COLE

Max walked me to the front door, even though I told him he didn’t have to.

“I took you on a date, so I’m bringing you back where I picked you up,” he said with stiff lips and a clenched jaw.

As soon as I opened the door, he hurried away. I knew he hadn’t really wanted to do it but had felt compelled to. Because he was a good guy. Because he was Max, and he felt the same way I did about him.

Then why are you rejecting him?

Too many hurdles existed for us to work. I couldn’t ask him to uproot his life and move to Atlanta after spending nine days together, could I? What man in his right mind would? When I asked him about pursuing his music, he’d made it clear that Rosewood Pines was home.

We might have been in love when we were teens, but we were different people now. We had responsibilities. Nine days couldn’t prove we were compatible.

Yeah, the sex was amazing. Toe-curlingly amazing every single time. We shared similar hobbies playing video games, watching action flicks, and arguing about them. I couldn’t cook worth one damn, and he was good at it. When we were together, we didn’t need to talk, and it never felt awkward.

But it’d felt this good too in high school. Then my whole life came crashing down. What was to stop that from happening again?

My mood blacker than a witch’s soul, I entered the house and closed the door behind me. I needed something strong to knock me out, so I didn’t do anything foolish. Like hopping the fence and climbing into Max’s bedroom through the window he always kept open.

In the kitchen, I found a coffee mug and poured some vodka mixed with ginger beer.

“What did you do?”

Startled, I jerked, and the liquid spilled over my hand and onto the counter. “Shit. Aunt Glad, what are you doing up?” I grabbed a dish towel and mopped up the mess.

“I’d ask you the same question. What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be at the reunion with Max?”

“We left early.”

She cursed a string of expletives. I stared at her, slack-jawed.

“Don’t give me that look.” She shook a finger at me. “What did you do?”

“Why do you suppose I did something?”

“Because that sweet boy would never do anything to hurt you.”

She came over to me, knocked my hand aside, and took my drink.

“Gladys, I was drinking that.”

“For what I’m about to say, I need it more than you.” She gulped a mouthful. “Sit down.”

“But I—”

“Sit down, Cole.”

I took a chair at the kitchen table opposite her, just as we’d done when I was in high school and I came home in tears and temper from Max fucking with me. She would ask me what was wrong, and to protect Max, I wouldn’t say a word because although he was an asshole, I never wanted to get him in trouble.

“Look, I don’t know what happened tonight, but you are about to ruin the best thing that’s ever happened to you.”

“You don’t know that.”

“Yes, I know that because I saw those guys you dated, Cole, and they’re not suitable for you. They don’t have heart and soul like Max does.”

“Is that the reason you got me here under false pretenses?” I crossed my arms. “Don’t bother denying it. You’ve been pushing me and Max together ever since I got here. I wouldn’t be surprised if you locked me out of the house the other day just so I had to cross the fence.”

She took another sip. “So what if I did?”

“You’re unbelievable.”

“Does it matter what my method is? You deserve someone who will genuinely love and care for you. Someone who is by your side to support you.”

“Why must that person be Max?”

“Because you both care about each other. Honey, I know you’re scared, but don’t allow fear to come between you.”

“I’m not scared. I have legitimate concerns, a major one being we live in two different states.”

She reached across the table and covered my hand with hers. “I’ve always tried to get you to move back to Rosewood, but if being with Max means asking him to leave with you, that is fine. Your happiness is the most important thing.”

I curled my hand into a fist. “This isn’t why I came here. This is supposed to be just a visit.”

“But things can change, can’t they? That boy loves you, even after all these years.”

I snapped my head up and pulled my hand out from under hers. “What do you mean by that?”

She sighed. “You don’t have to pretend. I know all about you and Max. About the breakup and the bullying.”

“How did you know?” Had I made a slip back then?

“Max told me.”

Whoa. It was a lucky thing I was sitting down. “He told you?”

“Yes.”

“When? Since I’ve been back?”

“When you left, his father fell ill. Prostate cancer. For years Max was the one taking care of him. They made peace between them during that time. They say nothing humbles you quite like an illness and that happened with Bill. When he eventually died, Max was just the poorest sight, looking as though he didn’t have anything to live for. I brought him dinner every week. About six months later, when I invited him to dinner, he asked me why I was being so nice to him. He thought I’d hate him. He told me everything that day. How you were the one he let get away.”

Shock radiated through me. I could only stare at her, slowly absorbing everything she’d said. Her words rattled me. Max had talked to her about us?

“He seemed very sorry for what had happened,” she said. “I could tell it ate him up. Since that day, he would ask me for updates about you. I’ve wanted you two to have a chance to clear the air since. When I visited you last Christmas and saw that you were about to ask that Josef guy to marry you, I knew I had to act fast.”

“Max planned this with you?”

“Not at all. I came up with the plan all on my own.”

“This was all a trap.”

She shrugged. “If the trap fits…”

I jumped to my feet. This changed everything. If all Gladys had said was true, it meant Maxxy really cared for me. Our reunion wasn’t just a whim for him. He’d never forgotten.

His words earlier threaded through my brain. Not so much the words but his voice, heavy with emotion, cracked, and raw.

“What are you standing around waiting for?” Gladys shooed me off. “Go to him. You can thank me later.”