The last thing Robin wants is to rely on the man who left him at the altar, but when he has no one else to turn to, he runs to Green Hill—and Billy. They were friends before, and he hopes he can forgive Billy and heal from the heartache, especially since he has no intention of leaving now that he’s here.
Miko’s only nineteen, way too young to meet his mate, yet there he is. Miko isn’t sure what to do with a mate, but he’s willing to give it a chance. He knows he did the right thing when the grandparents he’s never met reach out to him. They want to get to know him, but there’s a reason Miko’s father left them behind, and even though they insist they’ve changed, it sounds too good to be true.
And maybe it is.
But Robin is there to support Miko every step of the way, so maybe there’s some truth in the belief that mates find each other when they do for a reason.
Robin thrummed his fingertips on the steering wheel and peered outside. He hadn’t known what to expect from Green Hill, but it wasn’t this place that almost looked like heaven. He was driving slowly down Main Street, and he couldn’t believe that such a town still existed in the country.
Everything was quaint and clean and looked like it belonged in a movie. To his left, there was a big park, and he could see children playing and dogs running. To his right was a row of stores, including a coffee shop, a pet store, and the bookstore he was looking for.
He swallowed. He’d googled the place, so he knew that if he continued driving, he’d find a parking lot on his right. He could leave his car there and go to the bookstore to talk to Jude, or maybe even Billy.
Or he could stay in his car and go back.
Dread grabbed his stomach, reminding him there was a good reason he’d left his life behind. He couldn’t go back, and honestly, he didn’t want to. When Jude and Billy had moved to Green Hill, Robin had lost most of his support system. He’d been alone when he’d had to deal with Lawford Spencer, which was the reason he’d run.
And now, here he was.
He tried not to stare at the store as he drove by it. He couldn’t see inside, but it looked good. He’d seen the pictures on Jude’s social media, so he recognized it, and knowing he was so close made him want to throw up.
He managed to keep calm until he found the parking lot and slid his car into one of the empty spots. Once the engine was off, though, he sucked in a breath, closed his eyes, and pressed his forehead against his hands on the steering wheel.
He could do this. He had to do this. He didn’t have a choice, when his grandmother was the only other person who could help him. He didn’t want to bring trouble to her door, and he had no way to know how Spencer would react now that he was gone. Hopefully, the guy would realize that what he’d done was wrong and leave Robin alone.
Somehow, Robin doubted that.
There was nothing special about him, nothing that should push Spencer to follow him to Green Hill, but he wouldn’t put it past the man. Robin needed a place to hide, and no one would guess that he’d run to the man who’d abandoned him at the altar.
It wasn’t as dramatic as that, of course. Billy hadn’t actually left him at the altar, but they’d been close to it. If Billy hadn’t run, they would be married, and knowing that they weren’t sent a pang of sadness through Robin.
He wasn’t looking forward to seeing Billy again, and if he could have avoided doing so at all, he would have. But he needed help, and his boss wouldn’t find him here, so it was the perfect place for him to hide. It meant he’d have to face what had happened between him and Billy, but maybe it was time for both of them to do just that.
Robin had no idea what was happening in Billy’s life. He’d been doing his best to stay away from Billy’s social media, but he hadn’t been able to avoid seeing a few pictures of him on Jude’s. The two of them were best friends, and where Jude was, so was Billy. So Robin had seen him at the bookstore opening, smiling and hugging Jude. There had been other people with them, and one of the men had his arm around Billy’s waist. Seeing that had made Robin want to throw up, but he wasn’t surprised Billy had already moved on. Billy had been the one to leave him behind, after all.
He looked back. The back seat, like the trunk, was full of his things. He’d packed everything he couldn’t live without, which meant he’d never have to return. He hoped he wouldn’t have to, anyway. Some people might think he’d left his entire life behind, but the way he saw it, he’d left the complicated and awful part of it. He still had a life, and while he didn’t know if it would be in Green Hill, this town seemed good enough for him to hide for a bit. He just needed Spencer to stop emailing him. Once the man realized that Robin was out of his reach, surely, he would.
Robin had to believe that, so he repeated it to himself as he finally found the courage to exit his car. He didn’t like leaving all of the stuff there for anyone to see and possibly try to steal, but he didn’t have a choice.
He grabbed his wallet and his phone from the passenger seat, pushed them into his pockets, and locked the car. He made sure it was locked, just in case, then looked around.
It didn’t look like anything bad could happen in this town, not even someone breaking into his car and stealing his things. Hopefully, Green Hill wasn’t lying to him. He didn’t know what he’d do if he came back to find out that his stuff was gone. Break down, probably.
He couldn’t waste any more time, so he left the parking lot and walked down the sidewalk, headed to the bookstore. Once he reached it, it took him another few minutes to gather his courage and push the door open.
The smell of books assaulted him, and he took a few seconds to inhale. It was calming, and it helped his racing heart.
At least until he remembered why he was here and who he was looking for.
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