I couldn’t deny that the fact that the house was next to the Eldridges’ had been a big part of my decision to buy it. Teddy had already returned to Rockdale by then, and since I’d known she planned on staying in their house and raising her own family there when the time came, it had been a no-brainer to buy this place from my parents. Who wouldn’t like living next door to their best friend?
The only issue I had with it was that it provided the opportunity for me to run into Colt, and I’d been trying to forget about him for ages. Carrying the yearbook over to my bed, I sat down and opened it. It was the one from his senior year, and although it had been a long time, it still opened easily to the page with his picture on it.
I’d spent hours with it cracked open to this page. For a while, I’d even had it bent over and standing on the bookshelf with his picture turned to face my bed so I could gaze at him while I tried to fall asleep.
Once upon a time, I’d drawn a big red heart around him and signed my name as Mrs. Colt Eldridge below his photograph. I rolled my eyes at my younger self now, even as I traced my fingertips along the heart and smiled at the memory.
Back then, I’d been seventeen and sneaking around with Colt. He’d just graduated from my high school and I’d had a crush on him pretty much from the moment I’d realized what a crush was. It wasn’t until the summer after his graduation that I’d gotten him to pay any attention to me, though.
My fingers brushed over his face, and although I knew I was being a fool, I couldn’t help it when I let out a dreamy sigh. An ice-cream wrapper peeked out between the pages, and my heart stuttered when I caught sight of it.
That summer, Colt had driven an ice-cream truck to bank some money before he went to college. I’d spent half the summer chasing him in the truck and the other half riding in the back of it, making out with him between stops.
There was no way of getting around the fact that I was carrying a torch for him, even though he’d left me behind and had technically stolen my best friend from me for our last two years of high school.
Luckily, Teddy had come back in time for us to go to college together at a small school right here in our hometown. In all that time, however, I’d pined for Colt, hoping that he’d come home himself.
He never had. He’d been too busy studying business and construction and then making a big name for himself. By the time I’d finally seen him again, years later, he’d been engaged to some girl he’d met at college and had apparently dated for a long time.
Now he was back, meddling in Teddy’s wedding after his own had been called off. I didn’t know many of the details. Only that he hadn’t ended up marrying the girl he’d been engaged to.
Sighing as I closed my yearbook, I took it back to my bookshelf and slid it in behind one of the piles of craft supplies.How did I get myself into this mess?
I wanted to make sure my best friend’s wedding was just like she wanted it, but that also meant having to tackle Colt head on when all I wanted to do was avoid him as much as possible. Colt Eldridge hadn’t been the boy for me and he wasn’t the man for me now either, but seeing him again was going to bring up all those old feelings that still lived right beneath the surface.
I would need to find a way to get over it, though, because I’d be damned if Colt messed up Teddy’s big day.Not on my watch, big guy. It’s just not going to happen.
3
COLT
“I’m staying in my fucking childhood bedroom, man,” I said, picking up my laptop to show Parker the space before setting it back down on my desk.
My best friend’s laughter came over the speakers. His face disappeared from the screen for a moment as he turned his phone to show me where he was. The main workout floor of the gym he used to own back in New York appeared on my screen, along with a whole bunch of familiar faces. Hunter, Parker’s brother, his wife, Hailey, and his friends Chris, April, Nash, and Lennon all grinned at me, waving and shouting out greetings.
I gaped when he brought the phone back to himself. “Why didn’t you tell me they were all there with you?”
He shrugged, laughing again as the others crowded around behind him. “We’re doing a group workout session and they only started arriving after we were already on the call, but we miss you. If you’re so unhappy at your old place, come home and just go back there for the wedding.”
“Can’t.” I let out a deep breath through my nostrils as I shook my head. “My sister needs me here and we’re all just going to have to get used to missing each other because I’m headed to Europe the day after she and Scott tie the knot.”
A knowing look settled on Parker’s features. “Aside from having to stay in your old bedroom, how are things going over there? It must be chaos if they need you there when the big day is still half a month away. How is it to be back in the metropolis of Rockdale?”
I scoffed. “It’s a podunk town that I’m not happy to be in. Ever. It’s so country here. Always has been. Besides, I’m an international man of the world now, and Rockdale, Ohio is the furthest thing from cosmopolitan that you can possibly imagine.”
Parker laughed, and so did all the others behind him. April looked horrified when I mentioned how country it was, but Lennon started talking to Nash about it and asking if he’d ever been. I could only just hear her since she was trying to keep her voice down.
“You just have to stick it out for a couple of weeks, man,” Parker said. “Try to have some fun, and don’t shirk on the workouts or you’ll come home with a pot belly.”
“That’s never going to happen,” I swore. “Do I need to remind you that you’re not my personal trainer anymore, though? You’re retired now, so maybe you’re the one who needs to try to have some fun.”
There was a flash of movement on the screen and then, Isabella, his wife, was grinning at me. “He has plenty of fun. Trust me. You just do what you need to do and get your ass back here. I don’t know how much longer I can take the complaining about you not being around.”
“It’s only been a few days,” I said and chuckled when she rolled her eyes at me. “I hear you, though. Get my ass back there as soon as possible. You got it, ma’am. I can’t fucking wait.”
“Good. I’ll give you back to him before he starts crying.” There was movement again, and Parker was back and scowling into the camera.
“Don’t believe a word she says. I’m fine without you. Besides, I’ve got all these knuckleheads behind me to whip into shape. Speaking of which, we’ll let you get back to the provincial life while we work up a sweat and enjoy not being in some podunk town.”