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PROLOGUE

MITCH

Skylar had no idea that I watched her Once a week, I would sit in onally across from her house on the quiet suburban street where she lived noith hi about her with anotherto witness it

This spot was one of three where I parked that provided the perfect angle to see into her living room I would switch positions each week to be less conspicuous, and hts were always turned off A small pair of binoculars came in handy and except for the lack of a partner in crime, it was much like a stakeout you’d see in the movies

I packed dinner in a brown bag; usually a peanut butter sandwich and a protein shake and naling that she had gone to sleep Then, I’d drive home to my empty bed and hope that I’d dream about her

The nahborhood she deserved: safe, aligned with plush trees and perfectly manicured lawns, about two and a half hours outside of New York City in Jersey It was the next town over froined ould end up together, happily ever after

It had been five, long years since Skylar uttered a single word toout of state The word on the street was that she left to attend interior design school, but the truth was, she had been running away from me

Because I broke her heart

A few years after she left, she ive me inside information on her, and asdoith another man, if she were truly happy, I knew I had to accept it It was a whole lot easier when she was far away I’d assuht whena siet for toothpaste

I spotted her first She was looking down at the back label of a bottle of mouthhen I entered the aisle, and she hadn’t noticeda few feet away

My heart started to pound while irl, but nothing could have prepared rooain, but the intensity of uard

Her long, auburn hair was a bit darker now and tied into a low ponytail cascading down her back She earing a simple black and white plaid wool coat that had a thick belt wrapped around her tiny waist She seemed a lot taller, but when I looked down, I realized it was because she earing high-heeled boots

She still hadn’t turned to notice ht andbefore she walked away The as hardly audible when it came out “Skylar”

When her eyes ain for the first time in five years It made me realize how dead inside I had been

She took a small step back, and her chest rose up and down in shock Not only had this been the first time we’d laid eyes on each other since before she left town, but I looked a lot different

A couple of years ago, at the height of a depression, I started taking orous workout regier and probably a little scarier than the college boy she left behind

She didn’t know the half of how hardened I had become, more so on the inside She, on the other hand, looked delicate and sophisticated coed appearance in worn jeans and a soiled, beige construction jacket

She stood there speechless, looking down at the tattooed letters on my knuckles She never kneith tattoos

Say so

Then, I heard a male voice at the end of the aisle “Coin’ day”

Sky No one called her Sky She hated that nickna short with her I didn’t like his choice of words or the look on his face that I spied before turningto look at the toothpaste selection

I was seething Him I didn’t even know him, and I wanted to destroy hi I’d ever wanted

She turned around toward this guy who I could only assuht there” She sounded nervous, disco like the cool, self-assured Skylar I once knew…and loved I still loved her She had been my best friend, the most important person in the world to me for so many years…before I fked us up

My face was still turned ahen I heard her heels clicking away from me and more than that, I felt her body leave ered the return of a fa that I had only recently learned to keep at bay

I stayed in the sa blankly at the shelves as all of the eain

When I finallyto pay Her boyfriendin the car because he was nowhere in sight

Let her go, Mitch

I almost did…until I saw it

Skylar lifted her hand to her eyes and began wiping away tears She looked behind her shoulder toand didn’t realize I was just on the other side of her a few registers down hiding behind a azine My heart felt like it was ready to explode She was crying, and I kneas because of orated me

She still felt so

Whether it was sadness or hatred or even a fraction of love, I didn’t know But anything was better than coone forever, not only away fro dissipated I had never been able to ht have moved past what happened between us

As she wiped her eyes again, I knew I had to know more I just needed to knohether she was happy She sure as hell didn’t look it, and that ht for her, because I thought she was better off Even if she could never forgive me, I needed to know for my own sanity that Skylar was okay

So, that’s how the stalking ca; that was a little less creepy

It was freezing, but the heat stayed off because turning the car on would have drawn attention tonear her felt more like home than anywhere

Tonight, she was alone, and these were hts She’d sit on the couch and read or watch television Soh out loud to herself Staring at the lingering smile that folloas the best form of meditation for me When Skylar s to look at It was important for ether

On the other hand, she seehts, she spent ue a lot and one tietically As ht have to witness when I decided to do this, that really stung like hell to watch Thank God it ended there I wouldn’t have stuck around for anything more That’s for damn sure Show over at that point

She was reading tonight With my binoculars, I studied her pensive expression as she concentrated on her book with her legs wrapped in a knit blanket She had lit a couple of jar candles on the coffee table, and there was one lalasses I wondered when she started needing glasses and then stopped that thought process because it led s I had missed

I would have given anything to hold her while she read and to fall asleep with ht of that warure out why sohts he never caht if Skylar were mine

A howling wind shook h theHer eyelids becaht She had fallen asleep on the couch