Three years after his mother's death, Noah Reed is lost once again. Unsure of where to go after running from his problems for so long, he ends up back home, wanting a place to finally settle down. He's ready to tie up loose ends and to try and corre...
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The last thing I'd been expecting upon walking into the Magnolia Heights Café was to run into Blake Rhodes.
Especially not to find her on a date with another guy.
Locking gazes with the girl I've been so hung up over for the past three years, it's like time stops. I freeze in place, unable to move. I'm incapable of doing anything except for staring at her, eyes momentarily skipping over the guy she's sitting with and zeroing in on the first girl I ever fell in love with, hardly able to believe I'm actually looking at her.
Studying Blake, I quickly notice all of the things that are different about her. Her blond hair that I remember to be long and curly is now straight, cascading just barely past her shoulders. Her cheekbones seem sharper now, more prominent than before. Blake is just as beautiful and young as ever, but it's clear that she's no longer a mere girl. Time has aged her regally, making it blatant that Blake Rhodes is now a woman.
Staring at her, I can't seem to stop picking apart every new aspect of her that differentiates her from the girl I used to know—the girl I still love. Yet one thing remains the same about her, one thing that ties our past to this very moment in time.
Her eyes.
As Blake's wide brown eyes lock directly with mine, I find myself staring into them and thinking back on an abundance of times our gazes have met just as they are now. I recall the first time we said the words "I love you", the way those eyes of hers had looked into mine so full of light and joy. Stolen moments between kisses, when our eyes would meet for the briefest of seconds before fluttering closed. The times I'd gaze into the very eyes looking back at me now and see my entire world, everything I wanted in my future.
However, looking into Blake's eyes now forces me to stare at exactly what I lost in my past.
I don't notice the boy sitting next to Blake until my gaze shifts. When I do, I'm unsure of how to feel. I study the boy from the roots of his brown hair to his polo tee, trying to place him in my memory, unable to make a connection. I don't have to know the guy to know one thing is certain: he is the complete opposite of me.
This realization brings along a feeling of jealousy. A fire I've never quite felt before runs through my veins, temporarily blinding me. It's hard to see Blake with another man, regardless of their history. I have no idea if this boy is a friend to her or so much more, and I don't need to. Just the sight of him with her is enough to have my hands form fists at by sides.
Then it hits me. Blake isn't my girl anymore. She isn't mine to get jealous over, she's not mine to protect, she is no longer mine to love. Blake Rhodes is now nothing more than the girl I loved in the past when it comes to history, but when it comes to me she is so much more. She's the first girl I ever loved and she is the girl I still love now. She helped me to find myself, and in losing her I lost myself as well.
Now she's sitting in front of me with another man.
Glancing back over at Blake, I notice the way she stares down at the tabletop before her, hands running through her hair like she's trying to distract herself. She doesn't want to see me. I can't blame her, considering the way I left all those years ago. Yet seeing the girl I love trying so hard not to look my way has something deep within me breaking loose, causes my heart to start aching.
