(Gabriel's POV)
(May 13th, 2009)

For the last month I'd overheard phone conversations of Liam and Addy talking about some new girl at the bar.

Every time they said Hailey, I got my hopes up a little, but I figured if she was back in town one of my family members would have the decency to tell me about it.

It appeared that I had misjudged their loyalty to me.

Although I hadn't seen her in way too long and she had changed a little bit over the course of the last four years, as soon as I entered the bar and saw the back of her chestnut hair, I knew it was Hailey.

It wasn't so much the look of her, although she was a god damned pleasure to look at. It was a feeling that I had when she was around. My stomach immediately knotted, my heart immediately lifted and there was a feeling of coming home.

I walked over to the bar slowly, overwhelmed with the fact that I was going to be seeing her after so much time. As I walked closer I was intrigued to hear Addy talking about setting her up. I could only assume that I was the single best friend and so listened carefully to her response.

I couldn't help but laugh quietly as she explained her intent of gathering dust on her vagina throughout the Summer. Who was this Gavin guy? I felt a spike of jealousy that I had no right to feel. But, then the squeal of Addy as she realized that I had come in did serious damage to my ear drums.

Hailey turned around and I caught a glimpse of her face. All the air left my lungs.

How embarrassing that I am today years old, when I m truly understand the word breathtaking.

I sat down at the bar, not able to look away from her. I always wondered if my memory of her beauty had been skewed by time and the bias of my heart. NoPE she was actually prettier then I had remembered and I took a deep breath, excited that she was home but also knowing that a confrontation was ahead of us.

She might not have felt the same way for me but we were friends and she didn't honour our friendship in the least, running away and ignoring me for the better part of four years. I planned on getting an explanation from her.

For a long time I had been angry with her but now I was just hurt at how she had handled it and if she was home, it would be nice if I could get a semblance of my friend back.

It would be even better if that friend magically grew feelings for me although it sounded like she wasn't going to be looking for a relationship anytime soon.

I don't know how long I had been quiet just staring and thinking but it couldn't have been that long as I finally registered that Addy had asked me where Liam was.

I quietly watched the exchange as Hailey connected that Lee was Liam and then I felt the heat rush to my cheeks as Addy's eyes widen, connecting that we already know each other and who Hailey really is to me.

I silently begged her to not embarrass me as she connected the dots. The amount of times that I had drunken conversations about the love that got away from me was absurd and I could tell the moment Addy figured it out.

She managed to not say anything so I let her know that Liam had wanted to shower before seeing her and then couldn't help but address the comment I had overheard, "I thought about showering before I came in too, but I've heard all the girls around here have dusty vaginas, so why would I?"

I laughed in delight as Haileys cheeks flushed a deeper red. Holy shit. She was gorgeous.

The door gave a ding, letting us all know that someone was coming in but I couldn't pull my eyes away from her. A fact that I immediately regretted as I was overwhelmed with the scent of Stephie. Her floral perfume stretched around me like a cloud, as her arms wrapped around me from behind and I shuddered.

We had a drunken night before Liam and I had left for this job. A night that I had instantly regretted and now even more so. She breathed into my ear, "Gabriel, you guys are back! I've missed you."

How was I supposed to respond to that? I hadn't missed her, if anything it had been a relief to get away after sleeping with her because I knew she had already developed feelings and she really just wasn't someone that I wanted to spend time with. She had always been a little bit of a mean girl and just wasn't my type. It had been a mistake and now watching Hailey take us in, I knew she was getting the wrong impression and didn't know how to correct it without being a complete asshole.

Stephie was apparently not adept at reading body language as she moved her body closer to mine and said, "maybe we can hang out again after my shift?"

Hailey moved down the bar, obviously giving us the privacy that we did not need because nothing was going on. Fuck, I needed to tell her that I wasn't interested but I wasn't going to do that while she was about to start her shift. So instead, I just said, "actually I'm just grabbing a quick beer and a bite to eat and then going home to crash. It's been a long ass month."

Before Stephie could argue, Addy gave her a look. "Time for you to go clock in there lady!" Steph responded with a dirty glare but listened and flounced off, obviously annoyed with the both of us.

I picked up my beer and took a sip in relief. I met Addy's eyes to say thank you and that relief quickly receded. Her eyes were spitting out fury and I swallowed hard as she hissed, "The fuck, Gabe? You and Liam told me that Hailey never had any feelings for you."

I looked at her in surprise, trying to wrap my head around the fact that Addy was so mad at me right now. She gave me a hard stare waiting and then sighed when she realized I was more than confused, "Gabriel, that woman in there has always loved you! She also has absolutely no idea that you ever felt the same way. Did you ever try to actually tell her how you felt?"

My thoughts jumbled as I considered her question carefully, feeling more and more befuddled and shaking my head."No."

I thought through our history, I had pulled away when I started to develop feelings for her.

Then the first time I had kissed her, I'd given her the impression that it was a mistake.

When I finally put the moves on her, I had done so drunkenly. I had thought that I was showing her how I felt but realistically had I ever told her that I was head over heels in love with her? Shit.

When she had woken up the morning after my birthday, she had essentially said that it was all a mistake and I had assumed that she had regretted it because she only saw me as a friend.

Now, with a little more experience with women and life in general, I couldn't help but wonder if she had just been protecting herself because she didn't know how I felt?

What if she really had feelings for me all along?

I couldn't help looking back through how things might have looked through her eyes.

I'd been so hurt that she had left and cut all ties with me, that I had ignored the fact that Hailey wouldn't have done so, without a good reason.

I stared blankly at Addy as I worked through things in my mind. I softly gestured to the menu that Hailey had given me. "Can I order my food to go?"

I knew I needed to talk this out with someone and I knew the perfect person, although I knew she was going to rub it in hard.

I looked around the bar. I'd have to have a conversation with Stephie at some point, she deserved to know that there was nothing more that was going to happen with us but I had already decided that it wasn't going to be tonight.

I needed to focus on Hailey and formulate a plan. If Hailey was back for just the summer, I only had a short window of time to figure out what really happened and manage to somehow get her back in my life for good.

I watched as she came back out from the back and said a quiet, "thank you" to Addy.

She gave me a wink, whispering back, "Going to be an interesting summer!"

Hailey made her way up to us and declared, "All right lady everything is ready, what are you still doing here? Go get your man!"

I laughed as Addy booked it out of there. Hailey giggled and it was like music to my ears. She gave me a smile and headed out to the floor. I turned and watched her as she walked around to check on tables. I had missed her so much and knew that I was staring but could not help myself.

There was an excitement pumping through my veins at the thought that maybe things with us weren't as hopeless as I had always assumed.

I considered my next move, because if I was making a play for Hailey's heart, it was for keeps and I couldn't afford to mess this up again.

A/N- Who do you think he plans to talk to?

Let me know if you feel something is missing or you want a little more of anything in particular! Like smut... lol I swear it's coming! 🔥 🌶

🤦‍♀️ Getting these two on the same page is tough, they're both clueless but don't worry they'll get there. 💕💕