Long Time Running - By Hannah Foster Page 0,2

tried to move on - he had even moved cities, from Chicago to New York, for a fresh start but it was simply not possible to outrun the past.

There had been other relationships, some casual and some serious, but he could never find anyone to make him feel the way she had. The hold she had on his heart was proving impossible to shake and despite the willingness of more than a few women to create a family with him, he just didn't seem capable of it. She had been the only family he had needed and without her, it looked like it would be just him and Jack. Time may heal everything in the end but he wasn't sure how much longer he would have to wait.

A steaming cup of coffee was shoved into his hand and without taking his eyes from the slide, he smiled.

"It took you long enough. How many phone numbers did you manage to get in the process?"

Andrew rolled his eyes and flopped beside him on the bench, cradling his own coffee in his hand.

"Please" he dismissed. "Baristas aren't my thing."

Cocking his head to the side he gave his friend a skeptical look. "Oh really? When did you start getting standards?"

Andrew smirked in response as he cocked a perfectly arched eyebrow over chocolate brown eyes. A move he had patented as a notorious ladies man. He also happened to be commitment phobic, a neurosurgeon and Eric's best friend.

"I've always had standards, they're just minimal. And baristas don't make the cut."

Smiling into his coffee, Eric simply shook his head. "I learn something new every day."

They had met as children at summer camp, and had had each other's backs ever since. He was also the only person in his life who knew the whole story. That knowledge was both a blessing and a curse.

"Where's the little man?" Andrew asked, looking around.

Jerking his head in the direction of the slide, Eric smiled. "He's miffed that I wouldn't let him slide down head first."

Stretching out his lanky frame against the bench Andrew shrugged. "Dude, he's seven. This is what seven-year old boys do. They like to see how hard, how fast and how high they can go. You can't wrap him in bubble wrap."

"Yeah well, I don't particularly feel like putting stitches in his head, okay?"

"Eric, he isn't going to break."

Falling silent at the rebuke, he turned his attention back to the slide where Jack was preparing for yet another descent. It wasn't that he thought he was going to break but it was the thought of him being hurt at all that drove him to be a touch on the protective side. He just reminded him so much of her and he wanted - needed - to keep him safe.

"I promised him he could watch Kung Fu Panda tonight - you want to come over for pizza?"

"Is Lilly coming?"

Eric gave a small shake of his head. "We decided to end it."

"Of course you did," he replied with a snort. "More like she didn't live up to the ghost and so you ever so politely and kindly told her to take a hike."

Andrew was unapologetically blunt. After all, as he had told him more than once, the benefit of being Eric's best friend for over two decades was that he was unafraid, even entitled, to call him out on the situation when he felt he was using his past as a shield.

"She's not a ghost" he answered tightly. The muscle in his cheek flickered. "She is not dead."

"She might as well be. It's been seven years Eric. If she were coming back - for him or for you - she would have by now. I don't know why you bother hanging on when it's clear she doesn't care."

He sucked in a sharp breath. "You've never been in love" he pointed out sharply. "You have no idea what it's like to give your heart to someone and watch them leave with it. Trust me, I have railed at her, cursed at her, and hated her. If I could stop thinking about her I would. But it's a little hard when he has her eyes and every time I look at him, I see her."

Taking a deep breath Eric stared at the laughing boy. "And he depends on me."

"And when are you going to finally claim him as your own - when you are going to tell the world that you are really his father?"

"Don't put your baggage on me, Drew,"