Free Stronger By Your Side (Great Love Book 2) by A. Hart

not to? Would I see him again? I couldn’t decide if I was mad or happy to see him. Seeing him brought up old feelings that I had been trying to suppress since the day I left him. I shook my head and concentrated on glaring at Travis.
    Travis threw his hands in the air and started pacing. “I don’t know, Meg. You’re right. I don’t have feelings for you like that. I don’t know if I’m capable of it, but I know that I feel very protective of you, and when I saw you kissing—” He swallowed, and I stopped to take in his hurt expression. “I didn’t like it, okay?”
    I nodded and then sighed. “But I’m not yours, Travis.”
    His eyes met mine as he replied, “I know.” He swallowed hard. “But you’re not . . . not mine . . . ” He paused. “Yet.” His eyes were heavy as he looked up at me. “I’m just confused. I need a little time.”
    I sighed, then my voice grew quiet. “Yeah, okay. But Travis, I don’t have feelings for you either. It’s not going to happen, you know that, right?”
    He huffed, then shrugged. I gave him a confused look as he walked to me and then gently tucked me under his chin. “I know, I know. It’s just . . . God, I just miss Charlie so much, and I don’t know what to do. He wanted . . . ”
    My eyes looked up at him and my heart stopped. “He wanted?” I asked, but it felt more like I choked on the words.
    Travis swallowed hard and didn’t take his eyes off of mine. His voice was low. “You aren’t the only one who Cal brought a letter to that night.”
    My heart began speeding up. He was referring to the night before Charles’s burial. Calvin had brought me a letter from Charles, a letter that I had tucked safely in my nightstand, a letter in which the words haunted me: Please, promise me you’ll love again. You’re too good at it not to. I cleared my throat and my eyes shot up to his. “What . . . Travis . . . What did Charles want?”
    Travis slowly backed away from me. He turned around and ran his hands through his hair. My voice was weak and raspy with anxiety. “Travis?!” He swung around and locked his heavy eyes with mine. I swallowed and felt like my heart was going to explode.
    Travis sighed. “For us to be a family.”

Chapter Nine
Sawyer Prescott
     
    I sat in my truck, completely in shock at what had just happened. It had been eight years since I last shared a kiss with Megan. Eight years since she had left me alone and heartbroken. She obviously didn’t remember me at first. I knew she would eventually, it would just take her a minute . . . or twenty. Although it stung a little that she didn’t immediately recognize me like I had her, I could understand. Unlike her, I had changed a lot from the boy she knew. She looked a little older, but exactly the same. Not me. I had grown almost three inches, going from tall to super freak. I had turned to exercise for an outlet and concentrated on training for my job, so the rest of my baby weight fell off and my body became hardened.
    I hadn’t had the surfer boy, shaggy hair since my 20 th birthday when I graduated the fire academy. I cut it to stay uniform, but now it felt normal. It felt like a part of me. It made sense that Megan didn’t recognize me right away. I had changed, at least physically. I doubt she would be surprised to find out I was still very much the same in every other way. Megan and I had been best friends since kindergarten and had grown up attached by the hip. She knew everything about me and me, her. She knew that I left a trail of change and receipts all over the house. She knew that I loved to fish but secretly hated baiting my hooks, although I would never say those words out loud. I was capable of being brave in terrifying moments, but freaking worms seemed to be my Achilles’ heel.
    Megan was the only person in the world who would ever know that. She also knew that I had an addiction to pizza and that I liked corny 90s movies, my favorite being Tremors . She was with me