Chapter 29

My friends had been trying to get me out of the house, and I'd been successful at avoiding them, even for my birthday, but somehow, Scarlett talked me into going to De Shield's down the street from my apartment. I figured I needed to eat, and it was a casual hole-in-the-wall, so I didn't have to put on anything other than a tank top, jeans, and Docs. It took no effort, which was good because I wasn't putting forth any. Glancing in the mirror, my cheeks were pink, and my hair looked better than it ever had, thick and shiny. Gray had been right; it was much darker than it had been a couple years ago. It fell in soft, loose curls around my shoulders and down my back. I opted to pull it up into a ponytail for simplicity as my doorbell sounded.

When Scarlett and I walked in the restaurant chatting, I instantly stopped speaking when we rounded the hostess stand. I couldn't have prepared myself for the sight I saw as the girl showed us to our table. Not fifteen feet inside the door sat Gray