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“Because I couldn’t help it,” Dr. Kiss-Me-Senseless growls.
One moment.
Those words…the tone in which he says them… I can’t stop my mind from racing, but it isn’t just because of the desire-inducing kiss or because I stood up the other guy. It’s because of the memory it seems to jog. “We’ve done this before.”
The doctor arches his brow curiously. “Have we?”
We have. I’m sure of it. I nod, still racking my brain. “I’m sure I’ve heard this ‘reason’ before, and I swear we’ve kissed before—oh, my God.”
It hits me like a freight train. Dillan Maxwell.
“Dillan?” I ask.
Hazy memories from my teenage years come flooding back: seeing him from across the room and feeling the little butterflies in my tummy. The celebration. The flirting. His arm around me. Us snuggling on the couch.
Dillan was my first crush and my first kiss. It had been so long since I’d thought of that particular memory, but our kiss had awakened sensations in me I’ve only ever experienced then. We never had sex or officially dated. But we had a ton of fun, just chilling at parties or other social events.
By the expression on his face, I can tell it takes him longer to remember me. I’m not surprised, though—I’ve changed since high school. A lot.
It’s entertaining to witness the moment when it finally clicks.
Dillan’s cool exterior cracks ever so slightly. His eyes widen to nearly twice their size, and his mouth falls open slightly. “Wait…Lizzie? Is that really you?”
I smile brightly. “In the flesh.”
“Good grief.”
“Yup.”
He observes me intently for a few long moments. “How did we not recognize each other right away?”
“Poor lighting.”
“Apparently so.” He shamelessly scans me from head to toe again. “You’ve changed.”
He makes it sound as if I looked like a mess back then. Which, honestly, I did. I used to have thick glasses, hair that screamed “no style,” and I was pretty chubby—and definitely not dressed like that.
“Right back at you. Wait, so when did you return to New York? Are you going to stay?”
“Yep, that’s the plan. I found a great place, and I’m glad to be back. I always wanted to return someday. The city has a certain energy, a rhythm that’s hard to find elsewhere. Besides, being closer to family and old friends has its perks. It’s like coming full circle. So, here I am, ready for the next chapter.”
The evening is already weird, and yet somehow, it has gotten weirder, but in the best possibly way. Regardless, I’m much more comfortable catching up with an old friend than having an awkward dinner with a stranger (a debt my guilty conscience insists I’ll need to repay somehow). Whatever anxiety I was experiencing before immediately melts away.
“Glad to hear it. Anyhow. Sorry I interrupted your evening,” I apologize.
He smiles that crooked grin I’d loved back then. “I’m not. Sorry, I mean.”
His response is a bit cheeky, but try as I might, I can’t resist returning his smile. “If I remember correctly, you said almost the same thing to my father.”
Dillan lets out a mock groan. “We were finally alone in your room, and what happens? Your dad storms in, catching us in the act, demanding to know why the hell I’m kissing my girl.”
I was his girl? “And you said,” I chime in, “because I couldn’t help it.” We both laugh. “Then you got up?—”
“Which was the bravest act of my life, by the way,” Dillan interjects.
“…and bravely faced the wrath of my father. ‘I have no regrets,’ you said.”
“Because I didn’t.”
