Chapter 172

Melanie

When he comes through the back door, he brings the cold in with him, both figuratively and literally. His eyes meet mine, and it sends shivers to my core. I'm constantly looking for things to be the same as it was before I left. When will it change? I'm not sure. I don't know if it ever can. Regardless of why I did what I did, I seem to have made a deeper dent in things than I meant to.

I'm super thankful that Kara is here right now.

"Hey!" She grins over at Weston. "What's going on?"

He rolls his shoulders, causing the flannel he's wearing to tighten, and I can't help but notice how he's filled out. When I left, he was still a teenager.  His body was lanky, and he could barely grow a beard. But here he is, a fully developed man with tattoos and muscles I would like to map with my fingertips.

He pulls out his chair and has a seat. "Same shit, different day. What I would love is some of that meat I'm smelling cooking."