Who You Least Expect Read Online Free Page A

the look in his eyes was any indication, he hated her. And she didn’t blame him a bit.
    “Here you are,” the waitress said.
    Blakely jumped when the woman settled a plate in front of her and walked away. She gulped hard and looked away. Even though her appetite was gone, she took a bite anyway and the usually delicious light, fluffy pancakes felt like sawdust in her mouth.
    “God, BB,” he said, and at the playfulness in his voice, she looked up, noting that the anger that had marked his expression just moments ago had faded. “No wonder you’ve been practically killing yourself to avoid being alone with me.”
    “It’s just…after all this time, I didn’t know what to say.”
    “How about, ‘Hey, Matt. How have you been for the last two decades?’”
    Maybe he hadn’t changed so much after all.
    He smiled, the expression reminding her of the same look she’d seen a million times during their childhoods. “Now I’m still pissed and you still owe me an explanation, but I’m also damn happy to see you. I missed you, Blakely.”
    “I missed you too, Mathias,” she said quietly.
    And just like that, the tension that had sprung up dissipated. Mathias Poole could hold a grudge with the best of them, and she wouldn’t have blamed him one bit if he’d held one against her. She deserved it, but she hadn’t wanted to face the reality of it. And that reluctance had kept her away, but as she looked across the table at him now, she remembered something else about him, something that she’d let herself forget. She remembered his capacity for forgiveness, remembered how hard he always tried to understand. And when he turned up his lips in that smile she knew so well, the fear that had kept her from talking to him seemed insignificant, especially in the face of the easy camaraderie that came back as if it had never left.
    “Hey, Matt. How have you been for the last two decades?” she said with a chuckle.
    He laughed, the lines in his face new, but that sound and the pure joy he’d always radiated when he’d laughed as familiar as it had always been.
    Her appetite came roaring back and she dug in with renewed vigor, and after ordering pancakes of his own, she and Matt talked like they always had, the time and distance receding. They had many things to discuss and she still needed to make amends for what she’d done, but in this moment, being with her friend was all that mattered.
    Matt turned and smiled brightly, waving someone over. Before she’d even looked up, Cody was folding his large frame into the booth next to her, leaving her no choice but to move over. She did move, trying to leave a little space between them. It wouldn’t stop her from feeling the heat of his body, stop her from smelling his clean, manly scent, but she might maintain at least some of her equilibrium if they weren’t touching.
    Or not.
    She moved as far as she could, practically hugging the wall, but his hard thigh still brushed against her own, his biceps did the same, and the hair on his forearm teased her, the light rub of his arm against hers as he moved igniting a riot of sensations that weren’t appropriate for Love’s or anywhere else for that matter.
    “Hey, man,” Matt said, nodding at Cody. And then he looked back to Blakely. “You remember Sommers, right, BB?”
    “Of course she does,” Cody interjected, turning his gaze to Blakely, the look in his eyes light but still daring her to contradict him.
    She returned his stare, trying to stay nonchalant, keep things casual. “Vaguely,” she said, to which Cody laughed.
    “And how do you know ‘BB’?” Cody asked, turning his gaze away from her to look at Matt.
    “Me and Ms. Bishop go way back, Sommers. Way, way back.”
    Cody’s smile dropped, and he shifted, breaking the contact between them. Blakely was relieved, knowing that she’d have at least a shot at being focused if there was distance between them, but disappointed at the loss of his touch nonetheless.