“I’m not sorry,” he said as he licked his lips and backed away, still staring at me.

I watched as he turned around and walked over to where the cab was parked, its engine still running. He got in and the car drove away. I backed up slowly, closed and locked the door, leaning back against it as I sank down to the floor. Gage came over and lay down at my side. I closed my eyes and wondered how the hell I was going to save our friendship after that.

It had been over a month since I left Sam. I felt incomplete. But I’d also stopped having dreams of Alec. I only dreamed of Sam. When I woke up, I was no longer gasping for air at Alec being out of reach. Instead, I was reaching across the bed for Sam . . . only to find an empty space.

The morning I realized I wasn’t dreaming about her, but rather remembering her, felt like a punch to my gut. Then it all hit me.

Oh God, what had I done? I was in a panic about the time I’d spent away from her.

“Fuck!” I slammed my toothbrush down on the bathroom vanity. “What if she moved on without me? Got tired of hurting and decided to push the pain away with some other guy? What if she no longer loved me?” I rambled aloud to myself.

I hoped I wasn’t too late.

I’d seen her in passing one day after class at Auburn on my way to the cafeteria. I decided to wait in that spot and ask if I could see her again. I was afraid to go to the apartment. I didn’t know what I would do if she had some other guy there.

I sat on the ground beneath a big weeping willow where I had a view of the walkway. I put my ear buds in and opened the iTunes app on my phone. I was listening to “Run” by Snow Patrol when I saw her. She was laughing and walking with a guy. Fuck me. My worst fear had come true. She’d moved on. Well, fuck that. She was mine, and I wasn’t about to let some pansy ass, college pretty boy, asshat take my Peach.

As she walked closer, her beautiful smile widened as she laughed with him. Then she looked up and caught me staring at her. The coffee mug in her hand slipped from her grip, hitting the ground and shattering into pieces on the walkway beneath her. She never even looked down at it.

Her gaze remained locked on me. Good. Her cute little ass was mine, and I’d be damned if anyone else was going to have her, the too-close-to-her asshat especially. I tried to convey in my expression, my exclusive ownership of her heart, and as she wasn’t able to break her gaze away, I think I succeeded.

I stood up and brushed my jeans off. I didn’t have any books with me, just my phone, wallet, and the keys in my pocket. I walked over to her. She stood frozen in place. The asshat was talking to her, but she wasn’t answering him. I could tell he was getting frustrated. Good. Fucker was clearly trying to take my Peach.

I stopped in front of her, as said asshat stood and pursed his lips, his eyebrows scrunching together, looking back and forth between Peach and me like he was watching a tennis match. I would have knocked him on his ass if he even said the wrong thing. He didn’t know what he was encroaching upon.

“Hey, Peach,” I said with a forced smile.

“Emmett,” she whispered. It was one word. Just my name, but it held the weight of everything I’d dreamed about her over the past month.

“You . . . you’ve remembered. Haven’t you?” she tentatively asked.

I knew she was afraid of the answer, so I relieved her anxiety immediately.

“I remember everything.”

Tears welled in her eyes, so I gestured to the asshat.

“Why don’t you take a walk, kid? My girlfriend and I have some things to discuss.”

He stared at her, his eyes widening with shock when I referred to her as my girlfriend. Good. Fuck him. Move along asshat.

“It’s okay, Aiden. I’ll . . . see you in class on Wednesday,” she murmured.

“Okay, Sam,” the asshat said as he turned, and strode off in the opposite direction. I didn’t care where, as long as it was out of my Peach’s life.

I wiped the disgusted look off my face. I knew Sam. She was a loyal friend. I didn’t want to upset her by offending the asshat any more than I already had. I had enough to fix as it was.

“Peach, do you have any more classes, or can we go somewhere to talk?”

“No, I’m done for the day. I have a heavier schedule on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays aren’t bad. I’m done before lunch,” she rambled like her mind was on autopilot.

“Great. Do you want to go grab lunch somewhere?”

“No. I’d rather we just go home. I need to let Gage out anyway.”

“Okay, let’s go. Did you drive? I can meet you there.”

She stood there, stunned, with her lips slightly parted. Her eyes had yet to stray away from mine. It was like she couldn’t believe I was real.

“Yeah, my car’s in the parking lot. I’ll, uh, see you soon,” she replied, walking backward like she was afraid to look away from me.

I wanted to sweep her into my arms and kiss her right then and there, but I refrained. There would be time for that later. There would be a lifetime of that. I knew this because, when I told her I remembered everything, I meant it. I remembered how truly and deeply we loved each other. I remembered the engagement ring I’d had made for her, too.

When I pulled in behind her at our apartment building, I parked in my old spot. I opened her car door after she pulled in and shifted her car into park.

“Hey Peach.”

She smiled up at me as she stepped out. “Hi.”

We walked into the apartment, and she set her bag of books and purse down. I dropped my keys on the counter in the same spot I’d tossed them countless times before. She looked from my keys on the counter, to me and back at my keys again, with a small smile on her face.

“You do remember,” she breathed.

“Yes, Peach,” I said, walking slowly toward her. “I do.”

I knew I was probably looking at her like I wanted to devour her, because that’s exactly what I wanted to do. My body hungered for hers. At that moment, I didn’t want to talk. I wanted to touch, kiss, and feel. I wanted to make love to her.

I pulled her to me and tilted her mouth up to mine, taking possession and sending her all of the passion I felt and held inside me all this time without even knowing it. She wrapped her arms around me and ran her fingers up and down my back. I swooped her up into my arms and kissed her heatedly as I carried her to our bedroom. When I placed her on our bed, I knelt down above her and ran my fingers through her hair.

“I love you, Peach,” I whispered.

“I love you too, Emmett,” she said, taking my mouth with hers again.

We lost ourselves to our passion as it overtook us. She consumed every part of me, until I wasn’t sure where I stopped and she began.

I woke up and stretched my arm out to the side and felt Sam there, with me, sleeping. I smiled so big, that it almost hurt my cheeks. Finally, we were together again, and I had my memory back. I thought about Alec. I thought about what I had gone through while my memory was gone. At least I had peace about it again. I would always miss him, but I could make it through my days without all the anger I’d felt, and without hitting the whiskey at night to get some semblance of sleep.

I rolled over to my side and watched Sam sleeping. God, I’d missed this without even realizing what it was, but now I knew. This was the emptiness I felt each morning. I felt like I’d come home. I had to make sure she knew what she meant to me. I would spend forever making her happy, so she could forget what we’d been through. In that happiness, I knew I would find happiness too, and hopefully could forget the feelings of pain and loss. I wished peace for both of us.