Ready For You Read Online Free Page A

her in the airport every time I flew. If I caught a glimpse of a brunette beauty with brilliant blue eyes, I’d wonder where she was going and who she was going to see.  
    And now, with Connor on my shoulders and Leah next to me, holding her daughter, Lily, I saw her again across the farmers’ market. Out of the corner of my eye, a wisp of brown hair caught my attention, like it always did. But this one was different. This brunette had just the right amount of natural auburn mixed in, and the way the shimmery strands reflected the sun reminded me of summers gone by. I pivoted around just in time to see her face before she turned away into the crowd. My heart recognized her before my mind did, and my heartbeat galloped to full speed the second my eyes saw her.  
    I’d spent so many years imagining this moment—the day when I saw her again. I didn’t know how many hours I’d wasted, wondering what it would be like to have Mia walk back into my life. Would she come running back, apologizing for everything and begging for forgiveness? Would she look the same? Would she still want me like I wanted her? Or would she have moved on in the way I couldn’t?  
    Before I could even register the fear and trepidation of the unknown that would have me running in the opposite direction, straight for the sanctuary of the ignorant and unaware, I called out to her.  
    She turned, and I saw her, all of her, for the first time in eight years.
    She looked shell-shocked, frozen, and scared. She had a death grip on the woman beside her.  
    On a closer look, I recognized Olivia Prescott. We’d gone to high school together. I hadn’t seen her in years, but I remembered her because of Mia. They had been best friends, so we’d spent a lot of time together. The last time I’d seen Olivia, I hadn’t been the sanest of men. I probably owed her an apology.
    “Hi, Garrett,” Mia said softly.  
    She didn’t seem surprised to see me. That paired with the death grip and panic on her face led me to believe she’d spotted me first…and she must have been fleeing when I called out to her.
    She had chosen to run, rather than face me—again.
    Fuck, that hurt.  
    “You look well,” she said politely.  
    “You, too,” I answered awkwardly.  
    Now that I knew she didn’t want to see me, I wasn’t really in a talkative mood. Any scenario I had envisioned of our long-awaited reunion didn’t include her trying to dodge me in the middle of a crowd. I thought I at least deserved a, Hey, how are you, Garrett? Sorry I bailed on you right after you asked me to marry you. Yeah, that was a shitty thing to do.
    Whatever.
    “Garrett, are you going to introduce us?” Leah asked, turning to me with an expectant look.  
    She had Lily balanced on her hip, which was getting harder to do. Lily had just passed her first birthday, and she was a fidgety little thing.  
    “Gah!” Lily screamed her version of my name, clapping her hands. Then, she held them out to me, using the universal signal for, Take me!  
    I took Lily into my arms and turned back to Mia. She quietly watched, her eyes darting between Leah and me as, she bit her lip. I remembered she would always bite it when she was nervous. It used to drive me wild. Unfortunately, it still did.  
    “Leah, this is Mia and Olivia—two friends from my high school days. Mia and Olivia, this is Leah,” I said simply. “This dude right here is Connor, and the princess in my arms is his little sister, Lily.”
    Mia was silent for a second longer than what would probably be considered socially correct, but she finally smiled. “They’re lovely, Garrett. Really, you have a beautiful family.”  
    Tears rimmed her eyes, and for one split second, I really wanted to just thank her and turn around to leave. I wanted to make her feel the pain I’d felt when I went to her house and found that letter along with that same pain I’d felt every fucking day because I couldn’t find a way to move on.