*Jordan

Sharon: Guess who's trying to track you down?

The message from Sharon glares from my screen like a lighthouse beam in my eyes—is this the end of my waiting? I jump up from my sofa and pace my living room. My muscles clench through my whole torso so badly, it feels like a full-body cramp.

Trey. Did Trey contact her?

But that would have to mean that Brandon called him after noticing me drive home this morning. No. Please no. But it would be too much of a coincidence, otherwise.

Oh, god. I can barely make my fingers move, they are shaking so badly.

Me: Who?

I hit send. I force myself to breathe in deeply through the nose and exhale with a long sigh. Don't have a heart attack now, Jordan.

Sharon: Mr. Hot stuff from the bar, you sly minx! He asked for your number

Sharon: Didn't give it to him. He gave me a note like a school kid. Ready?

It takes me a minute—no longer—to understand her message. It wasn't Trey. I feel like I've been bludgeoned with a crowbar. I have to press down on my chest to hold myself together.

Cole. It was Cole. He was at the bar looking for me. This is so bad. This can't be.

At the same time as my muscles relax, my heart flutters. He's trying to contact me. Maybe he wants to see me, to do more than see me.

No, I can't ride this rollercoaster of fear and doubt for a few moments of false happiness.

My phone beeps.

Sharon: Do you want the message or not? I'm not driving by to hand it to you....

A message from Cole? Focus!

Me: Tell me

Sharon: He says meet me at the covered bridge at 10, I have something to show you

My eyebrows pinch together. The covered bridge? Where the kids used to go to party on the weekends?

My fingers type out a message, deleting and rewriting several times.

Me: Did he leave you his number?

Sharon will know from my response that I'm less than thrilled, but I can't pretend and I can't explain through texts. We'll talk over coffee on Monday.

Sharon: no

Me: okay thanks

Sharon: you don't have to go you don't owe him anything

Me: I know

A chance to see him before he leaves forever. This is one last chance. And if the bridge is deserted....

Sharon: I won't tell you what to do, but I think he's worth taking a risk for

I can't respond. Is it really worth it? On the other hand, if I ghost him, he might try harder to track me down. Start asking around town or show up at my house. We both need closure—so he understands there can never be anything between us.

I throw myself back on my sofa. I could stay here, pretending to be the perfect mother waiting for her daughter, hoping Trey will have a change of heart or the police will finally catch him. Or I go and possibly ruin my reputation for good, ensuring Trey will dig deeper into his hole.

I glance around at my living room. There is a hollowness to it. This home is empty and I can't stand it any longer. I'll take the risk. If there is anyone else at the bridge, I'll turn around and go home. If it's deserted except for Cole, I'll stay and talk. At least, I might see him one last time.

The journey is usually about thirty minutes. It takes me twenty.

The gravel road to the old covered bridge is lonely and quiet. I kill my lights and drive the last part by the faint glow of the moon. After a couple of minutes, the road curves and the bridge comes into sight, along with a man crouched next to a large camper.

I brake. This can't be right. Cole didn't drive a camper, he has a classic Corvette. I swallow my fear. Being caught alone with a strange man in the middle of nowhere was worse than being seen by the dozen jerks who could still be friends with Trey. This stretch of road is much too narrow for me to turn, though. I have to continue closer to him where the field opens up. I bite my lip. I roll slowly onto the grass.

The man walks towards me. I twist to look out the rear, and shift into reverse.

"Is that you?" he calls.

My breath explodes from my chest. I put the car in park and open my door. Wavering, I stand next to the car, a hand on the side for support.

Cole inches forward cautiously, as if I was a wild animal about to run. "I couldn't think of where else to meet. I wanted to talk to you in private, so..."

"What about?" I ask. The words come out before I can think. I couldn't help how cold my voice sounded.

He blinks, taken aback. He heard it, too. "Just talk. You left before I woke up this morning. I know we agreed no names, and only one night, but...." He pauses, but I don't answer. "Are you happy here? Is something wrong?"

"Is that supposed to be a joke?" I ask. Then I shake myself. He doesn't know. Why should he? He's been gone for years and that's not the kind of thing any friends or family members would bring up on his first day home. "Why did you really ask me to meet you?"

"Let me help you," Cole says softly, stepping closer. I flinch and he stops. "I don't think you're happy here, in this town. I think you're afraid of something or someone. I can help you."

He thinks I'm a damsel in distress and he can save me from the demons who haunt me. Nothing will help until I have her in my arms.

"There's nothing you can do to help me. I can't believe you used my friend to track me down. Whatever you think about the deal we struck changes nothing. One night, no names, no telling."

"You broke your own rules," he said.

"And that gives you the right to invade my life?"

"You broke your own rules, twice. You knew my name going into it, and you told your friend, not that it bothers me. I know you are afraid of something—tell me. I promise to help you."

I'm shaking. I can't do anything right, not even a one-night stand. I drop my gaze to the grass and in the moment I hesitate, he moves to catch me in his arms. He smells warm and safe, but I know it's a trap at worst and a false sense of security at best. The sight of the dead squirrels swinging from Brandon's hand plays in my head like a warning sign. I see his car parked close to my house. Brandon watches me because I am the prey.

I try to push Cole away. "You can't fix my life. No one can. You can only make it worse. The reason I stayed with you last night was to check an item off my bucket list. That's it. That's all you are to me. I knew you were going home in a couple of days, and I decided to treat myself. Just go and forget me."

"It's too late, I can't."

"Cole, I—" He stops me with a kiss. Longing and sadness both curl up through my soul. I can't and yet I do.

I kiss him back, so hard I bite his lip. A tear runs down my cheek and its salty sting mixes with the rough rasping of his unshaven chin. I've been empty and drained for so long, hiding from any emotion that the rush of sensations on my skin and through my soul is too much to bear. I lean into him and pull him at the same time.

His arms go around my waist to keep me upright and then one hand cups my ass. I lift my leg into it.

There is a humming in the air that drags my attention away from Cole. In an instant, I'm pushing Cole and turning the other direction. The crunch of tires on the gravel road fills my ears. A blinding flash of headlights shines on our faces.

"Shit," I mutter, hoarsely. Someone has come and I was a second away from being in the spotlight with my legs wrapped around Cole's waist. I'm going to be sick. I shield my eyes from the light, peeking out through the spaces between my fingers.

The Ford pulls closer and rolls to a stop.

"Cole, is that you?" A man's head and arm are out the window and he grins like an idiot at Cole.

"Javier? Oh, man! I had no idea." Cole takes his hand to shake and thumps his shoulder.

The car goes into park and the driver turns off the engine. I have to get out of here. Now. I know that car too well. Of all the fucking cars. Of all the fucking drivers to show up here on a Friday night.

But of course, he would. He might have even followed me. Of course, anyone from our high school days would think to find Cole here, this is where we used to party. Teenagers today had other hangouts, I suppose. But the old crowd remembers the bridge.

Javier and Cole are shooting the shit as the driver climbs out. If I run now, it makes me look more like prey, especially because I already look guilty. I drop into my seat but pause with my hand on the key in the ignition.

"So, Cole," I say loudly. "Your camper runs all right after all? I can go on home?"

Brandon saunters around his Ford as if he owns the road, then kicks a foot back onto one his wheels. He chews something as he leans back, staring at me. I can feel the crawl of his dirty thoughts on me from across the space. He is one of those creeps, those men you can sense undressing you and telling you what to do to them in their heads whenever they look at you. Even when I was dating Trey in high school and they were best friends, even when I was married and pregnant, Brandon was hovering as if waiting for a weakness, a moment to catch me alone.

Stupid as he is, he could surely put two and two together about my whereabouts last night now he knows Cole is in town. I could be wrong about my list of people who have contact with Trey. Maybe Brandon doesn't know where he is, but he could still mention his suspicions to Trey's mother or sister. They hate me with an ugly passion.

My blood pressure is sky-rocketing, and it takes all my self-control to keep calm and not hyperventilate, throw-up or run off.

Cole puts his hand on the open window of my car. I can't figure out why, though.

"Hey, thanks again for stopping," he says casually. "I probably could have fixed the oil in the dark, but you holding the flashlight made it simpler. I should have known Uncle Pete would have neglected the camper."

I frown at him before I realize he's playing along with my earlier suggestion. That it was coincidence for us to be out here, alone, and that I could continue on my way. Relief floods me. Even if Brandon doesn't really believe the story, it makes me feel better.

Once again, I am filled with conflicting emotions and totally wiped out of energy. Cole is too much for me.

And he's leaving town in two days. I nod and turn over the engine.

He dips his head to whisper. "Is it Brandon you're afraid of?"

"No." This is partly a lie. "You want to know my story? Ask them. Ask them what's up with the other guys from school. Ask them about Trey." I put the car in reverse. "And Cole, don't try to contact me ever again."

*** Hugs for reading! I hope you are enjoying it so far! ***