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He leaned against the hood of his sports car, his legs crossed at the ankles. The bottom of the car was splashed with mud. His hair was longer than it had been when he left, but otherwise he was exactly as Ava remembered – his eyes a clear blue, his cheeks bright. He held his arms out to the sides as though to say, Can you believe it?, his mouth fighting a smile. He looked like a child waiting to receive a gift.
Ava’s heartbeat drummed in her throat.
‘Lamby,’ he said.
‘Why… how,’ she began, walking toward him as though he were a mirage, but she couldn’t finish the question before he pulled her to him and kissed her, holding her face in his large hands. She took him in. His piney scent, his warm breath that was sweet and minty.
Of all the competing needs she had in that moment – to
