Never in a million years would I have ever approached her first. She was the kind of girl that made you want to stand taller, think quicker and speak slower. Her green eyes commanded your attention and once you’ve made eye contact, it’s all over from there. One look and she had you. She was dainty without looking frail and fit but not exactly athletic. Killer legs! Not long like the supermodel type but shapely as hell. You could say she knew how to carry herself, that’s for sure. And t. . .

The sunlight spilled into the bedroom window through the faded gold curtains and onto the pillow, illuminating her wavy blonde hair. Corinne was nestled in her queen bed entangled in a white duvet fit for a king, still wearing her clothes from the evening before. Most mornings she was up and out on a nearby running trail for half an hour by now. She was showered and dolled up most mornings, ready for the day before the sun had even made its way over the North Carolina coast. Most mornings,. . .

It was the end of a relatively uneventful 2009 and the new year was just weeks away. That wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, it’s just where I was in my life at that time. I had graduated from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington the previous year and spent that whole summer attempting to surf and going out with friends. Early that fall, just a few months later, I finally got a job waiting tables at a ritzy, upscale joint near Wrightsville Beach. We only opened in . . .