She shook her head. “I want to yell at you because we’ve seen him so many times online and on TV, but I’m also the girl who has to remind you where we know people from everywhere we go. You really, really suck at faces. But Walker Rhodes? How do you forget that face, no matter how much you suck at remembering people?”
It was so frustrating, having to defend myself when she knew how horrible I was with faces. “It was over ten years ago, and we were just kids. He looked totally different then. Keri, he was just a boy, but now he’s a grown-ass man. A really hot, grown-ass man.”
Keri jumped up from the couch and started pacing in small circles. “Madison. You do realize how amazing this is, don’t you? This is the kind of thing they write movies about. I’m going to write a movie about this. Yeah. Maybe I’ll become a screenwriter and your story will be the first one I write.”
“Keri!” I practically screeched.
“Don’t worry, I’m kidding. Kind of,” she said as she scrunched up her face while she thought. “It’s not a horrible idea. You’d know the writer, so the story would be incredibly flattering on your behalf.”
“Oh my gosh, shut up!”
Her pacing continued and I swore I could see the wheels turning in her mind. “So, did he know? That night at the concert, when he pulled you onstage?”
I nodded. “He said he recognized me right away.”
“This all makes so much sense. I mean, the way he’s been acting. The way he was with you at his concert. All of it.” Keri sat back down on the couch, her hands folded in her lap. “So, how do you feel?”
I sucked in a breath and tried to stop the smile from forming on my lips. “I can’t believe it’s him. I can’t believe he recognized me. When I think about him, I feel like he’s always been a part of me. You know?”
A smile spread across her face. “I don’t think we ever get over our first loves completely. We move on, of course, but I think a part of them is always with us.”
“I think if you would have asked me that question a few days ago, my answer would have been completely different. I would have told you I was fine, and that he rarely, if ever, crossed my mind.”
“And now?”
“I can’t imagine ever not being with him again.” The words slipped out before my mind had the sense to stop them. “But that’s crazy, right?”
“It is.” Keri reached out a hand and placed it on my knee. “But it kind of isn’t. You two have a past that bonds you. No one can tell you how to feel about it.”
“It’s so weird, though. Seeing him and realizing who he is…there is just this immediate comfort and trust. I know there’s a lot we don’t know about each other anymore, and I’m sure we’ve both changed, but when I look at him, all I see is the boy I fell in love with at the beach all those years ago.” I wiped at the lone tear that fell from my eye.
“I get that,” Keri said as she nodded. “This is a stupid example, but it’s like when I go to a club and I happen to run into someone that I knew from high school. Sometimes I want to be around that person because it feels like I’ve known them forever. And there’s this connection there that this person knows me differently than anyone else in the room does.”
“Even if that’s not entirely true?” I asked, for her sake as much as my own.
“Yeah, I guess. It’s just more of a feeling of familiarity and comfort.”
“So then, what if all I’m feeling is exactly that and it’s not real? What if I’m just feeling lost in the moment, or all caught up in the sweetness of our innocent past?”
Keri moved her hand and smacked my knee. “Is that what you really think it is?”
I looked away. “Not really.”
“Thank God, ’cause I didn’t want to have to punch you. Stop being dumb and call the guy. Or better yet, invite him over so I can make an ass of myself again.”
Chuckling, I smiled at her. “I told him I’d call him tomorrow.”
“Well, is that him who keeps blowing up your phone?” She looked pointedly at my phone, referring to the few times it had lit up during our conversation.
I reached for the phone and glanced at it. “Text messages.”
Her lips curved into a sly smile. “I’m not going to tell you what to do.”
“Yes, you are.”
“You’re right, I am.” She sucked in a breath. “You better text him back. This is Walker Rhodes we’re talking about. Which, speaking of…” She raised a hand in the air and crinkled her brow. “What about this reputation of his? Please tell me you asked him about it, because I don’t think I could take my roomie being tabloi
d fodder. And you know you will be. How are you going to handle that?”