Summer Breeze Kisses - Addison Moore Page 0,247

him like a kangaroo wielding a chainsaw?

I strut my stuff over to Hallowed Grounds and turn a couple of heads in the process. In an impromptu moment of mild regret, I chose to don a tight little red dress as if to tell the universe you might steal my sanity, but you can’t steal my sense of style. It used to be that a bright dress had the power to cheer me up, but I’m quickly discovering that fabric-based placebo isn’t at all the panacea I thought it could be. I used to secretly love it when I got the attention of a boy. I used to let it inflate me unnaturally—inadvertently giving those boys more power than I should have. But the thought of them looking at me, gawking at me like some piece of meat almost makes me want to flip them off. What gives them the right to accost me with their eyes? Okay, so that’s probably taking things a bit too far.

I set foot into the coffee shop, and the scent of fresh-roasted beans automatically gives me a contact high. I swear, half the time I’m coming in for a cup of coffee, it’s just to inhale all the slow-roasted goodness this place has to offer. But today, not even the scent of all things delicious has the power to cheer me up. The truth is, I miss Knox. He was the other side of my coin, me in male skin. I’m sick that we crashed and burned the way we did. I wish I never got involved with him to begin with.

I put in my order and head to the left, waiting with the hordes of others to pick up their drinks.

“Harper?” a light voice calls out from behind. “I thought that was you!”

I spin to find Laney Capwell with her hair in a bun, sunglasses on, and she looks great per usual. She offers me a quick embrace as she whips her glasses off.

She pulls back and winces at me as if she were in pain. “Knox told us what happened.”

“Really?” I’m almost amused by this. “That’s funny because I don’t even know what happened.”

She ticks back a notch. “He said you had a blowout. He also said it was over a misunderstanding, and that you’ve been playing hard to get in the communication department.” They call her name and she steps forward to get her drink. “Look, I gotta run, but you have to promise me you won’t let another day go by without talking to that boy. He’s just sick without you! If you let it go too long, an entire year can slip by. I should know. It happened to me.” She shakes her head with a look that screams don’t follow in my footsteps. “I really hope things will work out between the two of you. You were the cutest darn couple I have ever seen. I’ll be across the street at the bar if you need me. Don’t be a stranger.” She hooks me into another quick embrace and whispers, “Above all, be true to yourself. I know you’ll find your way back to one another. I can feel it.”

She takes off and I’m momentarily boosted by her positive attitude, but soon enough, reality hits and I’m right back to feeling like crap.

They finally call my name and I take up my drink. No sooner do I spin around than I bump into the one person I could go a lifetime without ever seeing again.

“Oh, it’s you.” I scowl up at my ex. I used to live and die by the intervals of time when Justin and I could finally be together, and now I’m slightly repulsed by the sight of him.

“Hey, did you get a load of who’s sitting over there?” He hitches his thumb behind him and I glance back, nearly falling through the floor. It’s dizzying seeing the one you love sitting with the one they love, and it isn’t you.

“Oh crap!” I jump just as Knox glances over, and our eyes lock. A current as heavy as the ocean travels between us—magnetically charged, electric, and maybe even fatal. It snaps and sizzles and threatens to explode the entire building to smithereens with all the sparks it’s putting off.

“What’s he doing with her?” Justin gruffs it out as if the sight pisses him off as much as it does me. “Never mind. It looks like she got her way. She always does.”

Knox winces at the two