:: Holly's POV ::
It had been two days since I had seen Sam at the bonfire and he hadn't left my mind. Not for a minute. Hell, not even for a second. It was almost as if things had never changed, yet they had. Dramatically. Sam was no longer mine and I was no longer his, and as we grew older in our teen years we had never spent time together being anything other than an overly affectionate couple; we didn't really know how to be anything else. Even so, it was more than that; he was my best friend and I was his. I had never imagined my world without Sam Hunt until I had been forced to. After seeing him it was hard not to imagine the what ifs and the what could've beens between us. It was hard not to fall back into the same thoughts but it was wrong; I was with someone else and dreaded the thought of Sam finding out who. He knew I was dating someone but that was the extent of it.
I was on my way to meet Macy at Flannigan's for lunch; it was the best burger joint in Georgia. Well, maybe that was just my biased opinion but I was going to stick to it. I knew Macy was looking forward to hearing what the exchange between Sam and I was like and due to the hecticness of my schedule the last couple days she had been forced to wait. Part of me wondered if I had kept my schedule busy just to avoid this oncoming conversation or because vocalizing my thoughts meant I was going to face the reality of them all. I wasn't sure I was ready for that.
"Holly!"
Macy's voice grabbed my attention as I found her sitting at a table on the patio. I waved at her acknowledging I had heard her and began to weave in and out of the picnic tables making my way to the one she was occupying. The closer I got I had become conscious of the fact she wasn't sitting alone; all I could see was a backward baseball hat and had assumed it was Matt. We all knew the two of them had something going on as much as they didn't want to admit it.
"Hey Mace." I smiled at her as I approached the table, "Sorry I'm late. I lost track of time."
"It's okay." She seemed rather chipper as she looked at the man across the table from her. My eyes followed the path hers had created and I soon realized that the baseball hat belonged to Sam.
"Hey." A smirk spread across his lips as he looked up at me and my heart was ready to hop out of my throat. One million thoughts were going through my head but the only one that seemed to stick out was the curiosity of why he was here.
"Sam was just inviting us to his gig at The Brew Room tonight." Macy explained as I took a seat at the picnic table beside him.
"Wow, I'm impressed." I looked at Sam and felt a small smile creep across my lips; it was hard not to smile around him. He made it so easy. His smile was contagious. I slid my sunglasses up on top of my head pushing my blond hair away from my face.
"Are you bustin my balls?" The smirk on his face grew into his usual breath taking smile as a laugh escaped from behind it.
"No." I laughed; I don't know why he thought I was picking on him. I really was impressed that he had a gig, I was more than curious to hear his talent. My eyes met his and I gave him a reassuring smile, "I'm serious Sammy. I'm impressed, I can't wait to hear."
Sammy? Oh my God, what was I thinking? I hadn't called him that in years. It just seemed to come out of my mouth so naturally that I never thought twice about it. He bobbed his head as his eyes met mine. I swear I could've gotten lost in them if Macy hadn't cleared her throat to remind us of her presence.
"Well, I'll let you guys get to your girly date here." Sam teased as he climbed out of his seat at the picnic table. He caught me off guard when he bent forward and kissed the side of my head; surely Macy saw the way my eyes widened in surprise. "You guys better be there tonight!"
