HOLY FUCK!
The second she crashed into my arms I thought I was seeing things. There was no way she could be the same Shelby, but it was. For ten years she had been a memory that plagued my mind, except now she wasn’t just a memory. She was the girl I grew up with … and the first, and last girl I had ever been in love with. Now she stood in front of me and it was like everything disappeared and I was taken to a time ten years ago.
Her hair wasn’t the same light brown as before, but a deep, chestnut brown with golden pieces here and there. The cream colored dress she wore looked sexy as hell clinging onto every curve of her body, along with the knee-high brown boots that made her about three inches taller, bringing her face almost level with mine. She had thinned out a little, her face was not as full as it used to be, but her eyes …
Dammit, her eyes were exactly the same as I remembered. They were a chocolate brown, just a tad bit lighter than her hair, with specks of gold and green. If I wasn’t careful I’d get lost in them again, and the last thing I wanted was for her to know that even after ten years I still thought about her from time to time.
“Matt,” she whispered, breaking me out of my trance.
Immediately, I let her arms go and took a step back, the awkward silence hanging heavy in the air. When Garrett waltzed over and slapped me on the back I could tell Shelby was only holding on by a thread. Something wasn’t right with her, I could feel it, and it wasn’t just the normal awkwardness you’d get after you broke up with someone.
From the expression on Garrett’s face he could feel my tension, but he laughed it off and said, “Well, I see you met the beautiful Shelby who writes as the illustrious Paige Monroe. How about we go and get something to drink while the lady makes her phone call?”
Wait, what? Shelby is Paige Monroe?
“Thank you, Garrett,” Shelby cut in before I could say anything. Hesitantly, she met my gaze briefly before turning back to my agent. “If you two will excuse me, I’m going to go outside and make my call.”
She brushed by me quickly and rushed out the front door. Again, I watched her as she walked away, but this time she actually turned her head and glanced back at me. From the look of raw emotion on her face I knew right then that she wasn’t planning on coming back inside.
Do I let her go again when I know she’s not coming back? The answer was simple … no. All I had to do was run out that door and make her talk to me. Which is exactly what I’m going to do.
Ignoring Garrett’s remarks, I rushed out the front door of the restaurant and bolted into the parking lot. Not having a clue what kind of vehicle she drove, I scanned the row of cars until I found her in a little black Q60 convertible. Quickly, she backed out of the space and sped out of the parking lot.
Damn, she was fast. There was no way I could’ve gotten to her in time. She was gone, but now that I knew exactly where to find her I had a place to start. She wasn’t going to run away from me this time. I refused to let the past repeat itself, and as I got in my car the past was all I could think about.
It was late in the summer and Shelby only had a few more days until she left to move into her apartment at the university. Berkeley was only about an hour and a half away, so we knew we could see each other any time we wanted. However, there was something wrong and I couldn’t figure out what it was. For the past week she had steadily grown distant and never once could I get her to smile. She didn’t want me to touch her, and when I would she’d recoil from me.
We had just gone out to dinner, and for the third night in a row she’d barely eaten anything on her plate. As soon as I pulled into her driveway to drop her off I couldn’t take it anymore.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” I blurted out angrily. “Have I pissed you off or something?”
Slowly¸ Shelby turned her tear streaked face toward me. I didn’t want to think that she had cheated on me, not my angel, but the thought had crossed my mind several times. “Are you cheating on me with someone else?” I asked through clenched teeth.
Quickly, and with her eyes wide, she shook her head and cried, “No, Matt, I would never do that to you. I just …”
The blow was coming, and it was what I had feared ever since she and I started our relationship. I was the poor boy from the wrong side of the tracks and she was the one with the money and the privileges. I thought we were stronger than that and she knew damn well that I was going to make something of myself one day.
“Finish your sentence, Shelby,” I growled. “You just what? What are you not saying?”
Sagging against the seat, she closed her eyes and blew out a shaky breath. “I’m saying this isn’t going to work when I go off to college. We’ve been together so long and neither one of us has had the chance to experience other things.”
I scoffed, clenching the steering wheel so hard my hands started to shake. “You mean experience other people? So, what you’re saying is that everything you told me a couple of weeks ago about us always being together was bullshit? Dammit, Shelby, I told you I wanted to marry you someday, and when I did I had never seen you so full of life … so happy. You said you wanted that. Why would you lie to me?”
“Matt, please,” she begged. “Just let me go.”
“Answer me!” I shouted. “Was it all bullshit?”
Lowering her head, she closed her eyes and my heart ripped in fucking two when she finally had the audacity to answer, her voice cold and disconnected, “None of it was real. I just didn’t want to hurt your feelings. We live different lives and I don’t see it working out for us in the future.”
“What the fuck, Shelby,” I spat. “We’ve been together for five years and you’re just now realizing that? Why can’t you look me in the eyes and say this?” I demanded. “Tell me you don’t love me anymore and I’m gone.”
She hesitated, but it was only a second before she whispered the words I dreaded to hear, “I don’t love you anymore, Matt. It’s over.”
That was all it took for me to snap. “Then get out,” I growled, reaching over her to open her door. “I have nothing more to say to you.”
Bursting into tears, she slowly got out of my car and shut the door. Against my better judgment, I looked over at her once before backing out of the driveway. Collapsed on the ground, she had her face in her hands. Even with the loud rumble of my engine, I could hear her gut-wrenching scream. Something inside me told me to stay, but my pride wouldn’t let me. My pride won the fight.
Shelby was never very good at keeping her feelings in check, and I could usually tell when she was lying or keeping something from me. Her turning her back on me like that was too sudden, completely wrong, and being the fucking idiot that I was all I did was get pissed instead of fighting for her the way I should have. I let my pride get in the way.
My phone rang about ten minutes after I left the café and in my haste I realized I never told Garrett I was leaving to go after Shelby. “What the hell is going on?” he barked. “I just got a call from Shelby saying she’s not doing the article now. Why would she pull out? Please tell me she’s not one of the people you fucked and screwed over.”
Huffing, I snapped into the phone, “Not that it’s any of your business, but I’m on my way to see her now. I’ll get it all sorted out.”
“You better,” he exclaimed. “This spread will do wonders for your career. Whatever’s going on you better fix it … fast!”
Rolling my eyes, I threw my phone into the passenger seat and pressed the gas as hard as I could, burning up my new tires in the process. I didn’t care. All that mattered at the moment was seeing Shelby and getting the past put to rest.
I was almost there.