take the words back.

  “I don’t date.” His words aren’t teasing, but instead firm and true. “You’re the only woman I’d do this for, Kory.”

  “You don’t know me.” It’s the only defense I have, and I think maybe if I say it enough that I’ll start to believe it. “You thought you knew me a long time ago, but people change.”

  He hooks the oars to the side of the boat and leans forward with his elbows on his knees. “You’re right, people change.” His agreement is a painful truth, but one I think we both need to hear.

  I look away from him, because if I keep staring into those blue eyes of his, I won’t be able to hold back the tears.

  “Look at me, Kory.” I take a breath and then turn back to him, unable to deny him what he wants. “I grew up and I became a man, but my feelings for you never changed. I may not be the same person I was when I was eighteen, but my heart is stuck in that library where you smiled at me for the first time.”

  “Henry,” I whisper, feeling a lump form in my throat.

  “Just listen, baby,” he says, getting on his knees in front of me. “I’ve spent the past ten years trying to convince myself that what we had wasn’t real. Tried to deny the fact that the first time I held your hand I knew I didn’t want to hold another for the rest of my life. That when I had you in my arms on the dance floor, I never wanted to dance with anyone else but you. We had one day together and it changed everything I knew to be true. I made myself believe that you didn’t feel the same way, and that’s how I made it through.”

  He reaches forward and takes my hands in his. His hands surround my fingers, and he brings them up to his mouth, grazing his lips across my knuckles.

  “Three thousand seven hundred and twelve,” he whispers, then stares into my eyes. “That’s how many days I had to tell myself that it wasn’t real. And then today, I kissed you, and I knew it was all a lie.”

  A tear slips down my cheek. I’ve done the same thing he has, trying to make myself believe something that every part of my soul fought against. But I gave my heart to him once, and the second he had it, he ripped it in two. I can’t go through that again.

  I pull my hands from his grasp and place them in my lap.

  “Do you know what’s gotten me through all these years?” I ask, straightening my spine. “Every time I thought about giving in and picking up one of your calls, I remembered what you did to me. Even years later, when a moment of weakness would make its way in, I would conjure up the image of you in that bathroom with your pants around your ankles and Cassie Springer naked and on her knees in front of you sucking your cock. Then I’d remember the sounds of everyone laughing at me and how stupid I was to trust you. That’s what got me through it, Henry.”

  Chapter Six

  Henry

  Prom...

  Tonight was perfect. Kory and I went to have our pictures taken with my family, and my parents loved her, just like I knew they would. Afterward we went to dinner with everyone and we laughed the whole time. I held her hand under the table and kept seeing her blush anytime I would look at her. God, she’s so beautiful.

  We danced until she said her feet hurt and then we sat in the corner of the ballroom and talked for most of the night. I’d never felt happier in my life just being with someone. It was crazy. It was like we were instant best friends, but there was something more. Standing near her somehow calms something inside me, and I don’t want it to stop.

  After they shut the ballroom down, some of the guys from my soccer team were headed to a lake house for an after-party. I wasn’t sure I wanted to go, but when I asked Kory she said she wanted to. I felt like maybe she was saying yes because that’s what she thought I wanted to do, but I didn’t push it. I was driving and I hadn’t been drinking, so we could leave anytime she wanted.

  We got to the house about an hour ago, and we’ve just been hanging out on the porch talking since then. It’s nice to be alone, not having to shout over the music.

  “I told you I was a terrible dancer,” I tease as Kory slips off her heels and rubs her feet. “Here, put them in my lap.”

  She laughs but props her feet up on my thighs, and I begin rubbing them.

  “It’s not you, it’s me,” she says, and I tickle her foot in retaliation. “Seriously. I’m such a klutz. I never walk in heels, and tonight wasn’t the time to start. I didn’t realize you were going to have me on the dance floor all night.”

  “What can I say? I found a beat and I shook my tail feathers.” God, how are my lame jokes actually making her laugh?

  “I like your tail feathers,” she says, and a moment of silence passes between us.

  Just when I’m about to say something, Marcus, one of my soccer teammates, comes out on the porch with a few of the guys behind him.

  “Oh, captain, my captain, it’s your turn for a shot,” he says, holding out the shot glass.

  “No can do. I’m driving tonight.” I feel Kory try to pull her feet from my lap, and I hold on to them so she can’t.

  “Don’t worry, we’ve got a bus to take the ships back home once they’re finished cleaning up,” Marcus says, and the guys behind him start laughing.

  “What did you say?” I ask, my tone low and filled with anger.

  “My bad, Henry,” Marcus says, holding his hands up and taking a step back. “I thought this was a charity thing. No harm no foul.”

  The other guys fall around laughing and I’m pissed as hell. I stand up so fast the soda that was on the arm of my chair falls in my lap and spills all over my tux and Kory’s feet.

  “Shit, I’m sorry, Kory,” I say, trying to wipe it off.

  Her feet are out of my grip and we’re both standing up before I notice everyone that was on the porch disappeared.

  “Assholes,” I grumble. “I—”

  “Don’t worry about it. Why don’t you get cleaned up? I think I’m ready to leave,” she says, and I can see some of the light in her eyes has dimmed.

  “Okay,” I concede, not wanting to ruin any more of our night. Coming here was a mistake and I shouldn’t have done it. These people suck, and Kory deserves better. “Wait here. I’ll be back in a second.”

  I open the sliding glass door and hear loud music coming from inside. I go into the house and find a few people in the kitchen, and I walk by without saying a word. I make my way through the living room, and there are some people in there doing shit I don’t want to see, so I hurry to the back of the house, where there’s a bedroom. I find a bathroom attached, so I close the door behind me and unzip my pants to take a piss before we get on the road. It’s about an hour drive back and I don’t want to have to waste any time stopping when I could spend it talking to Kory.

  I grab some tissue from off the roll and try to blot off as much of the soda as I can, but it’s no use. It’s all wet. When I’m finished, I walk over to the sink, leaving my pants undone so I can try to wash some of the
sticky syrup off my belt buckle.

  I hear a slight knock and turn to the door. “Occupied!” I shout over the music thumping all the way in the back of the house.

  When I hear the door open, I turn around to tell whoever it is to get out, but it’s not who I expect. Cassie Springer, captain of the volleyball team, walks in and closes the door behind her.

  “Cassie, what are you doing? I’m in here. Go find somewhere else.”

  She made it clear to me at the beginning of the year she’d do anything I wanted if I’d take her to prom. And then she proceeded to detail what that included via text. I finally had to block her number after she didn’t like me turning her down. I’d heard she was pissed as hell when she found out I was taking Kory to prom, but I didn’t give it much thought.

  “Hey, handsome,” she says, taking a few steps toward me but swaying a bit. It’s obvious she’s had a lot to drink. “I just thought you might like to see what you’re missing out on tonight.”

  I’m fumbling with my belt to close my pants up as she gets closer to me.

  “Cassie, get the fuck out of here. If someone sees you—”

  “It’s okay. I don’t mind if you don’t. I told you I’d do anything, and I’m true to my word.”

  She reaches up to the halter tie around her neck, and with one flick, her silky dress falls off her body and to the floor. She’s standing completely naked in front of me, and I back up so fast I hit the wall behind me and knock a picture off of it. The crash is loud, but it does nothing to stop her coming at me.

  She takes another step and stumbles over her own feet in her drunken state, and I have to hold my hands out to keep her from landing on me.

  It all happens so fast I’m not sure what order it happens in, but one second I’m clutching my pants and the next, Cassie is on the floor in front of me, and my pants are at my feet because I had to let them go. At that exact moment, the door flies open and Kory is standing there staring at me with the group of guys from the porch behind her laughing their asses off.

  “Kory!” I shout, but it’s too late. She’s running and I can’t untangle myself from Cassie and my pants around my feet.

  The guys come into the bathroom and all stare down at Cassie, who’s fully naked. I see a short dark-haired girl pushing her way through and feel relief. “Julie, get over here.”

  Cassie’s friend Julie is thankfully sober enough to know this situation is bad and helps me get her covered up.

  I pull up my pants and get them buckled and help carry Cassie out to the bed. I want to get to Kory, but I can’t leave a girl passed out drunk with these guys just standing around watching.

  “I’m going to call her parents,” Julie says, pulling out her phone. “She’s going to be so pissed at me, but I don’t know what else to do.”

  I nod and look around the room until I spot Marcus.

  “You!” I bellow. I lunge at him and tackle him to the ground. We wrestle for a few moments before I punch him and he passes out. Anger has flooded my veins and I don’t have time to deal with this shit. I look around the room to see everyone has cleared out.

  I look back and see Julie is talking on the phone. She’s got this under control. I don’t see anyone else in the house as I run through, shouting Kory’s name. When I get back to the porch, her shoes are still in the same spot, so she couldn’t have gone far.

  But I was wrong.

  I spend the entire night searching for her in the surrounding woods before calling the cops and reporting her missing. But it turned out she walked home, or hitched a ride, because all the cops would tell me was that she was home safe.

  I spend hours and hours trying to get her to talk to me, to hear me out. She won’t even speak to me. I went to her house and banged on her door until her mom called security and I was banned from the building.

  It was all a stupid misunderstanding and I’m broken in two because she won’t just hear me out. One conversation and this would all be cleared up, but then there had to be something more. If only I can get her to hear me out, then maybe I can get to the bottom of why she ran.

  Chapter Seven

  Henry

  Present day...

  “Do you really think I’d do that to you?” I ask, seeing the raw hurt in her eyes.

  “I know what I saw,” she answers stubbornly.

  I search her face, and though she’s angry, there is something else there. It’s the same look in her eyes I saw that first time in the library. It’s fear.

  “You’re afraid,” I say, still unmoving.

  “I am not.” Her tone is defensive.

  “That’s what made it so easy for you to believe I’d do something so horrible to you.” The truth being brought to light is a powerful thing, and I watch as she begins to realize her own lie. “Look in your heart, Kory. Look at me now. I’ve made some mistakes in my life and I did some dumb shit as a kid. But when it came to you, I would’ve ripped out my heart before I’d harm yours.”

  I reach out and take her hands in mine, and she lets me. Tears build in her eyes and she looks away. She follows the light on the water, and it’s a few moments before she speaks.

  “I’ve spent so long hating you, but now I don’t know what to believe.” She releases a breath and then looks down at our joined hands. “We were young, but you were bigger than life. You had all this money and power, and girls were just waiting to get in line around you. I kept asking myself the whole time I was with you, why me? So when I saw you in the bathroom it was like all my doubts were confirmed.”

  “Why didn’t you just let me explain?” I ask. “You took off and I was terrified something happened to you. I called the cops, Kory.”

  “Sorry about that,” she says, and a smile pulls at her lips. “They were pretty confused when they came by my place and I was there.”

  I want to laugh, too, because I want to put all this bullshit behind us. “I didn’t hook up with Cassie Springer that night, or anyone else after you.”

  Her eyes snap up to mine, and I see confusion in her expression.

  “I gave my heart away when I was eighteen years old, and I was waiting for her to come back to me.

  “I love you, Kory. I’ve loved you from the first moment I saw you, and I never stopped.” I sit up, taking her face in my hands, brushing her tears away with my thumb. “And I never will.”

  “Oh god, Henry, my heart can’t take this.” She leans forward, kissing me with so much passion. She pours it all into the space where our lips meet, and I know then that all the things that separated us have melted away.

  I pull back to look at her. I don’t want this dream to go up in smoke. “Is this real?” I ask, feeling myself smile.

  “I love you, too,” she says, her eyes shining. “I tried to make it stop, lied to myself that I had but I couldn’t, and I didn’t want it to.”

  I sit back abruptly and grab the oars.

  “What are you doing?” There’s a laugh in her voice now, and it’s music to my ears.

  “We’re going home.”

  * * *

  “I can’t believe this is your place,” Kory says as I pick her up and carry her into the house. I close the door behind us and spin her around, pinning her to it.

  “I’ll show you every square inch later. Right now, I need you.” I kiss her with desperation and desire as I reach down and hike her thighs up around my waist.

  My mouth moves down her jaw and to her neck, devouring her soft skin. Her moans and the sound of my name on her lips are like every fantasy I’ve ever had come to life. I grip her ass and grind against her as my lips find the warm place between her breasts.

  “Don’t stop.” She knots her fingers in my hair as she rocks her hips. It’s almost enough to have me coming undone before we’ve taken five steps in the door.

  “Wasn’t planning on it, baby,” I sa
y as I pull the top of her dress down, revealing her pink nipples. “Not ever.”

  I suck one tight bud into my mouth and feel her body shudder in my arms. I move to the other, needing to taste all of her.

  “Holy shit, that’s so good.” Her words come out in gasps as she tries to catch her breath.

  “Wait until I do it to your pussy.” I move down to my knees and throw one of her legs over my shoulder. Pushing up her dress, I see her cream-colored panties are wet and I groan at the sight. “You’ve been put on this earth to kill me. I just know it.”

  I hear her soft giggle before I pull them to the side and cover her with my mouth. Her giggle turns into a cry of pleasure followed by a low moan as I slide my tongue through her wet lips. She tastes like cinnamon and spice and everything nice, and I want to live between her legs.

  “Fuck, I’ve dreamed of this,” I whisper against her wetness. “I don’t know if I’ll survive this.”

  “I won’t survive if you stop!” she shouts, and grinds down on my mouth.

  Her body reacting to mine as she searches out the release only I can give her makes me feel like a king. This is so much more than I ever hoped for, and I don’t want to slow down to think about it now. I’m terrified if I blink that I’ll wake up and none of this will be real.

  Her legs tense and her thighs tremble. The grip she has on my hair tightens as her body coils with her imminent release. Being able to give her body this gift is what my fantasies are made of, and I flick my tongue across her clit in steady, even strokes to get her off.

  “Henry!” she shouts, and the echo in the room makes me growl like an animal.

  I want to mark every inch of her as mine and then do it all over again. I want my name to be the only one on her lips, and I want it now. I’ve waited a decade to have her under me and I won’t wait any longer.

  Her warm release hits my tongue and I drink it down. When she slowly comes down from her high, I kiss her pussy gently one last time then lower her leg to the ground. I stand up, then scoop her up in my arms, carrying her through the house.