That Could've Gone Better.

What do you do when you run into your childhood best friend you have a massive crush on still?

Wow, do we have things to talk about. Because, I can’t even begin to process all of this.

I haven’t seen my best friend in years.

I haven’t been home in years to see anyone really. I haven’t had a need to. And now that I have come home to visit, I figured maybe there would be a possibility that I wouldn’t run into him.

But the other night, I did.

I saw him for the first time in years. For a second, looking at him, standing in front of me on the familiar street in our familiar little town, it felt like no time had passed at all. Though, of course it had.

My best friend since we were kids was standing outside of his mom’s bakery and really, I guess I should’ve steered clear if I didn’t want to see him.

Where else did I expect him to be after all?

He, however, clearly didn’t expect to see me.

I guess he shouldn’t have expected to see me ever though. I was supposed to be living it up as a writer in the city! Or at least, that’s what everyone in my small town thought.

Really, I haven’t written in months. I’ve been demoted from staff writer to a glorified “sandwich girl” before— oh right! I was fired less than 24 hours ago.

Really living it up over here.

And now my best friend— childhood best friend— was looking at me with as much disgust as I feel for myself about now. Earned disgust, sure. But for a second, I thought maybe he’d be at least somewhat happy to see me. Just a little?

I was wrong.

Shoving his hands in his pockets, all he said was, “I didn’t know you were coming home.”

Yeah. Me either.

I didn’t plan on it. Not until I got fired and now effectively have no idea what to do with my life.

“You said you’d never come back,” he went on when I guess I didn’t come up with an answer fast enough.

I was still so shocked to see him, and he looked… good. More than good.

He demanded to know why I hadn’t come back before now. Why hadn’t I answered the phone for all these years when he tried to reach out? Why was I so selfish when—

“I needed you,” he insisted, a slight break in his otherwise sturdy voice.

Maybe I was a horrible person, because I still couldn’t figure out what to say.

I know I messed up but…

But then, he ended the conversation. He moved to walk away before I could even try to tell him. What?

I still couldn’t figure that out.

That I as sorry? I was. I really really was.

I miss him, even if I shouldn’t. He was always my best friend. My—

“I would’ve been happy if you’d never come back. I would’ve been so happy if I never met you,” he said.

I blinked, standing there in the cold outside the bakery he and his mom used to make cookies with me in. I watched him walk away.

He had the right to be mad. But his words hurt me more than anything else lately.

Maybe ever.

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Sylvia has a lot of making up to do before this friends to lovers second chance has any chance at an HEA.

You read that right— you can find out what happens now in Call You Mine by Kendra Mase. Out now on Kindle, paperback, and Kindle Unlimited!

Above is not an excerpt from Call You Mine. But it is a recreation of an actual scene that takes place! Think of it as an expanded tease.

Are you ready to get reading?

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