Finding You

Flashing me a quick smile, it was as if Jeff knew exactly how I was feeling because he had felt it before himself. His smile was gone as quick as it came.

After saying goodbye to Alex and Will, Jeff got in the truck and pulled out of the driveway.

Grace and I stood there and watched them until he turned the corner and was out of sight. I quickly leaned over and placed my hands on my knees and dragged in breath after breath as Will laughed his ass off.

Will walked up to me and gave me a push. “Holy shit! Dude if you could have seen your face the moment you realized it was Grace’s dad in the backyard. Priceless!”

Alex walked up and took Will by the arm and pulled him away before I could tackle him to the ground and start beating on him. “Dick,” I murmured as Will laughed harder.

Grace ran her hand up and down my back. “It wasn’t that bad. I think he likes you.”

Turning my head and looking up at Grace, I snarled my lip. “Likes me? He looked like he wanted to kill me every time he looked at me.”

Grace giggled and said, “Let me run upstairs and pack a bag for this weekend. I won’t be long.”

Before Grace headed back into the house, I took her by the arm. “Thank you, Grace. I’m sure you miss your mom and brother. Thank you for coming home with me this weekend.”

Grace placed her hands on my chest as she flashed the most breathtaking smile I’d ever seen. “Noah, I just got you back. There is no way in hell I’m going to let you go that easy. The more time I can spend with you, the better. We have a lot of time to make up for.”

I laced my fingers through Grace’s hair and pulled her lips to mine as I said, “Yes we do.”

As Grace pressed her lips to mine, she smiled and I felt a fire quickly race through my veins. I couldn’t wait to have Grace in my arms for the next few nights.

Grace let out a chuckle as I pulled down the street that led to my house. “Are you kidding me? You live on this street?”

I looked at Grace and said, “Yeah. Why?”

“How long have you lived here?”

“We moved to this house when I was four.”

Shaking her head, Grace placed her hands over her mouth and started laughing. “What’s so funny?” I asked.

Looking over at me, Grace said, “Noah! My grandparents live on this street!”

My stomach dropped at the idea of Grace being so close to me for all those years. “What?”

Putting my signal on, I turned into the driveway that led to the house my mother and father had raised my sister and I in.

“Holy hell. They live one block away, Noah! One. Block.” Putting my car in park, I looked at Grace. “I wonder if we’ve ever seen each other? Like when we were little.”

Just then a memory flooded my mind. “Hey, you didn’t happen to be the little girl who pushed me off the swing and I got up and pulled her pigtails, were you?”

Laughing, I shook my head as Grace’s smile faded.

“That. Was. You?”

“Huh?” I asked as I saw the pissed off look move across Grace’s face. “Wait. Are you serious, Grace? Because I totally had a crush on that little girl.” Letting out a chuckle, I kept talking as I thought back. “She used to come to the park with her older brother and grand—”

Pressing her lips together, Grace gave me a look while she slowly tilted her head. “That was me, Noah. That was me! You pulled my pigtails, you asshole. How could you pull my pigtails? I went back to my grandparents’ house and cried for hours!”

My heart started feeling funny as I took all this in. I used to go to the park every Saturday and look for the little girl in pigtails. “You cried? You punched the hell out of my chest, Grace. I couldn’t breathe right for days!”

Smirking, Grace said, “Good. You deserved it. Why would you pull my pigtails?”

Shaking my head, I quickly looked around, as if I needed someone to save me. “I don’t know. That’s what little boys do when they like a girl.”

“And do they also push you into the sandbox?”

Closing my eyes, I let out a laugh as I took in the memory. “Holy shit . . . I remember that day.” Opening my eyes, I couldn’t help but start laughing. “I can’t believe that was you. I loved you then, Grace.”

Grace’s face turned from hard to soft. “What?” she whispered.

Reaching over, I placed my hand on the side of Grace’s face. “I had the biggest crush on you. I compared every girl in elementary school to you. I’m pretty sure middle school and high school too.”