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“Love you, baby.” Jason kissed me on the mouth. His smile was so wide, so permanently etched across his face, that I didn’t have the heart to tell him anything.

So, I waited.

I’d waited for hours.

And then I couldn’t wait anymore.

A tear slid down my cheek as I finished up my shift and headed back to the house. Jason’s truck was parked in its spot, and another car I didn’t recognize was next to it.

I wiped my tears away and slowly made the trek toward my front door, when I heard a throat clear.

I pressed my hand to my chest and looked over my shoulder.

Jason was standing there, hands inside the pockets of his worn jeans, and an old Yankees baseball vintage tee plastered against his muscular body. “I’m sorry.”

His voice was still that same gruff tenor that had every woman who knew him sighing to herself and glaring at me with envy. He wasn’t just a catch, he was the catch of the town.

And I’d let him go.

Because of a few stupid comments about my mom, because of my own insecurities, because of my own fear.

I swallowed the baseball in my throat and slowly made my way over to him. A lifetime separated us, at least that was what it felt like as I walked through the wet grass toward my past.

The thick air was already feeling more like summer every day, causing perspiration to collect on my lower back. The moon was out, and streetlights flickered overhead.

“How are you feeling?” It was a safe question, one that wouldn’t acknowledge that he basically hated me.

His lips twitched. “Oh, you know, like I got struck by lightning.”

I covered my mouth with my hand and tried to keep my laugh in. It really wasn’t funny.

Not funny.

Not funny.

Not funny.

He full-on grinned.

Causing me to burst out laughing.

I covered my mouth with my hands again and whispered through my fingers, “I’m so sorry. It’s just… only you.”

“Yeah…” he rocked back on his heels, “…only me. Look…” He pulled his hands out of his pocket and took a step forward, his toe coming into contact with the invisible chalk barrier we used to put up between our houses. “…I’m a jackass. I really have no other reason for the things I do or say when it comes to you. Nobody deserves to be treated that way, so yeah, I’m sorry.”

“Sorry that I heard you, or sorry that you said it?” Where had that brave question come from? A time machine would be extremely handy right about now.

His eyes widened a bit before he blew out a breath and looked down at the cement. “A bit of both, actually.”

“Honesty.” God, it felt like he’d stabbed me in the heart, and the worst part was that I deserved it.

“Aunt Maddy! Aunt Maddy!” Annabelle came running out of the house and down the stairs. She crossed the lawn with such relentless joy that my heart cracked even further. “I lost a tooth!”

“Whoa!” I held out my hand for a high-five then pulled her in for a hug.

Jason looked between us; dawning lit up his face and then… the worst emotion, the one I didn’t want to see.

Relief.