Page 82 of Come Back to Me

“Who’s Willow?” he asks, his tone full of curiosity.

“She’s a bookseller, and she goes to SCU. She’s a graphic design major.”

“Ah, I see.”

“Yeah. Laura has taken a few steps back from her role, allowing me to take on more responsibility.”

“I’m proud of you, Vi.”

A smile lights up my face. “Thank you. I’m proud of you, too.”

His cheeks turn a bit pink as he looks away from me.

There’s something about the way our conversation is flowing that tells me time hasn’t flown by for us. It has stood still.

Grayson was the person I could tell everything to because he was so easy to talk to. He wasn’t just the love of my life, he was my best friend.

Those types of relationships are super rare, and I was fortunate enough to experience one. All I can say is I’m glad that experience was with him. I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.

When he turns his head back into my direction, his dark brown eyes lock with mine. It feels like Itook a time machine back to when we were teenagers. And yet, we’re not the same people we were back then.

Grayson gets up from the couch, sitting down on the ottoman and pulling it in front of me. “I know we said we’d talk about more about the past later, but I do need to say this. I’m sorry for yelling at you yesterday. I was being a jackass, and you don’t deserve to be treated that way. I wasn’t expecting to see you after all these years. Honestly, I thought I’d never see you again.”

“Look, you had every reason to react the way you did. If the roles were reversed, I would’ve reacted similarly. I do appreciate you apologizing though.”

“You don’t have to do that.”

“Do what?” I raise an eyebrow.

“Appreciate me for doing the bare minimum.”

“Don’t start with that. You know what I did to you was unforgivable. And yet, for some reason I don’t understand, you’re willing to hear me out. I know what you want to ask me, but it’s going to take a bit of time for us to get there. I hope you can be patient with me.”

“I’m in no rush. We have all the time in the world.” He crosses his arms in front of his chest.

“That’s a bit of an exaggeration, don’t you think?”

“Well, it’s not like you’re going to run off anytime soon, right?”

“I’m not going anywhere.”

“Good,” he says.

We’ve been chatting for a couple of hours now. Streaks of sunlight beam down on the living room furniture. I can feel the warmth from the streak chilling on my thigh.

I didn’t think I’d be here talking to Grayson because I thought he was going to shoot me down yesterday from talking about our past. It’s not something you can bring up in a natural conversation.

There’s this saying I’ve repeated inside my head for the past six years.

What happens in the past stays in the past.

I don’t believe that. Our past shapes us into who we are in the present. I wouldn’t be who I am today if I didn’t go through what I went through in high school.

now

GRAYSON

ONE WEEK LATER