No! Don’t get pulled in again.

Like being dunked into a tank of cold water, I was instantly jarred awake. Like a devil and angel on both sides of me, I fought an internal battle that I knew I could never win.

What the hell are you doing here? Go!

But I want—need—to be with her again.

Do you want to lose everything you worked so hard to build?

But I’m a better person now. I worked hard to get to this point to come back to her.

So you can mess her up again?

I’m far better than that now. I’m a changed person.

Is she?

Always a masochist, I knew there was no way I could avoid her. I just needed to find the right balance to make sure we wouldn’t mess each other’s lives up again.

I wasn’t sure that was possible.

Chapter 16

Rocky has a boyfriend.

Let me repeat: Rocky has a boyfriend!

So much for finding a right balance. Shock cannot begin to describe the myriad of emotions that tickled every artery, vein, and organ inside of me, though envy may be a closer word.

To make matters worse, he was a total douche! To be fair, he wasn’t as bad as I remembered Dwight to be, and sure, I guess I could kind of see where females may appreciate the mess you call his face. He looked like he could be on one of those corny TV soap operas or at the very least a pop star that adorned the postered wall of a prepubescent girl. Yet I had no idea what Rocky saw in him. She was so much better than him. Shit, even I wanted to punch him in the face the moment I laid eyes on him.

I guess guys like him always won.

After successfully dodging Rocky for the past two days—yeah, yeah, I was a chicken—I had pushed open the heavy orange door toward the breakroom for my lunch break and skidded to a stop. I felt the hinge to my jaw give way as I took in the sight in front of me. Rocky was eating lunch, but she definitely was not alone.

Perfectly coiffed blond hair, bleached white straight teeth—this dude was definitely some silver spooned prep. He caught my eye and threw me a strained smile, leaning toward Rocky protectively. “It’s okay, my man. Just having lunch with Rocky.”

I wasn’t sure if that counted as an invitation to join them. Not that I would have wanted to. I felt my eyes twitch, but tried my best to remain guarded. “I see.”

Had I not been mortified, I would have found it in myself to laugh at poor Rocky. Her eyes wide with a mouth full of lettuce, she looked as if she had just walked in on somebody receiving a blow job…most likely something she’s done before. As soon as the thought crossed my mind, I pushed it away, feeling disgusted with myself. Guess I never really grew out of my jealous streak.

Somehow swallowing her mouthful of salad, she cringed slightly and said in an artificially high pitched voice, “Ethan, this is my old friend, Jesse. He just started working for us yesterday.”

Friend. Was I even that to her anymore?

Her eyes bounced wildly, looking everywhere around the room except at me. “Jesse, this is Ethan. He’s…uh….we…uh…”

Good. At least that means they’re not serious.

Good? Where the hell did that come from? Just yesterday I was hesitant to go near her and now…

Now you’re back in Bethel Hills, lover boy. You’ve always wanted what you could never have and you know that’s Rocky.

Fucking devil. Too bad he was right. How did I even think I could come back to see her and not fall for her again? I don’t think I ever fell out of love with her to begin with. Every decision I ever made in Charleston had her in mind. Even letting her go was about her.

It’s the reason you took this job, Jesse. You want Rocky.

The revelation shook me to the core. There really was no denying it. I stared at the couple uncomfortably and bit back a laugh when Ethan gritted his teeth and replied, “No labels.”

“No labels.” I was grinning smugly and I knew it.

“Old friends, huh? How long have you known each other?” Ethan’s eyes bounced between us, narrowing in suspicion. I knew that look all too well. He was definitely jealous, so why not make him squirm a little?

“We’ve been friends since we were fourteen,” I replied. Yup, a long time, you tool.

“Wow, almost ten years. That’s impressive!”

“We lost touch a few years back,” Rocky interjected, staring daggers at me.

I couldn’t really blame her for being upset with me, yet it still hurt to be on the receiving end of her anger. Knowing I couldn’t stomach spending my break with the love birds, I grabbed my lunch and headed toward the door, intent on gathering my thoughts.

“Where are you heading off to?” Ethan called out nasally. “You can eat with us.”

Right, so you can rub Rocky in my face. Nope, couldn’t do it.

“No offense, but I’m a bit of introvert. I need my lunch break to regroup…alone.” I made my exit before either one could reply. However, on my way out I overheard Ethan asking Rocky out on a date to Carbanaro’s. It shouldn’t have surprised me that such a prep could afford a swanky place like that. How could I even compete?

“Rocky couldn’t have changed that much,” I mumbled to myself. “Besides, when did you ever need money to win a girl? Just use old fashioned charm.”

And maybe wake up a little of the bad boy Rocky always loved.

Life works in mysterious, fucked up ways sometimes. I mean, how messed up could I get? I needed to see her with another man to realize I still loved her?

Regardless, sometimes life did need to knee you in the balls sometimes for you to realize what was best for you. As fucked up as it was, it took seeing Ethan to realize that staying away from Rocky was no longer an option for me.

***

“Hola, Prodigal Son.” The sound of Stephanie’s voice echoed inside the stockroom, which was lovingly known as the Dungeon among the staff. I straightened myself, surprised that she was able to walk into the room without a care when I nearly got my head chewed off for stepping behind the cash wrap just a few days earlier. Then again she was Rocky’s real friend so I guess that title carried its benefits.

“Ah, isn’t it my annoying chum, Steph.” My grin stretched wide as I watched my old friend saunter toward me. Like Rocky, she had grown up considerably. Having always been much taller than me, I was happy see that I now towered over her for once. Dressed in pastels with her hair pulled back, she looked like a model, but she held no pickle to Rocky’s natural beauty.

“Nice to see you too.” She grinned, flashing me a smile that was metal free and blinding white, catching me off-guard. Nevertheless, her smile was kind. At first, anyway. “What’s your deal with Rocky, man?”

Ah, so we were back to this again.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I lied. Did she really think I was going to spill my guts to her the first time we spoke? Hell, even I was still waking up from the confusion of my feelings.

“Oh, please,” she replied, sounding bored. “It’s really obvious to everyone but you two. I get it, really.”

“Get what? What a gossip you are.” I shook my head in amusement. “Guess some things never change. You’re still a nosy know-it-all, aren’t you?”

She rolled her eyes. “And you’re still a dick, I see. By the way, you’re right; I haven’t changed either. I still pride myself over looking after Rocky. It goes without saying that not all of us in this room can say the same.”

“Hey! I care about my cousin,” a gruff voice interrupted from behind us. I glanced over my shoulder and noticed a gigantic man peering at us. We’d shared a few shifts before, but as usual I kept to myself and never really spoke to him.

Steph laughed and rolled her eyes. “Stop eavesdropping, Maurice. Keep hauling whatever it is you’re hauling back there.”