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While returning to my truck with a Community Coffee New Orleans Blend K-cup box, I noticed three young women heading toward the store’s entrance. The one with long black hair and eyes like emeralds made my heart race and my stomach knot up. It was my ex-girlfriend, Riley. She was with her sister, Rachel, who was my brother’s wife. Macie—Riley’s best friend since first grade—was also with her.
I slowed my pace and kept watching the trio, smiling and talking to each other. Then Riley noticed me, her eyes locking with mine and her lips parting. A moment later, she looked away, obviously as shaken to see me as I was her.
“Hey, Rhys!” Macie said, jogging up to me.
I knew she’d done that because it was awkward for Riley and me to come face-to-face again after all this time. Macie wanted to smooth over the situation, but there was nothing to worry about.
“Hey.”
“How are you doing?”
“I’m okay. You?”
“Hungry. Riley, Rachel, and I all are. Wine munchies, you know?”
I nodded while stealing a glance at Riley. She’d come to a standstill a few yards away. Her sister had just walked up and reached out to hug me.
“Good to see you, brother-in-law,” she said, smiling.
I wrapped my arms around her and squeezed her tight. “How are you, sweet one?”
“I’m happy to have my big sister home.”
I nodded my understanding and then looked over at Riley, keeping my eyes on her this time. I could tell she was nervous because she kept standing back and fidgeting with her hands. She also had red splotches on her upper chest and neck.
I learned about that tell-tale sign on her skin when we first started dating in high school. The splotches would also appear whenever Riley was aroused, but that wasn’t the case with her now. She just didn’t know how to be around me since we were no longer together, so I decided to greet her, hoping it’d put us both at ease.
Walking toward her, I held out my hand to shake hers.
“Hey, Riley,” I said.
She slipped her warm hand into mine. It was trembling. “Hey.”
“How’ve you been?”
“Good. You?”
“Hanging in there.”
She gave me a sympathetic smile. “My girls told me about what Trisha did to you. I’m so sorry that happened. It was wrong. Terribly wrong.”
“Trisha was a mistake and one that I won’t repeat.”
Our conversation stopped there and we stared into each other’s eyes. I didn’t know what Riley was thinking but knew where my mind had just traveled. It was the day that Riley ended us out of the blue. Although she didn’t say it before walking away, I wondered if she thought I was a mistake. Hell, I still did. She wasn’t one for me, though. She was the best thing that’d ever happened to me. It didn’t matter that I was unable to keep her.
“Even with all that you’ve been through, you look really well, Rhys,” she said, surprising me.
“Thanks. You look really well, too—but you always have.”
Her hand was still in mine and I didn’t want to let it go. But I couldn’t keep touching Riley because it was making me remember and feel too many things. So I let go of her hand and dropped my arm at my side.
“It was good to see you again,” I said, looking over her beautiful face and noting that she still had the tiny diamond piercing in the side of her nose.
“It was good to see you. It’s been a minute.”
I half-laughed. “Yeah, it has been. Have fun with your girls tonight.”
“I always do.”
