I smiled as I pictured them together. Probably dancing and giving each other big moon eyes. Even now, after years of marriage and four kids, they were crazy in love. I would never admit it to them or anyone, but I hoped to find that someday. Someone who loved me no matter what. Always. Someone who wanted a house full of children, who loved me unconditionally, and was my shining light in the middle of a storm. Like my parents were to one another.
“Hey.”
I nearly fell off the dock and right into the water. “Holy shit!”
I shot up onto my feet, my palm pressed over my racing heart, and stared up at the stranger before me. He was holding a glass of champagne in one hand while loosening the tie around his neck with the other. My heart thumped loudly in my chest.
“You can’t just go scaring people half to death like that. My goodness.” I gasped out.
I peered up at him in the dark. There was something oddly familiar about him. Like I had seen him somewhere before. Or maybe we went to school together.
“I’m so sorry.” He grinned, and I realized how handsome he was. All big and broad shoulders. His curly dark hair was damp and stuck to his head. Dressed like that, he must have just come from the wedding. “I just came outside to get some fresh air.” He hooked a thumb toward the house next door. “My dads just got married.”
My brows shot up. “Oh.”Oh. “Your dads?”
No way. This was crazy.I knew him. Even though we had never met in person and that had been a few years ago, we had been pen pals first and then talked over direct messages on Instagram. I had a massive crush on him until, well, he met someone, and I stopped talking to him. Childish, maybe, but it hurt too much.
“Well, Beau’s my real dad, but he and Dean have been together for a few years now.” He finally managed to remove the tie, which he shoved into his pocket. He held out his hand. “I’m—”
“Cole Whitaker.” I finished for him. Damn, he had really grown up.
His brows shot up, and his eyes went wide. “Uh, yeah. How did you know that? Have we met before?”
“Reed Kelly.” I took his outstretched hand. It was big and warm as it engulfed my smaller one.
Cole stared at me for a second, then then he broke into a big smile when recognition hit him. “Holy shit, are you serious? I mean, I knew you lived in North Carolina, but what are the odds?”
“I live right next door.” I pointed to my parents’ house. “Which means that we’re now neighbors.”
“Mind if I join you out here? It was a bit crowded in there.” He jutted his chin at the dock where I was standing. “Unless you wanted to be alone. I totally understand.”
I shook my head. “Please.” I gestured for him to join me. “We should catch up.”
“I’d like that.” Cole sank to the wood planks beside me. “And you can tell me why you stopped responding to my messages three years ago.”
My cheeks heated in the dark. “About that...”Maybe because I got jealous when you told me you kissed someone else. “Sorry.” I dragged a hand through my hair as I sat next to him, and my eyes dropped.
His big thighs pushed the limits of the dress pants he had on.
“I meant to message you back. But one day turned into two and then it was a week. Before I knew it, it was a month, and I figured you had already moved on. That you probably hated me for not responding. We were young, you know?”I never forgot you. I thought of you all the time.
“It’s cool.” Cole raised the glass in his hand. “We were kids, right?” He didn’t sound mad about it.
He took a sip of the alcohol, and I tracked the movement of his Adam’s apple as he swallowed, the way it bobbed up and down. That shouldn’t be as sexy as it was. He had only gotten hotter as he aged. Grown from a boy to a man since we last spoke.
When he held out the glass, I grinned. “No, thanks.” I shook my head. I was a lightweight when it came to booze, and I really wanted to keep my wits about me. “How long are you here for?”
“I’ll be here for the summer while my dads go on their honeymoon. I’ll be heading back to Boston in late August. Maybe we can hang out while I’m here,” Cole suggested.
He made it sound so easy and casual. Like we were just two dudes being friends. Not that...Well, Cole didn’t know he had broken my heart.
I nodded. “Sure.”
My heart raced a mile a minute, thinking about that crush I had on him. How badly it hurt when he told me about that boy he had kissed at hockey camp. I had cried over it; loud, angry sobs that had caused my parents to worry about me. How sick to my stomach it made me. Even though we had never met in person, I had thought there had been something between us. But I was obviously wrong.
“This is so crazy, right?” Cole chuckled. “We were pen pals, and now we’re neighbors. Did you ever make it to New York? I’m at Boston U. Still waiting on the NHL, but someday...” He held up his middle and index finger, then crossed them for luck.
I watched him in the dark for a second, taking in his strong jawline. My eyes lingering on the dark stubble and his full lips.