Here's Where The Story Ends // The Sundays

Present Day

Pete

As I pull my car around the curve, the place I've been dreading comes into view. The infamous cabin of Salt Creek. I park along the side of the house–next to Matt's minivan of all things. He's gone full on girl dad mode since he and Hannah had their daughter, Honor. With a deep sigh and every regret I've ever had, I look up at the place I've spent the last three years trying to forget. Memories of my last time here roll past. My last few times, actually. It seems like every time I'm here something life changing happens. Hopefully the life that gets changed on this trip isn't mine.

It's Jeff's turn to make a life altering decision. He's getting married this week, finally, after a 3 year engagement. I guess the last time we were all here, a personal low point in my life, his future was irrevocably altered. He proposed to his soon-to-be wife, Alison, during the Moonlight festival. He's always been overly attached to this mountain resort town. His family is close friends with the owner, which tracks considering Jeff's dad is a billionaire. Leo seems to know just about everyone in Fallbrook Hills and the surrounding areas, including mountain communities it would seem.

When Jeff told me they were planning a destination wedding, I figured he'd put his dad's wallet to good use and splurge. But Jeff's never been one to wield his dad's cash as if it were his own. He worked hard to buy a junker car like an average high school kid, then proceeded to earn a full scholarship for football rather than ride his dad's ticket to some snooty ivy league university. It figures Jeff would pick a local community for his big day rather than some exotic spot. But I wish he'd picked any place in the world other than Salt Creek. An island in the Caribbean. A cruise to Alaska. Fucking Siberia. Anything other than the one place on Earth that holds all of my regrets.

Well, most of them.

The ones that keep me up at night, anyway.

I grab my bag from the backseat and steel myself to face my past. I haven't seen most of these people in three years. I get together with Jeff and Matt a few times a year for a guys night. They've become domesticated since they wifed up. Technically, Jeff doesn't have a wife, yet, but he's been attached to Alison at the hip since they met. Completely gone for her. It's my luck that he was blinded by love at the exact time in history when love almost destroyed our friendship.

Kissing his sister is the worst thing I could have done. Jeff is the best guy I know. Betraying him like that eats me alive. I've been waiting for the bomb to drop for the last three years, but it never has. After my last encounter with Kyra, I figured she would tell him everything.

But she didn't.

I haven't seen her since.

Transferred to a school out of state and never looked back. Not physically. But my mind is never too far from that kiss.

I take the steps to the porch two at a time, ready to get this over with. The door is unlocked so I step inside to find the guys hanging out in the living room congregated around Matt and his little girl.

"Hey, Pete! You made it!" Jeff leaps up from the couch and grabs me in a bear hug. "It's been too long."

I nod and pat his back with my free hand. "Yeah." It's been too long for a huge reason, but I keep that to myself.

"Pay up," Geo says to Micah while punching him in the shoulder.

"Can't believe you showed your face," Micah grumbles as he pulls twenty bucks out of his wallet. "I was sure you'd bail."

I'm frozen in place, jaw dropped at how little they think of me. "You all figured I'd no-show to Jeff's wedding?"

"Nah. I figured you'd barrel in at the last minute. Just in time for vows. But I gotta say, I didn't see you spending a whole week with us." Micah shakes his head. "What was your excuse last time we all came up here? You had a cold?"

"No, that was two years ago. Last year it was something to do with a job he had." Geo chimes back in. Then the two of them look at me. And wait.

So, I've lied a few times to avoid this mountain. I didn't think anyone had noticed.

I clear my throat. "Yeah, um, I had to save up for tuition." At least that part's true.

"Dude, you gave up a full ride at Fallbrook for a school across the country that didn't even cover tuition?" Matt says while bouncing Honor on his knee for a horsey ride. "Why?"

Jeff throws an arm around my shoulder. "The only reason a guy would do that is for a girl." He smirks. "What's her name and did you break her heart?"

My own heart feels like it's about to pound out of my chest. He hit way closer to home than he knows.

"No. I think she broke mine." And that's as close to the truth as I'm willing to get. I'm in no way lying to myself that I hurt Kyra. I know I did. And I hate that as much as the fact I put her in a position to have her heart broken in the first place.

I certainly didn't do myself any favors if the last three years showed me anything. I realize I broke my own heart.

But I didn't blow up a friendship. That's the only reason I can face myself in the mirror everyday.

"Bro, I had no idea you even had a heart. I've heard the stories about your high school escapades." Geo leans back in his chair. "Or should I call them sexcapades. You got around more than I did."

"I doubt that." I shift my bag from one hand to the other, just about done with this line of questioning. I hate thinking about high school. I hate thinking about most of my time in Fallbrook Hills and Salt Creek. I was a dick.

"So, where should I drop my stuff? Have all the rooms been taken already?" Hazards of being the last one to arrive but I wanted to avoid Kyra for as long as possible.

"Plenty of rooms left upstairs." Jeff says, grabbing my bag and leading me upstairs. I follow like the lame duck I am.

Fitting.

"The girls have the next cabin over. Alison wanted to do a more traditional bachelorette party and events for the first part of the week. We've got a few guys' outings planned before we all reconvene midweek."

Finally, I catch a break. We've got a few days of separation before I'm in the same room as Kyra. I've built up this reunion between us in my head to the point it's making me sick.

But it's been three fucking years.

The last time I saw her, Kyra literally tackled me to the ground. She forced the conversation I'd avoided for a year. Not my best decision. If I'd only had the balls to confront her right after that first kiss...if I'd been man enough to hold back in the first place, we wouldn't have this chasm the size of the Grand Canyon between us .

"Here." Jeff throws open the last door at the end of the hallway. "I know you like a room with a view of the creek." He smiles at me like I'm a good guy.

"Yeah. Thanks."

If he only knew I liked the view back in the day because I'd watch Kyra prance around in a bikini dreaming of untying the bows. How I pictured my hands all over her body.

And worse. How I have felt the heat of her skin. The soft curves of her hips.

How I still dream of holding her against me.

"I'm so damn happy you're up here, man." Jeff grabs me in another bear hug. The guy is fucking emotional. I guess weddings will do that. "I've missed you, bro." He hugs me yet again.

Fuck. The guilt is eating me alive. How many times have I picked up the phone, determined to confess, only to wimp out?

The devil on my shoulder would pipe up, cursing me. Telling me it was only a kiss. Who cares?

But it wasn't just a kiss. Not for me. And based on the way Kyra took me out last time, not for her either.

I fucking fell for her, little by little, the entire time I was hanging out with Jeff. That kiss sealed the deal.

If I hadn't spent literally all four years of high school being a complete asshole to every girl I hooked up with, Jeff might actually be open to me dating his sister. But he knows how bad I was. He knows about the parties. He knows how often I messed around. There's no way he'd be open to it.

"Glad to be here. Can't wait to see you marry the woman of your dreams." I feel that down to my bones but it sticks in my gut to say anyway. I won't be marrying the girl of mine.

"Hell, yeah. It's about fucking time." Jeff heads back to the hall. "Settle in and then head down. We're meeting up with everyone for dinner at the lodge in an hour."

"Everyone?" Shit. "I thought you said we weren't hanging with the girls until midweek."

"True. Except for a few meals. Anyway, see you down there."

I watch as Jeff bounces down the hallway, wondering if I'll make it through this week without having some kind of stroke. I rub my head and lay on the bed.

Then I repeat the words I've been saying since I got the invitation.

It's been 3 years.

We've both moved on.

The focus is on Jeff and Alison.

We probably won't even be around each other that often.

Kyra's probably dating someone by now.

That last thought always hits the worst. Part of me hopes she is dating someone. That she brings him for the week and shoves him in my face so I'll stop wishing for things I can't have. But mostly, I hate even the thought of her with someone else. Which isn't fair in any way. I can't help it.

I still want her.

I'm so fucked.

There's nothing I can do about it now. I'm here. She's here. We'll be in the same room again. I can handle my shit. I can keep my distance. I can hold myself back.

I'm not going to ruin my friendship with Jeff.

I repeat those words in my head as I get ready for dinner.

And again when I head downstairs.

They play on repeat as we walk toward the lodge.

I meditate on them as we enter the dining room. We're led to a back room where the resort has set up a private table for our group. And I'm confronted with the object of my desires only five feet away.

Kyra stands across from me in a skin tight blue dress. Her dark hair falls in waves across her shoulders with the sunlight filtering in from behind her like a halo. She looks up, making eye contact. We both freeze with eyes on each other.

And every thought I had about saving my friendship with Jeff flies out the window.

If I thought I was fucked before I laid eyes on her, I'm absolutely fucked now.

Pete's a mess. Next week we get Kyra's POV. And how cute is Matt as a girl dad? That'll be more prominent as Sunlight progresses. I can't wait!!

PLUS - Check out the pic below! It's the amazingly gorgeous cover for Not Another Diva!!! Coming October 28. ARC requests are open if you'd like one.

Okay, I deviated from Echo and the Bunnymen for this chapter, but it was such a fitting song I couldn't resist.

[There should be a GIF or video here. Update the app now to see it.]

Thanks so much for reading!! And here is the cover reveal => Two covers!! The model cover will be a paperback only special edition with bonus content ;-)