“That’s great, Linda. Really,” I said before I addressed one of my students, “Jacob, let’s walk!”
“Sorry, Ms. Reed.” He gave me a sheepish smile and picked up the pace.
“Seriously, I’m super interested in this man!”
Linda’s skin was flawless. Her lips were thick and pouty and when she smiled, she showed off her cute dimples. Her curly blonde hair framed pretty brown eyes. She stood a whole head taller than me—tall enough to be a model. She had the male staff members wrapped around her finger. Until they got the chance to know her. Once they discovered the selfish, gossip-hungry woman who hid behind her adorable exterior, they ran straight for the hills and never looked back.
“Have you even talked to him?” I asked.
“Not yet, but I’m planning to soon. I would now, but I have to go pull a third-grader for math intervention.” She rolled her eyes. And that irked me. Her attitude leaked out whenever she had to work. It was people like her who didn’t deserve to work with children.
“Well, that is your job.” I laughed as my students lined up beside the gym doors.
She groaned and flipped her hair over her shoulders. “They give me a ton of kids. I barely have time to breathe.” She walked ahead of us and toward her classroom.
I shook my head. Linda was clearly starved for attention. If I didn’t worship every word that came out of her mouth, she’d storm off.
“Was Ms. Shepherd talking about our new gym teacher?” Rosie, a little girl with the blondest hair I’d ever seen and biggest sky-blue eyes, asked.
Compassion encompassed her. She cared about everyone and everything. She strived to make the world a better place and had more ambition than half of the adults I knew. She got nominated as our student of the month and exceeded expectations at every chance.
“Yes. Apparently, he’s lived in this town before.” I pulled open the gym door to let my class inside.
The smell of rubber and gym shoes hit me as I strode inside.
“Hello, I’m Mr. Wells,” a deep voice beckoned. “Go sit in the middle of the circle on the floor so we can get started.”
I froze. That voice! I closed my eyes briefly and took in a deep breath. It couldn’t be... Could it? There was no way fate could be so harsh. I opened my eyes and wobbled a little when the man looked up from the paperwork he had splayed out on the bleachers and a pair of hazel eyes met mine. The walls closed in around me and made it difficult to breathe. Those same eyes that had stared at me with compassion and love before leaving me naked and alone the morning he left for college.
Memories of that night flooded back in a rush—his lips on mine, his hands caressing me, his voice reciting sweet words. My feet weighed me down and prevented me from running away like I desperately wanted to. My heart crashed against my ribs and echoed in my ears.
He shot up off the bleachers and jogged over to greet me. “Faith... I... You’re... I mean, you look really good,” he stumbled over his words. “I mean, it’s really good to see you.”
I strained my lips to curve upward. “It’s good to see you too, Asher. I have to go. It’s my planning time.” I struggled to get the words out so I could leave.
“But Faith, I—”
“You have a class to teach. I’ll come to get them after.” I turned and scampered out of the gym and back to the safe haven that was my classroom.
I’d skipped the impromptu staff meeting earlier in the week that introduced the new gym teacher after ours retired a month into the school year. After that disastrous reunion, I wished I hadn’t.
I never expected to see him again. I’d spent seven long years avoiding him. I had thought the only chance of running into Asher was if he was around Luca, but even then, Luca knew to warn me. Luca told me his dream of being a lawyer didn’t work out. But I didn’t ask questions. I didn’t care what he did. I couldn’t care.
The morning he left had confused me. We’d shared a connection. No one could fake what we had that night. I knew he felt it too. But he never contacted me. Not through text, call, not even social media. He couldn’t even be bothered to use Luca as a messenger. I never reached out to him either. Why would I? He left me. I didn’t owe him a damn thing.
Throughout my senior year, I stalked his social media accounts. It was a low point for me; I admit. I obsessed over tagged photos of him with girls. It hurt. Girls hanging all over him, posing with bright smiles next to him. It made me sick.
The summer before I left for college, I deleted and blocked all of his accounts. I told Luca not to mention anything to me that included him. I wiped him off my radar. Mags and Eve suggested it, and I was glad they did. I didn’t feel as obsessive, but I still had a gaping hole in my chest that I couldn’t seem to fill.
I tried. Lord knows I tried. I went on blind dates, partied to numb the pain, and joined dating apps. Nothing could fix the damage he’d inflicted on me. At least, that’s what I thought until I met Preston.
That man dominated everything he put his hands on, including me. From the moment my father had introduced us a year ago, he’d helped me move on from Asher. He didn’t know any of it though. He didn’t care about my previous relationships. He doted on me, spoiled me, and prioritized me. He was the epitome of everything a woman could ask for. At least, he was until we got engaged a
