A Clean Break (Gay Amish Romance Book 2) by Keira Andrews Read Free Book Online Page A

Or attacked by hoodlums. They have gangs in the city.” David dramatically clutched the baguette to his chest. “I’ve heard they love French bread.”
    “Maybe that’s why Aaron sent us. Sure, he said he just forgot to buy it on his way home, but really he was too afraid to go himself.”
    David tried not to smile. “We’ll be lucky if we make it back alive.” Ahead, four elderly men smoked cigarettes on the sidewalk, huddled together by a coffee shop. “Look—gang members,” he whispered.
    “Aren’t they too old to be in a gang?” Isaac murmured.
    David put on a tone like ones he’d heard police officers use in movies. “It’s the city. Once you’re in a gang, you never get out.”
    Shoulders shaking, Isaac made his face serious and hissed, “Should we run?”
    “Absolutely.” David took off like a shot with Isaac on his heels.
    As they raced past the old men, David inhaled a whisper of smoke before it was gone. All the anxiety of the noise and cars disappeared as his legs pumped. They dashed all the way back to the townhouse, their laughter trailing in the wind.
     

     
    “Is that Aaron Byler’s famous spaghetti with meat sauce I smell?”
    Twisting her long black curls into a ponytail, Jen shuffled into the kitchen in plaid pajama bottoms, a green shirt with no sleeves and thin straps, and fuzzy blue slippers on her feet. She went up on tiptoes and kissed Aaron lightly before turning.
    “Let me guess.” She pointed. “You’re Isaac. It’s all in the eyes.”
    Isaac got off the stool and extended his hand. “Hello.”
    With a smile, Jen pulled him into a hug. “No handshakes in this house for family.” She frowned as she leaned back. “Uh, unless it makes you uncomfortable. Sorry, I have boundary issues sometimes. Probably why I married a patient.”
    “ Former patient,” Aaron noted, giving her a hip a playful pat on his way to the pantry.
    “Hugs are okay,” Isaac said, smiling shyly.
    David waited uncertainly by the counter. Was she going to hug him too?
    Jen turned to him. “Don’t think you can avoid the hugs just because you’re not blood related. But again, I can be wildly inappropriate at times.”
    David awkwardly opened his arms. He could feel her small breasts against his chest through the thin cotton, and her bare arms were tight around him. Aside from June at the bus station, he couldn’t remember the last time he’d hugged anyone but Isaac or his little sisters. Jen was short like Mary, only reaching his shoulder. “Thank you for letting us stay,” he said.
    She stepped back. “It’s a pleasure to have you. I mean it.” She went to the fridge and pulled out a tall carton, lifting it to her mouth before freezing. “I guess I should start using a glass.”
    “I’ve only been saying that for years,” Aaron muttered as he stirred the sauce.
    At the cupboard, Jen pulled out a glass and filled it with milk. “It’s true, he has. It’s a bad habit I picked up in med school.”
    Isaac was staring at her chest with a frown. “What does that mean?” he blurted.
    Jen glanced down at her shirt, which read Frak me . “Yeah, I guess BSG isn’t too big in Zebulon. Frak is the profanity of the future. There’s this show— Battlestar Galactica —and it takes place in space hundreds of years from now. We have the DVDs if you guys want to watch. Anyway, to get around the censors, the characters said frak instead of fuck, but it means the same thing. Fuck me.”
    David stared before forcing his gaze to the floor. June was English, but he couldn’t imagine her saying something so… crude . Granted it was the way he and Isaac spoke sometimes when they were alone together, but to talk like that in the kitchen ? Around other people?
    Isaac opened and closed his mouth, his eyes wide. “Oh.”
    David’s mind raced. Should he respond? What was the right thing to say? He couldn’t imagine any women he knew saying something that bold so very casually—not even Anna.