Him by Carey Heywood (reading strategies book .txt) 📕

is right. They do look good. When I moved away, they only used to wear jeans or cargos and t-shirts. It's kind of weird seeing my brother and Will in suits. Sure, they’ll be wearing tuxes at the wedding, but this is just dinner. My eyes find Will's. He stands quietly next to Brian, and Christine openly watches me.

"So where are we headed?" I ask, mainly to fill the silence.

"This great tapas place downtown. You’ll love it," Christine gushes.

"Got everything you need?" Will asks me, his eyes laughing.

I double check my purse and have to run back upstairs to grab my ID, which is in my other wallet. I avoid Will's eyes when I walk back down the stairs. It bugs me that he still knows me so well. Brian holds his arm out to Christine, and she sweetly takes it. Will starts to do the same for me, but I shake my head and hurry after Brian and Christine, leaving him to follow me. It's silly, I know, but I just don’t want to get too close to him. I'm only here for a week. There is no point putting myself into a situation where I'll only be hurt. We take Brian's Xterra, and Will and I sit in the back. I can feel his eyes on me. I try to ignore them, resting my elbow on the door handle and looking out the window.

When we get to the restaurant, we are joined by Brian and Christine's other groomsmen and bridesmaids. They're all couples. Great. Seeing as how Will is the only single guy and I'm the only single girl, it is clear we will be paired up for the evening. I don’t know why this bothers me so much. It had been great to talk to him on the plane and to feel that rush when I saw him. It's just that once we got to my house and I saw how entwined he is in my family's lives, it annoyed me. He had broken my heart, yet my mother called him a second son and he was going to be the best man at my brother's wedding. How does that happen?

Not that I've ever told anyone other than Sawyer what had really happened that night. Nope. Instead I ran and stayed away from my home and family while he stayed here. It's kind of hard to blame them for liking him, considering they didn't know what he did. Maybe what irks me the most is I caught myself starting to like him all over again. I've always been attracted to him, and these years apart have been kind to him. He isn’t the boy I had left behind. He's a man now, a very annoying and sexy all at the same time man.

At the restaurant, I'm seated next to my brother and across from Will. I continue my campaign of disinterest and focus on the plate of spiced oil to dip bread into that is sitting in front of me. I’m hungry, and carbs are one of my favorite food groups. Besides, it would be rude to talk with food in my mouth. We order family style, where the plates are passed around the table and we can all try a bit of everything. Once the waiter leaves with the menus, another waiter offers us tastes of the house sangria. The way he gives the tastes is a bit unorthodox. He goes around the table holding this leather pouch with a metal spout at the opening. We open our mouths, and he squeezes a stream of sangria straight into them from the pouch, a highbrow beer funnel.

It feels provocative, sitting there, my lips parted as Will watches me. I feel myself redden under his gaze. The sangria is delicious, though, so I order a glass and sip it. I jump when I feel Will's leg straighten out under the table and his calf brush against mine. My eyes flick to his. He's smirking. Clearly, he did that on purpose. Tapas are mainly a finger food. Will makes no attempt to hide he is watching me eat. I can’t help it, but I start watching him as well. He coats a piece of bread in oil, keeping his eyes on me as he lifts it to his mouth and then licks a stray drop of oil off the tip of his finger. Oh shit, that was hot. I break the eye contact, beating myself up for letting him draw me in.

I excuse myself and go to the ladies’ room. Washing my hands, I give myself a little you can do this type pep talk. When I walk out, I see him leaned up against the wall opposite the door.

"Long line for the men's room?" I try to joke, moving past him.

His hand circles my wrist, stopping me. I inhale, frozen in place. My back is to him. I don't try to pull away. I can't move. I just look down at his hand, staring at his damn freckle.

"Sarah."

"What are you playing at, Will?'

"Playing?" He tugs my arm back so I'm facing him. "I promise you this is no game."

"Alright, what do you want from me? Is that better?" I practically spit.

"Everything." He's moved his hands up to hold my biceps. "I want everything from you."

Everything. That one word still breaks my heart when I think back to that night.

My head snaps back as though he's struck me. Don’t cry, just don’t cry. "I gave you everything once. Now I have nothing left for you."

I pull myself from his grasp and hurry back to the table. When I sit, I glance up to the hallway where he still stands, his eyes haunted. Brian can sense I’m upset. He looks at me with worried eyes. I shake my head. I'm a big girl. There is no point dragging him into anything. It doesn’t stop him from shooting worried glances in my direction throughout the meal. Will comes back and sits