Bad Impressions (Revive Me #1) by Franca Storm Read Free Book Online

see the error of your ways soon enough, Sophie.”
    His condescending tone sparked something to life inside of me and my fear left me.
    I was pissed as hell. How dare he?
    “I’m here with a friend. That’s all,” I seethed. Did he really think I was back for him? “She likes this club.”
    “Tiffany?”
    “Yes.”
    His nostrils flared. “That slut always was a bad influence on you.”
    He’d never liked her even though she’d been nothing but nice to him the entire time we’d dated. “Don’t talk about her like that.”
    He scoffed. “Whatever. I don’t care about her.” He nodded in the direction of the club. “Let’s get a drink and talk.”
    “I have nothing to say to you.”
    “We were together for a long time, Sophie. You don’t just walk away from that.”
    “You hit me!”
    “It was an accident. I told you that a million times. You need to get over it.”
    “Get over it?” I fumed. “You. Hit. Me.” I growled every word for emphasis.
    I could see him mulling them over. But there was no remorse in his eyes. No regret whatsoever. He shifted his weight suddenly and demanded, “Is this about him ? That fucking bartender?”
    I couldn’t believe it. Not this again. “No.”
    But as usual he didn’t listen.
    “Ever since you let that trash fuck you, you’ve been different. Even after I forgave your little indiscretion.”
    “Forgave me? You were sleeping around behind my back that summer!” Oh my God. How messed up was our relationship? Saying those words just really brought it home to me.
    “Because you wouldn’t put out! You did for him though. One night, Sophie. One. That was all it was, but you’ve never been able to let it go. That fucking guy is always in your head. Nothing is ever good enough for you, because of it.”
    “Bullshit!”
    “He can’t take you anywhere. He’s trash. He is that little hick town of yours. It’s all he’ll ever be. I can take you places. I’m gonna be a lawyer, baby. My dad owns the biggest publishing house in this damn city. You’d be all set. As soon as you graduated, I had a job interview lined up for you, just like you wanted. A Junior Editor where you could put your English degree to good use.”
    “You never told me about that interview.” I didn’t give a crap about it, but I wanted to know if he was playing me. I just needed to know how far he’d go in his manipulations.
    “It was gonna be a surprise that night we got into that stupid fight and you took off.”
    “I don’t want you for your connections, Jake. I never did.”
    “It’s just a bonus that comes with being with me, baby.”
    Urgh. Why did it take me this long to realize what a smug bastard he is? He was my first boyfriend, so I guess I was too green to see it.
    “I’m not with you. We’re done.”
    And I was done with our messed up conversation.
    I stubbed out my smoke and moved past him to head back into the club.
    His hand gripped mine.
    Hard.
    He jerked me towards him and, before I knew it, my back was up against the wall and he was pinning me there.
    “We are not done. Not by a long shot.”
    “Just let it go, Jake,” I said, tiredly, tired of him, tired of everything.
    “You know I don’t just give up, Sophie.”
    “The moment you laid your hands on me, it was over!” I bellowed, finally snapping. “I never want to fucking see you again! Get that through your screwed up head!”
    He shook me hard. “Never speak to me like that. Do you hear me?”
    Maybe I was stupid. Foolish. But, I just couldn’t bring myself to placate him. I couldn’t cower like I always had with him when we’d been together. “I’ll speak to you however I like, asshole. Get your hands off me! Now!”
    His eyes flashed with ire. His right hand left me and fisted at his side.
    I knew then that he was gonna do it again.
    He was gonna hit me.
    And what could I do? Nothing. He had me pinned against the wall. He was bigger and stronger than me and I didn’t know shit about