His Game

Epilogue

Don't forget, this is a continuation of the introduction/prologue! If you need to, go back and read that :)

His Game: Epilogue

Joey POV

"Joey?"

In an instant, my eyes find him through the crowded bar. Despite the dancing bodies moving all around and the strobing lights only illuminating spaces for a second or two before darting off somewhere else, I find him.

I never thought I would see Rhett Calvetti again.

I never see people from the places I've lived in and moved on from. I put them so far out of my mind, that even if I do run across someone from my past, I wouldn't put two and two together and they'd be just another stranger on the street.

I shouldn't be surprised that that tactic doesn't work with Rhett.

"Joey?" He repeats, his body slipping easily through the crowd and towards me.

My friends have already dissipated into the bar, finding the craziest part of the dancing room and have joined the drunkest people so they don't look as ridiculous when they dance.

Then he's in front of me, and everything I've fought so hard to keep away for the last few years threatens to come rushing back.

I'm still the same Joey I was and he's still the same Rhett I remember. Only now he's older. He has a dusting of dark stubble across his jaw, signifying a few days of missed shaving, and he fills his shirt out with more muscle than when we were 18. His hair is slightly shorter, lighter, and all of his features seem more defined. But his eyes are what make me nearly suck in a breath.

They used to be so playful, so confident to the point of pure cockiness. Now, they seem almost darker. Older. They're missing the mischievous smile they always held. But, I do notice the way they shine with the same emotion they did back then as he looks at me now. 

Rhett grins as he steps up to me, a disbelieving laugh passing his lips. "Josephine Chapman, what are the-"

"Joey," I cut him off, a teasing grin playing naturally at my lips as I stare at him through my lashes.

He looks confused for all of a second, and then his eyes melt into a sort of familiarity and he glances down with a small chuckle, throwing his hands in his pockets.

"My mistake," he says as he lifts his eyes to mine, "Joey, cute." He tries to smirk, to get that first moment we met completely right, but he can't hold it without having it turn into a nearly mesmerized smile.

My own teasing smirk melts into a small smile and I stare up at him, still partially under the belief that this is some weird dream and that he's not really standing in front of me.

"It's good to see you, Rhett," I say honestly.

He nods towards the bar with that same smile refusing to leave his lips. "Let me buy you a drink."

We sit at the bar, the bartender sliding over with two beers already in hand. He glances at me, back at Rhett, then at me once more, and something in his eyes seems to click as he nods to himself. And this time when he glances between us, he smiles and walks away as though he just won something.