Free 10 Years Later by J. Sterling

Kristy whispered, the question innocent enough.
    “I think I’m gonna be sick,” I admitted before abruptly shoving away from the table and making my escape, heading as far away from Dalton as I could get. Pushing open the women’s bathroom door, I raced to the sink and gripped the counter with both hands. I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to steady my breathing, which was unsteady, to say the least.
    Memories of kissing Dalton filled my head, and I shook it, trying to release them . . .
    • • •
    “What are we doing? Not that I mind kissing you or anything,” I’d mumbled against Dalton’s lips as I broke the kiss and struggled to catch my breath. Pressing against his hard body in the photography darkroom, I’d silently prayed that no one would come in and interrupt us. “But what is this?”
    “Do you want to define it, Cammie?” He squared his jaw to look at me before he leaned down and kissed me again. “Is that what you want?” he asked between kisses, his hands firmly holding me in place. “Tell me.”
    I did want that. I wanted to define what we were, have a T-shirt made with the definition, and wear it every single day to school. But I was terrified if I admitted that to Dalton, he’d go away, and whatever this was between us would stop. And kissing Dalton Thomas had become the brightest part of my darkest days. I wasn’t ready for it to end, whatever this was.
    “I don’t know,” I said, then my mouth betrayed my brain. “No. I guess we don’t have to.”
    “I like kissing you.” He spoke the words so sweetly that I not only believed them, but I would have bought whatever he was selling.
    “I like kissing you too.”
    “Then don’t stop.” His mouth covered mine as my hands slid up his neck and tangled in his hair.
    • • •
    Seeing Dalton, the one thing I came here for, had thrown me. I thought I was ready to face him, our history, and the way he had once made me feel so much after not feeling anything at all, but he rattled me.
    It had been ten years, for crying out loud, but right now it felt as if no time had passed. Nothing I told myself could have prepared me for what it felt like to see him in real life. Up until this point, the idea of seeing Dalton again had been just that—an idea, a notion, a fantasy.
    To have him standing in the same room as me, breathing the same air, it was overwhelming. I thought I knew what I wanted, but I had no clue what that was anymore. All rational thoughts flew out the window the second he entered the room. Kristy had mentioned closure, but that was the furthest thing from my mind. Right now all I wanted was the opposite of closure, whatever the hell that was.
    When I opened my eyes, I stared at my reflection, surprised. My makeup and hair still looked flawless. For whatever reason, I’d half expected my outside to be just as frazzled as my insides.
    The restroom door burst open as Kristy entered. “Are you okay?” she asked, sounding genuinely concerned.
    “Just trying to get it together.” I forced a smile. “Please tell me I’m not pathetic. I just saw him and got all emotional. Please tell me I’m not being stupid and weak and dumb.”
    “You’re not. Cammie, the way he was there for you after your dad . . .”
    Kristy paused and didn’t finish her sentence. It was a subject I rarely talked about, and she knew better than to get into details about my father unless she wanted me to lose it completely in this hotel bathroom.
    “He’s linked to you forever because of that,” she said. “There are emotional ties between the two of you that will always be there. That’s why you’ve never been able to truly let him go. Not that I blame you.”
    I nodded in agreement as I stared at myself in the mirror and willed myself not to cry. “I do feel connected to him. Even after all this time, it’s like nothing’s changed.”
    “He’s always been the one guy you never truly got over. I think we all get one of those. Some of us