From Ashes

I parked and walked around the side to the front doors; opening them, I swear to God my heart stopped right then. She was there, and she was more beautiful than I’d ever seen her. She was busy at the bar, so I ordered my drink without giving my name and, like the creep I was, stayed off to the side so I could watch her for a few minutes. Her long brown hair was pulled back, and her honey eyes were wide and bright as she smiled at something a coworker said. God, that smile. I would do anything to make her smile again. When her arm stretched out to pass a drink to a customer, I saw something on the inside of her forearm, but she moved too quickly for me to get a good enough look.

Sooner than I’d wanted, she was calling out my drink order and I had to take a deep breath in before walking over there.

“Thank you!” she said brightly, flashing me a quick glance before turning back to the bar. Sucking in a startled gasp, she looked back up, her eyes wide, mouth slightly open. “Gage,” she whispered softly.

“Hey, darlin’.”

Her cheeks went red as she continued to stare at me.

“Are you off soon?”

She glanced down to the inside of her wrist. I smiled at her too-large watch that always slid over. “Um . . . te-ten minutes.”

My eyes went wide as I got a good look at her forearm. I had no doubt what that was. She had a tattoo. A cluster of stars. Ursa Major. I thought back to that night by the creek, we’d been talking about constellations, and she’d pointed it out first, telling me it had always been her favorite one. I remembered adding that to the list of reasons why she was amazing, since that constellation was the reason I’d named my horse Bear. I’d told her as much and she’d given me a soft smile and reached over to brush her hand against my arm. I’d have been damn stupid to think she’d gotten that because of that night, but I wanted to know if she thought about it at all when she looked at her arm.

I looked over to the cups that were lining up next to her and grabbed my drink. “All right.” I wanted to tell her I’d wait for her, but I didn’t know if she’d even want to talk to me. She’d broken my heart, but I’d been coldhearted and a straight coward when it came to her. So I just turned around and went to sit at one of the big chairs in the corner.

CASSIDY

OH MY GOD, he’s here. Gage is here. My heart stopped when I looked up and saw those bright green eyes staring down at me. Dear Lord, he was so handsome. My dreams over the last three months hadn’t done him justice at all. I tried to go back to work, but I was so flustered, I could barely concentrate on the drinks I was making.

Why is he here? And is he waiting for me, or is he meeting someone here? He wouldn’t have asked if I was off soon if he wasn’t waiting, right? Damn it, Cassidy . . . calm down and just breathe. I put out another two drinks and couldn’t help looking over at him. Like he could sense that I was watching him, he lifted up his head and met my gaze. I couldn’t look away and I wished desperately that he would for the both of us. God, it didn’t help that he was wearing my favorite shirt of his; it was an old Ramones shirt, and the color green was almost the exact same color as his eyes. I needed him to stop looking at me; I could get lost in those eyes on any given day, even from across a coffee shop.

I was finally able to tear my eyes away when Stacey, one of my coworkers, asked about a few drinks she was waiting on in the drive-thru. Why did he have to come to this Starbucks? There were tons in the area, and dozens of other coffee shops. I didn’t know where he’d moved to, but this couldn’t have been the only one close to him, and even if it was, you only had to drive an extra five or so minutes before finding another. I needed these ten minutes to go by faster; I felt like I was going to break down right there in front of everyone. In the last six weeks since Ty and I had gotten together, I’d slowly been able to start having a normal life. It wasn’t overnight by any means—I still ached for Gage, still dreamed of him on a nightly basis—but I was finally laughing again. And now here he was. Bringing back every good and bad memory of him. I didn’t want to still be in love with Gage, and his being there wasn’t going to help a thing.

For the rest of my shift, I kept my eyes on my drinks only; I knew it was rude to the customers who came up to the bar, but if I looked at them, I would look at Gage. And I just couldn’t handle that right now.

“Cassidy.” Stacey grabbed my arm and I jumped.

“Huh?”

“You’re off, clock out and go home . . . are you okay?”

I took a shaky breath in and mashed my lips in a tight line as I barely shook my head.

“Come on.” Her hand, which was still on my arm, led me to the front to clock out, then dragged me to the back. “What’s wrong?”

“He’s here!” I blurted, and tried to calm my shaking.

“Who is?” Stacey looked up to the monitor showing the store’s cameras.

“Gage . . . Gage is here. Oh my God, why is he doing this? He doesn’t want me! He never did, and he left without so much as a good-bye.”

Her eyes went wide. “Oh shit. Tyler’s cousin?”

I nodded and took off my green apron. “I think he’s waiting for me, should I talk to him?”

“Do you want to?”

“I don’t know. I do, but I don’t know if I can.”

“Cassidy,” she said with a sigh, “just because you’re with Tyler now doesn’t mean he can control who you talk to.”