Present...
"Harold?" Standing in front of me was the last person I thought I'd ever see. Out of all the people on the planet Ryan's friend was none other than Harold James, aka my ex-boyfriend.
"Bella." He seemed just as shocked to see me.
"You two know each other?" Ryan asked, looking between the two of us. I had no clue what to say so I just nodded.
As the two of us stood there frozen my eyes moved on their own, taking him in. The last five years has really done him well. Harold's always been in great shape with football, literally had the body every guy wish they had and girls wanted in a guy. Now he seemed to fill out a bit more.
His shoulders seemed wider and his waist trimmer, a lot less bulky than in college. The dark grey dress shirt he had on hugged his upper body nicely, showing off his biceps. The sleeves were rolled up to this elbows. My eyes widened as I noticed the tattoos running up both his arms. Damn, those were new. Next, I moved up from his body to his face.
What use to be slightly shaggy brown hair was now neatly cut, shaved at the sides and longer at the top. Styled perfectly. Somehow his face seemed thinner and his jawline more prominent, almost like he worked out his jaw muscles. I wasn't even sure that was possible. The young adult face now aged into a man. What surprised me the most was the neatly trimmed beard he had.
Back in college he rarely ever grew out his beard, sometimes having a 5 o'clock shadow but he usually kept it clean shaven. While it was a surprise it looked good on him. Really good in fact. Harold honestly still looked the same just more...manly. He even seemed to stand straighter and taller than before. It suited him.
While I studied him I could tell he was doing the same. His eyes traveling the length of my body, lingering for a second at my chest before going back to my face. I wish I could tell what he was thinking but his face was like a wall.
"Its uh...its been awhile." He finally spoke. The deep tone of his voice sending memories front and center in my mind. After years of wishing to hear that voice again I now was. I swallowed nodding.
"It has been."
Silence instantly dropped down on us, tension slowly building. His sudden appearance threw me off and I could tell I did the same to him.
"Bella." Hannah's voice made me turn my head in her direction. She grabbed my elbow and quickly turned us around and lead us a few feet away. Keeping her voice low she asked. "Is that the Harold who broke your heart?" I didn't trust my voice so I just nodded. She looked over my shoulder for a second before looking back at me.
"Do you want to leave? We can go right now and I'll meet up with Ryan another time." I could tell she meant that. She would walk out right now if I asked her to, leaving behind the guy she's been so anxious to see.
As much as every fiber of my being wanted to turn and run I couldn't. Hannah deserved this and I wasn't going to let anything ruin it, even if it killed me to stay. I knew I could tell her to stay while I went home but I knew Han. She would then constantly fret about me the entire time she was on her date. That also wasn't fair for her.
So for Hannah I was going to suck it up and stay. It's been five years since Harold and I broke up it should be fine. We are both adult and can handle the situation.
"No its okay we can stay."
"Bella."
"Really its fine. We are both adults and I am not going to let anything ruin your night." I stated firmly. I can push aside my feelings for a few hours. I've been doing it for the past five years, gotten pretty good at it.
Hannah stared into my face as if looking to see if I meant it.
"Are you sure? I don't mind leaving."
"Hundred percent. I want to meet this Ryan and make sure he isn't going to break my best friends heart." I gave her a smile letting her know I was okay, even though on the inside I was freaking the fuck out.
My smile seemed to ease her a bit and she gave me one in return.
"Remember the code word." She reminded me once more. I gave her a short nod and turned around. Just as I turned Harold did as well, our eyes meeting. I glanced away and instead looked at Ryan. I could see something on his face as he looked at me but he quickly masked it.
"Sorry about that." I apologized. "It's nice to meet you Ryan." I properly greeted him.
"No worries. It's nice to finally meet the best friend." He smiled kindly at me. "Hannah has told me so much about you." He said as he gestured for us to sit down. While he pulled out a chair for Hannah I quickly took a seat, feeling Harold's eyes on me the entire time.
Both guys took a seat across from us and of course Harold was directly across from me. His long legs bumped into mine making me shift to the side.
"So this looks like a good restaurant." Hannah quickly spoke. I could tell she was trying to ease the tension a bit.
"I heard good things about it and thought it would be perfect for tonight." I watched as he grabbed Hannah's hand over the table while smiling sweetly in her direction.
"I love it." A sudden nudge on my arm made me jump.
"It definitely looks good." I dumbly spoke. Thankfully at the exact moment the waiter walked up.
"Now that everyone is here, what can I get you guys to drink?" Ryan and Hannah quickly listed off what they wanted before it was my turn.
"A glass of red wine please." I had said I wasn't going to drink tonight but with the current situation I really needed something to take the nerves off. The waiter nodded and I didn't miss the way his eyes lingers on my exposed chest. I quickly brought my menu up to my chest as if I was about to look at it.
"I'll have a glass of bourbon." Harold spoke in a steel like tone. My head snapped up in his direction, seeing the daggers he was sending the waiter. As the waiter walked away I raised an eyebrow at his drink choice. That was new. In college he didn't drink that often but when he did it was usually just beer.
"I'm so glad you decided to join us. I know it was kind of a last minute thing." Ryan injected. I forced myself to look away from Harold and look at Ryan.
"Thanks for inviting me. I'm glad to finally meet the guy who has my best friend acting so giddy lately." I softly nudged Hannah's arm as I spoke.
"Well she is amazing." The loving look the two of them shared made me look away as if I was impeding on a moment. Almost like a magnet my eyes met Harold's once more.
This was going to be a long night.
Harold....She looked different. Good different but different none the less. Seeing Bella sitting across from me made me feel like I fallen into another universe. I had absolutely no clue she was going to be my double date tonight. When Ryan said his girlfriend was bringing her friend he never once mentioned her name or anything about her.I wasn't prepared to turn around and see her standing there. Standing there in what had to be one of the sexiest dresses I've ever seen in my life. I could do nothing but stand there and take her in. Everything from the way her bright red hair stood out against the white dress, to the way the said dress hugged her curves.Bella looked different than when I last saw her five years ago. The obvious was that her hair was longer but it was still that same bright red that caught my attention five years ago. The same red hair I imagined in my sleep.She also seemed to have grown into her body more. I wasn't e
Harold....She looked different. Good different but different none the less. Seeing Bella sitting across from me made me feel like I fallen into another universe. I had absolutely no clue she was going to be my double date tonight. When Ryan said his girlfriend was bringing her friend he never once mentioned her name or anything about her.I wasn't prepared to turn around and see her standing there. Standing there in what had to be one of the sexiest dresses I've ever seen in my life. I could do nothing but stand there and take her in. Everything from the way her bright red hair stood out against the white dress, to the way the said dress hugged her curves.Bella looked different than when I last saw her five years ago. The obvious was that her hair was longer but it was still that same bright red that caught my attention five years ago. The same red hair I imagined in my sleep.She also seemed to have grown into her body more. I wasn't e
After our small conversation we lapsed back into silence. I picked at my meal and across from me Harold did the same, deep in thought. Besides us Ryan and Hannah were in their own little world. Harold and I's drama long forgotten as the pair chatted feverishly with one another.Hannah had moved to sit closer. Their hands intertwined on the table, the food long forgotten between them. I watched jealously. They both were so into each other and I was right in easing Hannah's nerves about Ryan not liking her. By the way he was gazing at her the man was in love. She didn't know it but she already had him wrapped around her finger."They may a cute couple." Harold said, making me jump slightly. I hadn't realized how full on staring I was doing."They do." I murmured. While I was slightly jealous I was happy for my best friend. She deserved it."I promise you he is a good guy. Probably one the best guys I've ever met." Harold looked at the couple before looking
We spent the rest of the meal swapping old stories, laughing at some of the stupid things we did. It almost felt like old times sitting there laughing along with him. The earlier tension between us long gone.Being around Harold was just so easy. It always has been from the moment we met. He always just had this thing about him that made you feel so comfortable. It was why I fell so hard and fast for him. That and the fact that he made me feel like no one ever has.Before Harold I had two boyfriends and neither of them were that memorable. One was my junior year of High School. I wouldn't even classify it as a relationship honestly. We 'went' out, and by went out we went to get ice cream like three times, for maybe a month. We only had one class together and had totally different friend groups so we rarely ever saw each other. We only kissed twice too. t was a weird random relationship and after maybe a month we both kind of just stopped talking.My second boyfr
I was up pretty early the next day not having slept much. My mind raced back and forth about everything, replaying what happened earlier with Harold. Laying there staring up at the ceiling I had to almost pinch myself to make sure I didn't make up last night.It was so surreal seeing Harold again. It was a bit surprising that I haven't run into him in the past five years. With him playing for the Patriots the stadium was literally half an hour from my apartment. It was a pretty good chance of me running into him but I haven't until now.However I have seen him plenty of times on TV. It was probably some sort of self-punishing but once in a while I would watch his games or his interviews, slightly keeping up to date on his career.It wasn't healthy but when he started in his very first game, maybe 8 months after we broke up, I sat with my mom on the couch and watched him play. The entire time my stomach was in my throat seeing him get hit then get right back up f
"So have you heard from the happy couple?" Harold asked after our little awkward staring."Not yet. But I doubt I'll see Hannah the rest of the weekend." We both shared a look as we sipped our coffee."I'm surprised they even let us know they were leaving last night." He commented."It's a bit...crazy to see how smitten she is with him already. She isn't really the type to fall for a guy.""Ryan's been talking non-stop about her." By the way he was talking Ryan had been annoying to be around. "He seems to really like her."We weren't exactly talking about dating but the one question I've been dying to ask came back with vengeance. I was torn between asking in fear of the answer. But before I could stop myself I was already asking it."So...no one special in your life at the moment?" I asked trying to be nonchalant. I took a bite of my muffin to downplay my question, but my entire body was tense as I waited for his answer. I wasn't sure how I
After our slightly intense talk about my mom we turned to lighter conversation. Pretty much just talking about things that have happened in the past five years. I talked about how I enjoyed running my mom's bridal shop, adding in funny mother/mother-in-law stories, and how I came to become friends with Hannah.Harold talked about how intense football training was compared to college and how he threw up everyday for a good week when he got drafted, the workouts being that intense. He talked about how he had to prove himself to each of the 'senior' players. When he said how proud his parents were and how they always came to his games, I tried my absolute best to not grimace. It seemed he had absolutely no idea about what went down with his parents and me.It was just nice sitting there chatting and learning how his life turned out since I last saw him. Compared to him my life was severely boring but he still listened intently, never interrupting. It felt like no time had
"Woah." I breathed staring up at the stadium. It was even bigger in person. In all of my 26 years I've never been to the stadium. With it just being my mom and I we weren't that much into football and if we were we didn't have the money to go to any games."Come on." Harold reached for my hand and tugged me towards him. My eyes went to our hands, a tingle shooting up my arm. His hand easily engulfed mine and I could feel the calluses from years of playing ball, some of them rougher than they use to be back. I always use to love how our hands fit together.I drew my attention away from our hands and looked around me. Harold lead me through a set of double doors, holding the door above my head as I walked through. Our hands were disconnected for just a moment but the second I was through he was lacing our fingers once more.I took everything in as we walked down an empty hallway, our footsteps echoing around us."Where are we?" I whispered feeling like I ha