All Consuming (Brotherhood by Fire #3) -Jaci Burton Page 0,4
was her size and clung to her body as if it had been made especially for her. She added a long silver chain and her hoop earrings, and the silver heels she’d borrowed from her mom.
She turned around and looked at herself in the full-length mirror.
How long had it been since she’d dressed up like this? Years, probably. She couldn’t remember. Landon had never wanted to go out anywhere except the local bar, and he’d mostly done that alone or with his buddies. A nice dinner to him had been the buffet in town. Which was fine, but occasionally it would have been fun to dress up and go out.
But he’d never thought about her desires, or her needs. Only his own.
She shrugged and tossed thoughts of Landon aside. That part of her life was over, had been for a while, actually. Now she had a clean slate.
Tonight, she’d see old friends and have a good time. She sat on the bed and opened up her old yearbook from senior year. Her mom had dredged that dusty thing out from who knows where. The attic, probably. She flipped through the pages, smiling at photos of her friends, horrified by some of the shots of herself and her goofy faces. Still, she laughed because she’d just been a kid.
Her heart thudded when she landed on a picture of her and Kal Donovan. Underneath, the caption read, “Cutest Couple.” Kal was behind her in the picture, his arms wrapped around her, her body resting against his. She looked so happy, so in love. She traced the picture with her fingers, remembering how sweet Kal had been, what that first love had felt like. The butterflies in her stomach whenever she saw him walking down the hall toward her. The sensation of his hand resting on the small of her back, the little shivers she always felt along her spine.
And his smile. She’d always loved his smile.
She shook herself away from the past. Again, she’d just been a kid—a silly teenager. What had she known about love back then?
Or even a few years later when she’d married Landon?
Oliver burst into her room and threw himself on the bed. “Grandma and I are gonna leave soon.”
She put her arm around him. “You have fun with Isaiah tonight. Eat some lasagna for me.”
He laughed. “I will.” He looked down at the picture. “Who’s this guy?”
“This is Kal. He was my boyfriend in high school, when I was a teenager.”
Oliver studied the picture. “Before Daddy?”
“Yes. Before Daddy.”
He scrunched his nose. “Did you like him a lot?”
“I did. But then we broke up after I graduated from high school. Then I met your daddy, we got married and we had you, my shining star.” She cuddled him close to her.
“Momma. Too much hugging.”
“Oh, right. Sorry.”
Oliver hopped off the bed. “See you later.”
“I love you.”
He waved on his way out of her room. “Love you, too!”
She sighed, realizing her sweet, warm, cuddly baby boy was growing up, becoming independent. A good thing for him. But she missed all the cuddling they used to do when he was little.
So much change in her life. So much failure. The end of her marriage, closing her shop in Georgia, moving back home. She was starting all over again. She sighed once more, closed the yearbook and got off the bed, determined to blow off these feelings.
Starting over wasn’t a bad thing. In her case, it was definitely the right choice. The right choice for Oliver, too.
And tonight wasn’t the night to think heavy thoughts. She’d already done enough of that.
Tonight she was going to have some fun.
CHAPTER 3
MUSIC WAS PUMPING WHEN KAL WALKED INTO THE HOTEL lobby. He could hear the loud beat all the way out here, which meant there was a definite party atmosphere inside. He was so ready.
There was a table outside the ballroom. He recognized Vicky Hayward and Tom Hart right away.
Tom stood and shook his hand. “Kal Donovan. How long has it been?”
“I’d say around ten years or so?”
Tom laughed. “You got that right. How’s it going?”
“Good.”
Vicky handed him a sticker with his high school photo. “Wear it proudly, dude.”
Kal looked at the photo and winced. He looked like a dork in his senior photo. His hair was wild and unkempt. He’d tried to look oh so cool for the photo and failed miserably.
“Thanks, Vicky.”
“Hey, don’t worry, man,” Tom said. “None of us looked all that awesome ten years ago.”