The Last Encore (It's Always Been You Book 1)

by Elodie Colliard

Her cat was giving her puppy-dog eyes, which was pretty ironic, considering.

Plus, she’d thought that there was something kind of poetic about living in a house in need of a little bit of love. She could have used some too.

Loving yourself was a journey, one that had its ups and downs. Every day was a struggle when you were

constantly reminded that your body didn’t fit society’s standards. Avery pinched her ass cheek between her fingers. Some days were easier than others. On those ones, she could look at herself in the mirror and think So what if my belly isn’t toned? Or my thighs are full of stretch marks? “They are the map of your body’s history,” her grandma used to say. “Be kind to yourself.”

That hurt, knowing she’d missed him becoming a man, the person he was standing in front of her. It felt like a loss she didn’t know she had been mourning. In her mind, the memory of him was stuck with his too-long wavy hair always falling in his eyes, and his skinny body made for running the fastest in school.

She couldn’t quite see his eyes from where she was and that was probably a good thing, because she remembered the carnage they could wreak on her heart.

She splashed water on her face and proceeded to remove her makeup, because the last thing she wanted was to look like she didn’t have her shit together. Not that she did, but she needed to look the part.

Seeing him so aloof, unable to even crack a real smile at her, his once upon a time best friend, broke something in her.

Clearly, their friendship hadn’t survived the test of time, and that reality check was like a punch in the gut.

Their friendship was in limbo, like a big cosmic joke reminding her that all she was good for was being left behind.

Abso-fucking-lutely great decision-making skills there, Ave.

You know how sometimes you know you shouldn’t get your hopes up, but you just can’t help yourself because you want it to work out so bad?”

The concern was appreciated, but she needed him to have more faith in her judgment.

looked at her was enough to make her want to cry. She missed him. She missed him looking at her like that, making her feel safe and loved. She missed him feeling like home.

To have her heart ripped out once more? To be rejected and feel even more unlovable than she already did? Was it that worth it? She didn’t have any answer to those questions, and that terrified her. Enough to not take the risk. Better safe than sorry.

pressure to part them. “I love that look on you.” He leaned in, and pressed a kiss to her lips, soft and sweet. “Wild and turned on.”

Everybody laughed and sighed because, yeah … real-life men could never measure up to book boyfriends.

What more did they have to talk about? She had gotten attached to someone again, she was getting left again. Story of her life.

“We're not over, baby. We can never be. As long as I’m breathing, my heart is yours. It always has been.”

But tonight, Avery realized she had been looking at it completely wrong. It wasn't that she was unlovable, it was that she wasn't worthy enough to sacrifice anything for.