I’d almost missed her.

A high school reunion was pretty much the definition of hell for me. I’d had exactly one friend back then, and we hadn’t spoken in ten years. Ten fucking years. All because of one stupid night. Well, it was more than that, but that night had been the beginning of the end of us.

Ten years was more than long enough. So I'd dusted off my suit, took a few deep breaths and went to my high school reunion.

When she hadn’t been in the ballroom, my gut had clenched with disappointment. The one chance I had to make things right and I’d been stuck in goddamn Baltimore traffic.

But then there she was. Even from the back, even with the added curves to her hips and ass, I’d recognize her walk anywhere. Her mile-long legs moved with purpose and she carried herself almost regally, shoulders back, chin up, as if she were daring anyone to fuck with her.

When she turned and I saw her face in person for the first time in a decade, it felt like I’d been given a shot of adrenaline straight to the heart. My pulse boomed through my veins and my hands twitched to touch her.

My friend. My beautiful, too stunning to look at straight on, friend.

Anna had always been pretty. Even the day that I met her in science class when we were freshmen. Her desk was in front of mine and when she’d turned and asked to borrow a pencil, I’d been hooked. Back then, she cut her own hair into some semblance of a choppy pixie cut and dyed it pitch-black. Even at fourteen she’d been tall and all legs, like a colt.

As we got older and she filled out a little more, I saw the other guys looking. But she’d never seemed interested. It was the two of us against the world, and sometimes I thought that was how it’d always be. One day she’d see me as more than a friend and love me the way I’d fallen in love with her.

But nothing ever works out quite like we think it will, especially when it’s the dream of a kid.

When I stood face-to-face with her in that hotel lobby, I started to wonder if maybe things would work out how I’d hoped, just slightly delayed. Because for me, when I saw her, it felt like no time had passed. She’d let her hair grow long and blonde, and she’d filled out, no longer the gangly girl from high school. But her eyes, those round blue eyes that were almost too big for her heart-shaped face, they were the same. She was still my Anna. And when she’d grabbed my hand and referenced a semi-obscure German movie from the nineties, I knew I’d go anywhere with her.

Out on the sidewalk, Anna laughed breathily. “I think we lost her!”

I peered behind me. “Who?”

She let go of my hand and tucked a blonde wave behind her ear. “Simone Macinnes. She was all up in our business in there. And she was coming for us, William.”

I nudged her with my shoulder. “It’s actually Will now.”

She raised an arched eyebrow. “Will, huh?” She stepped back and tapped a finger to her lip. “Okay, I like it.”

“You’re still the same pain in the ass.”

She pinched the skirt of her dress and curtsied. “I mean, Will, I’ve got to keep you on your toes.”

I smiled at her, my chest tight with a flood of affection from the dam she’d burst with her cute-ass curtsy and her sassy mouth. “Let’s go someplace. Coffee? Beer? Wine?”

“Are you listing liquids or asking me where I want to go?”

“Can’t I be doing both?”

“You always were good at multitasking.” She snorted. “I’m down for a beer. There’s a good place a few blocks away in Fell’s Point. Walk?”

Because she’d started it, I said, “Run?”

She looked at me with a wide grin. “Skip?”

“Dance?”

“Yes! Let’s dance to the bar!”

I grabbed her hand and spun her in a circle, then pulled her long body close and dipped her so low her hair skimmed the concrete. When I pulled her upright, her face was flushed and her eyes shined with delight.

“You dipped me!”

I kept my hands on her hips, still holding her against me. “I did.”

Anna lifted up on her toes and leaned her forehead on mine. “Will...I’m so happy I found you.” And then she wrapped her arms around my shoulders and hugged me with such ferocity her body vibrated from the force of it.

I stroked the back of her hair and held her. “It was about damn time, wasn’t it?”

She nodded and stepped back. “Yeah, it was,” she said hoarsely. “Where’d you go?”

I twined my fingers with hers and squeezed. “Let’s go get a beer. I think we could both use one.”

“Hell, yes. Let’s get outta here!”

The walk was longer than I’d anticipated, but I would have walked for miles if it meant I could keep holding her hand. We didn’t get into anything heavy on the way. Anna told me about all of our classmates she’d seen at the reunion. I hadn’t really noticed anyone when I'd gone searching for her. Everyone had been a blur. But Anna took in every last detail, like she always had. I’d never known anyone more present, more aware of others, than Anna.

We stopped in front of a place called Bar Royal. It wouldn’t have been my first choice, but she pulled me inside.

“Come on, a few of my coworkers hang out here. It’s cool,” she said.

The inside was dim but looked better than I’d expected from the nondescript exterior. The wide-plank floors were only slightly sticky and the games in the back were calling my name.

“We have to play some pinball,” I said.

She grinned. “Obviously. Let’s grab a drink first though. I play better with a buzz.”

We found a spot at the crowded bar, our stools so close that our shoulders were pressed together. When she turned to me, her face was near enough for me to see the ring of navy blue around her irises.

“Did I say how happy I am to be with you?” she asked.

I dipped my head and smiled. “You may have mentioned that.”

She cuffed my chin with her knuckle. “Good. Well, I am.”

“Me too, Annie.”

She pinched my arm. “Literally no one has called me Annie since I was eighteen!”

“Am I not allowed to anymore?”

She bit her lip and eyed me for a beat. “No, you can. You’re the only one I’ve ever let call me that.”

A wall of a man with a full red beard came over to take our order.

“What can I get you?” he asked in a low, growly voice.

“Do you have local beers?” Anna asked.

The wall crossed his arms. “Of course.”

Anna leaned in. “Flying Dog?”

The bartender uncrossed his arms and gave a ghost of a smile. “Mm-hmm. Have a preference?”

“Raging Bitch.” She turned to me and winked. “They named a beer after me.”

Smiling, I said, “I’ll take a Doggie Style.”

When the bartender went to get our beers, Anna asked, “Are you going to make the joke?”

I shrugged. “I kind of think it speaks for itself.”

Anna leaned her head on her hand, elbow on the bar, and studied me. Her eyes roamed my face, seemingly searching for something. “How can ten years have passed and it feels like I just saw you yesterday? Like we’re picking up right where we left off.”

I brushed a strand of hair away from her cheek. “I don’t want to pick up where we left off. We left off in a fucked-up place.”

“We did. But we’re older and wiser now. No more fucking up.” She reached out and yanked my tie, loosening it, then unbuttoned the top button of my shirt. “Better.”

I rubbed my throat and swallowed hard. Nothing had ever been sexier than Anna yanking off my tie in the middle of a bar. And she did it without a care in the world, just because she wanted to. She still had no idea the effect she had on me. She saw everything, except for what she did to me.