Free Purple Haze (Blue Dream Book 2) by Unknown

he was the one who helped him move my stuff in.”
     
    “Right.”
     
    “Anyway, one thing led to another and he said....things and I said things...and then he kissed me, the rain fell, and the rest of the night is kind of a beautiful blur.”
     
    Katherine doesn't hesitate to giggle. “Wow. Did you even try to resist him?”
     
    “Of course!” I croak. The over exaggerated effort causes my body to ache once more and sigh, “Kind of....I don't think I wanted to resist him, Katherine.”
     
    “Mmmhm.”
     
    Leaning my body back against the counter I state, “The only thing I wanted last night was to feel the way he used to make me all those years ago.”
     
    “And did he?”
     
    “Somehow he made me feel even better,” I whisper. “Maybe it's just blinders of nostalgia. Maybe it's just because Xander barely got anything pumping in my system. Or maybe...maybe....”
     
    “Maybe it's a second chance waiting to be taken,” Katherine's therapist tone joins the conversation. “What did you two discuss last night?”
     
    Instead of admitting there was no discussion outside of harder, deeper, and begging for more, I press my lips together.
     
    “So nothing,” she mumbles. “Presley, you can't just pick up where you left off. You're an adult now. You're a different person-”
     
    “I know.”
     
    “ He's a different person. Hell, he was a different person when you walked away from him, remember?”
     
    The memory of saying goodbye to a stranger who held the face of someone I loved too deeply for my own sanity begins to creep back into my thoughts.
     
    “Before you two repeat last night, you really should spend some time talking. Confronting past emotions. Confronting the unspoken difficulties losing him gave to you. Take hold of this situation. Set up boundaries and perimeters.”
     
    I nod. “You're right. Of course you're right. I know you're right. At dinner tonight we'll talk. About everything.”
     
    “Good,” she says strongly. “Ten years is a long time. Keep in mind he may look like the Ryder you once knew, he may make you feel like the Ryder you once loved, but there's a high probability with what he's been through, that Ryder doesn't exist anymore.”
     
    And that's what scares the hell out of me. His letter gave me a whisper of hope my Ryder , the Ryder who has my initials tattooed on his back, the Ryder who planned to have a huge family with me, might exist somewhere in the world, but the reality is we've both changed. We've both grown up and while our bodies, our chemistry, our souls seek out shelter in the other, it doesn't mean it's healthy. It doesn't mean we're going to be together. It doesn't mean we should be together. However, I can't deny I believe the words he said yesterday. He belongs here with me. I belong with him.
     

Ryder
     
    “Would you stop smiling?” Big Mike, my boss complains from the doorway. “It's creeping me out.”
     
    I don't even attempt to give him what he wants. The expression seems permanent. Maybe not deserved. Maybe not even fucking earned, but fucking unbreakable. Hell, even I feel unstoppable. It's the high from one hit of Pres. I either feel like I'm king of the goddamn world or my mind is completely at peace.
     
    He continues to bother me. “Did you get laid or something?”
     
    Instead of answering I reach for the broom.
     
    “Did you pay for it?” Big Mike scratches his over-sized belly. “Was it cheap?”
     
    The bell, which rings when a customer enters the front of the shop chimes and I toss my head that direction. “Shouldn't you get that?”
     
    “Shouldn't you have answered at least one of my questions?”
     
    “No.”
     
    He grumbles something under his breath, turns around, and heads for whoever chose to ignore the closed sign on the door. Not even the simple ignorance of an idiot incapable of elementary school reading can yank me off this high.
     
    Today has been the longest shift of my entire life. I should be