Sleeping With My Best Friend - (Complete)

Chapter 6 - An Unexpected Reunion

"OH MY GOSH! ZANDER?!" Berkley shouted, shocked to see him. She slid out of the booth and rushed over, throwing her arms around him. She couldn't believe he was really there. It felt like a dream.

He hugged her back and it felt good having his strong arms wrapped around her again. She could feel the muscle tone of his rock hard chest against her cheek. He was definitely in good shape. He looked down at her with his bright green eyes and smiled, showing his straight, white teeth.

She smiled back at him before stepping back and looking him up and down, noticing how handsome he looked with his new haircut. His blonde hair was long on top and slicked back, with the sides buzzed short. He was wearing flip flops, surf shorts and a loose white tank top that showed off his smooth, tanned skin and his strong chest and arms. He also had a big coast guard symbol tattooed onto the bicep of his left arm.

"Wow," she said, shaking her head in disbelief. "I can't believe you're really standing here in front of me."

"Yeah, I can't believe it either," he laughed. "How have you been?" he asked her with a warm smile.

"Well," she hesitated. "I mean. I'm as good as can be expected I guess," she said softly with a weak, forced smile, but it slowly faded away as she let out a sigh. "Actually, I can't lie to you. I'm not doing that great. I've been having really bad nightmares every night."

"Yeah, that's understandable after what you went through," he nodded, looking down at her as he shoved his hands in his pockets. "I'm really sorry Berkley. I wish I could've done more." 

"No," she told him, shaking her head. "Don't say that. You did everything you could Zander. You were amazing."

As she stood there looking at him, memories of that day started flooding back and she felt her eyes burning, as tears filled them. She was suddenly so overcome with emotion, she couldn't speak.

He noticed she was struggling, so he stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her again, pulling her to his chest and she started sobbing against it. He rubbed on her back to comfort her as her tears dampened the front of his shirt and she clung to him, trying to catch her breath between her sobs.

The people at the tables around them were staring, but she didn't care. He held her for a minute until she finally stepped back and wiped her tears away.

"I'm sorry I'm such a mess. It's just emotional seeing you again. It brings back memories of that day," she sniffled.

He gave her a look of sympathy. "It's alright. I understand," he said softly, looking down into her eyes. His green eyes seemed so soft and caring. "I'm actually glad I ran into you. I've been wondering how you were doing. I'm glad you're okay."

Dean cleared his throat from beside them and Zander looked over and said, "Oh, I'm sorry. We're being rude to your boyfriend."

Berkley turned to look at Dean as she wiped the tears from her eyes with a sniffle.

"Oh no. I don't have a boyfriend. This is my best friend."

"Oh my bad. I just assumed," Zander laughed.

"Well you assumed wrong. Dean here is WAY too good for me," she teased, punching Dean's arm. "He only dates girls that look like supermodels with the IQ of a raisin. Isn't that right?"

"Whatever," Dean said, rolling his eyes at Berkley before looking over at Zander. "So how do you two know each other?"

Berkley hesitated, swallowing hard before saying, "Zander, he ummm, he works for the Coast Guard. He's the one that rescued me from the boat that night right before it sank. If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be standing here right now."