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

beneath the thin material. Her golden hair was swept up into a ponytail. God. Those things were my weakness. They always conjured up dirty images.
    I pinched the bridge of my nose and drew in a breath to calm myself as I approached her.
    “Coffee?” I asked, as I rounded the breakfast bar into the kitchen. Good. There was a physical barrier between us in the form of the breakfast bar countertop. I needed to make sure I kept it there.
    “Please,” she answered.
    As I started to fill the kettle, I asked over my shoulder, “Ollie know you’re here?”
    “No. He already headed off to work.”
    Neither of us said anything else for several moments.
    I handed her a coffee and she took it gratefully. It was drowning in sugar and cream; just the way I knew she liked it. Mine was black; the way I liked it.
    I leaned against the other side of the breakfast bar and studied her as we both sipped at our coffees. “So, tell me what’s going on, darlin’.”
    She placed her mug down on the counter and eyed me intensely. Oh shit . It was something major. I knew that look.
    “First, I need you to promise me that you won’t ask questions.”
    “Soph—”
    “I’m serious. Please, Brad.”
    The urgency in her voice was killing me. She was really freaked out about something. I’d never seen her so on edge.
    “All right.”
    She flashed me a weak smile. “I need you to teach me how to fight.”
    I spat out the mouthful of coffee I hadn’t yet swallowed, choking on it for a good few seconds, before I managed to catch my breath.
    Deciding it was for the best for the rest of our conversation, I set my mug down on the counter.
    “What?” I finally managed.
    “I want you to show me how to defend myself.”
    I scrubbed my hand over my face in an effort to reel in my rising anger. I knew what it was about. It was so fucking obvious. It had to be. Him. That asshole ex of hers.
    “You had a run in with him when you went into the city the other night?” That’s it. He’s dead. I’m gonna fucking kill him.
    “How did you know I was in the city?”
    “This town likes to talk, remember?”
    She shifted her weight uncomfortably. “You promised you wouldn’t pry.”
    “Soph, if he hurt you—”
    “I don’t want to be helpless!” she cried, desperately.
    I was so caught off guard by the vehemence in her voice and her sheer desperation that I couldn’t find the words to respond right away.
    And then she did the one thing that I’d rarely ever seen her do.
    She broke down crying, burying her face in her arm on the countertop.
    I couldn’t take it.
    She’d always been so full of life, so happy-go-lucky. Seeing her so broken was churning my stomach.
    I rounded the counter and wrapped myself around her, stroking her soft golden hair gently as I whispered in her ear, “It’s gonna be okay. I promise, Soph. I promise. I’ve got you. I’ve got you now.”

Chapter 8
    ~Sophie~
     
    It’d been two weeks since I’d unceremoniously shown up at Brad’s place and broken down like a weak, pathetic mess after asking him to teach me how to defend myself.
    Every day since, he’d been teaching me what I’d asked.
    He was a good teacher. He was good at giving easy-to-follow instructions. He knew how to work up to complicated moves well and he was unbelievably patient.
    Until right now.
    “You know this,” he chastised me.
    He had me pinned to the floor in his living room and I was thrashing about beneath him like an idiot. I didn’t know where the hell my head was at. Actually, I did, but…I couldn’t risk going there. Denial was much safer.
    “Hook my wrist and grab behind my elbow with your other hand. Pull my arm into your chest. Then , use your foot to trap mine, as well as my leg. That’s when you lift your hips and turn hard to regain the dominant position,” he instructed me.
    “Okay!” I hissed.
    “So, do it. Christ, Soph! You know this. You’ve done it countless times.”
    “I know.”
    “Yeah? So, what the