Young Adulting - Christina Benjamin Page 0,71

eyes honed in on me and his lips curved up in a smile that took my breath away.

He was here.

He came.

Always.

The word echoed in my ears like he’d just said it now in this crowded bar. Patrons shifted to make way for him but he didn’t seem to notice the stares and chatter that followed in his wake.

I scrambled to my feet just as he reached our table.

“You’re here,” I said.

“Of course I’m here.” His gaze was hungrily taking me in as he reached for me, tugging me into his arms, heedless of our audience. “I’ve missed you so much, Izzy.”

I hesitated for a heartbeat and then gave in to the overwhelming urge to hold him the way he was holding me—like he’d never let go.

Reason kicked in a half a second later but I still didn’t want to let go. Being in his arms felt like finally coming home, and the urge to bury my head in his chest and forget everything else was overwhelming.

It wasn’t until I heard Missy say “take another one, I wasn’t smiling” that I lifted my head and pulled back to see that Missy and her friends were currently taking photos of each other with Henry in the background as if he was some wax statue in a Madame Tussaud’s museum.

Fallon stepped up beside Missy and pushed her away, shooing me and Henry toward the exit behind me in the process. “Go. Talk. Make out.” She winked at me when I went to protest and gave me a hard shove toward the back door. “You crazy kids have fun. I’ll keep the local paparazzi at bay.”

I might have hesitated, but Henry grabbed my hand and led the way, still ignoring the attention he was garnering just by existing.

I’d almost forgotten for a while there that Henry was famous. It was easy to do in LA where being rich and famous was the norm. But that wasn’t the case in Iowa, where even TV reporters garnered star status.

That was one of the things I loved most about Henry. He was so down to earth that it made it easy for me to feel like we could actually work. For the past few days I’d been focused on remembering our alone times together, and yeah, maybe even rereading every single email Leo had sent me with the new perspective that they’d come from Henry.

But in all that reminiscing, and in all that overanalyzing—I’d managed to forget that Henry was a bona fide celebrity, with all the trappings that came with that lifestyle.

I was vividly aware of that now, though. Especially when one of the waitresses literally threw herself into Henry’s path to beg for an autograph. I blinked rapidly in surprise as we stopped short but Henry flashed her that million-dollar smile he was known for and quickly scribbled his name on the notepad she thrust at him.

A few seconds later we were out the back door and standing alone in the blissfully silent parking lot.

Blissfully silent...but frigid. I wrapped my arms around myself as the winter air nipped at my skin. I’d been so startled by Henry’s appearance I’d forgotten to grab my jacket.

Henry shrugged out of his and wrapped it around my shoulders, using the lapels to tug me close so I was trapped in the cozy comfort of his down jacket and basking in the warmth of his gaze.

“I’ve missed you,” he said again.

I nodded, temporarily unable to speak thanks to the lump in my throat that made it hard to breathe.

He let out a huff of air as his eyes moved over me from head-to-toe like he couldn’t get enough. “Are you okay?” he finally asked.

I nodded. It was almost the truth. I would be okay. Eventually. And now that Henry was here...that weight in my chest was starting to lessen.

Something dangerously close to hope was taking its place. I tried to tamp it down, tried to focus on all the ways he’d hurt me and all the reasons I’d left.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

His eyes widened in surprise and I realized it was a ridiculous thing to ask. A few minutes ago I would have scoffed if Fallon had suggested that I should be worried about how Henry was holding up. But that was before I was standing face-to-face with him. Before I saw the dark shadows under his eyes, the strain in his expression, and the way he clenched his jaw as he watched me.

He tugged me closer. “You left.