Page 28 of Pugs & Kisses

The server returned with her coffee and the check.

“Take your time,” he said. “It’s slow tonight, and we don’t close for another hour.”

“Thanks,” Bryson and Evie said at the same time.

She took a sip of her coffee, then set the mug on the table.

“So,” Bryson said. “Now that you know why I left, how does it affect us going forward? Does it put us even remaining friends in jeopardy?”

“No.” She didn’t even have to think on it. “It was a long time ago. You said you were messed up then, but you’re not the same person you were eight years ago.”

“I’m not.” He shook his head. “The man I am today would never have left you that way.”

“The woman I am today wouldn’t allow it,” Evie said. “I would find you and demand answers instead of wondering for nearly a decade.”

“Damn, Ev.” He ran a hand down his face again. When he looked at her, the contrition in his expression washed away some of her hard feelings.

“The thing is, I don’t know if I’m ready for a relationship so soon after ending things with Cameron,” Evie said.

“I know I am not getting back together with him, so don’t even go there.

But that doesn’t change the fact that I just ended a ten-year relationship with a man I thought I would spend the rest of my life with.

Yes, it was on again/off again, but this just feels too soon. You understand that, right?”

He sucked in a long, audible breath.

“I don’t like it, but I understand it,” Bryson said. He spread his hands flat on the table, then balled them into fists. “This feels like Cameron’s winning. I really hate that son of a bitch.”

“Stop looking at it that way,” Evie said. “It was never a competition.”

“No, but if I thought that I had a real chance with you back then, I would have made it one. You have no idea how hard it was to accept that the girl I’d fallen for was the girlfriend of the lab partner I hated to the very core,” he said. “Life can be funny. Brutal, but funny.”

“It’s the weirdest coincidence that the two of you were lab partners. Cam had never mentioned you to me before,” Evie said. “He’d talked about his lab partner, but he never called you by your actual name. It was always some kind of insult.”

Bryson snorted. “I did the same.”

“There was no love lost between the two of you. That was obvious.” Evie paused, unsure if she should continue.

But they were airing things out, so she did.

“I’ve asked myself so many times what I would have done if you hadn’t left,” Evie said.

“If I’d returned to campus to find you still there, as Cameron’s lab partner.

“I got back together with him because there was pressure from my family to do so, and you were gone, so I just…” She hunched her shoulders. “I did what everyone thought I should do and forgave Cameron.”

“Do you want to know just how pathetic I was eight years ago?” Bryson asked.

“You were not pathetic.”

“Yes, Ev, I was. Because if I’d known I had even the slightest chance, I would have happily taken any crumbs you threw my way. If you had been willing, I would have snuck around with you behind Cameron’s back. Hell, I would have poisoned that motherfucker if you’d asked me to.”

Evie let out a surprised laugh. “Is that still an option?” She put her hands up. “Just kidding.”

“I’ve got a little more to lose these days,” he said with a wry grin. Bryson shook his head. “If I’d thought I had a chance to win you away from Cameron back then, I would have tried.”

“Stop saying that. I was not then, nor am I now, a prize to be won,” she said.

“You’re right. I’m sorry,” he said. “I blame your ex. He’s the one who always made things into a competition when we were in class.”

Evie rolled her eyes. “I’m not surprised.”

A weighty silence fell over them as they stared at each other across the table.

“Why can’t we start over, Ev?” he asked.

“Bryson…” She shook her head.

“Why not?” He slid from the bench on his side of the table and walked over to where she sat, sliding in next to her. He took her hands in both of his and gave them a gentle but firm squeeze. “Why not? You said you wanted to leave the past behind and start fresh. We can still do that.”

Evie pulled her bottom lip between her teeth. “I just don’t know, Bryson.”

“Tell me friendship is all you ever want from me.” His eyes bored into hers. “If you can say that with all honesty, then I’ll let it go and never speak on it again.”

Evie let her eyes fall shut. She wanted to pull her hand away but couldn’t.

“It took me a long time to get over the way you left,” Evie whispered.

“Who knows if it would have been any better if you’d stuck around long enough to explain why you were leaving.

I just know that the way it went down really hurt.

” She looked down at their clasped hands and then back up at him.

“I don’t want to ever hurt that way again, Bryson. ”

“I promise not to hurt you,” he said.

Her heart constricted in her chest.

Could she believe him? How difficult would it be to pick up the pieces of her heart if he reneged on his promise?

Bryson cupped her chin in his palm. “We can start over.” The words were soft and filled with a tenderness she didn’t have the fortitude to fight.

She wanted to back away as he leaned forward, but she didn’t. She couldn’t. She’d dreamed of their mouths coming together more times than she would ever admit to over the years. She was powerless against the memories of his kiss. She needed to experience it again.

At the first brush of his lips, Evie’s insides turned to mush. He was slow and gentle, not rushing the way they did when they were kids, afraid they would get caught.

This kiss was so much better. This kiss was between two adults who now understood just how meaningful it was to connect with a person in this simple, yet powerful way.

He applied the slightest bit of pressure, and she instantly caved, opening her mouth and letting him inside. His tongue swept across hers as his lips crashed into her. Desire burst to life within her, evolving from a slow burn deep in her belly into an inferno that engulfed every nerve ending.

It was her own desperate moan that knocked her out of the spell she’d fallen under. She pulled away and regretted it immediately.

But it was the right thing. This was moving too fast.

“Shit,” Bryson whispered through a shaky breath. He rested his forehead on hers. “That went further than I intended. I told myself I wasn’t going to push you.”

“This is going to make working together very difficult,” she said.

“It doesn’t have to, Ev. I will respect whatever choice you make. This time, the decision is solely up to you.”

“I just… I don’t know, Bryson.”

The disappointment that flashed across his face matched what she was feeling inside, but she had to be honest with him, and with herself.

“I need time to think about this,” Evie said.

The mouth that had sent her to heaven a few minutes ago quirked up in a wry smile. “Take the time you need. Like I said, the decision is yours. And I’m not going anywhere.”