Between Loves (The Pendant Series Book 2) by Cynthia Austin Read Free Book Online Page B

my new teal pumps. She looked up as she heard my footsteps. “Hey Sidney. How are you feeling?”
    I shrugged my shoulders and tossed a couple of the pills in my mouth that her father had prescribed for me. “I’m okay. Do you like the new shoes? Sleeping Beauty picked them out all by himself.”
    “I’m impressed. Perhaps money can buy you class.” She quickly explained, “I’m referring to Ray, of course.”
    I smiled and nodded, allowing her to see I understood.
    Chrissy stood up and examined her feet in the new shoes. “I do say they are absolutely stunning.”
    I sat down next to Chrissy on the sofa and looked down at my hands. Immediately I recalled last night’s incident in the hospital. Tracing the lines of the scab with my fingertips, I thought of Adrian and how much I already missed him. I wanted to sneak off and see him. I had stated that desire, but now I was thinking of the man upstairs sleeping in my bed. The man who still only saw me as a possession and would never allow the friendship I yearned for with Adrian.
    Retracing the lines of the scratches caused from the rose thorns last night, I realized that Ray had never even apologized for injuring me. He had been too consumed with getting rid of Adrian’s symbol of endearment by trashing the flower.
    Looking up at Chrissy, I saw she had already dismissed my silence and now her attention was onto some detective show on TV.
    I asked her, “Did Finn ever bring you flowers?”
    The sound of Finn’s name was all it took to gain my best friend’s devoted ear. Although she forced her eyes back on the screen and pretended not to be interested, I knew she was no longer following the dialogue of the show. She brought her feet up on the couch and tucked them underneath her.
    “I don’t know, he got me a corsage for prom, does that count?”
    Ray had gotten me a corsage as well but that was part of the damn ritual. Ray and Finn probably went to the flower shop together to get them for us. I shook my head, still inspecting my hands.
    “Adrian visited me in the hospital last night. He brought me a rose.”
    As soon as I mentioned his name, I knew I had made a mistake. I changed the subject quickly, trying to bring the conversation onto safer ground.
    “Do you think if Finn would have brought you flowers you would have stayed with him?” I asked.
    She laconically replied, “It’s too late for me to think of the what-if’s with Finn. That ship has sailed.”
    It frustrated me how Chrissy could write Finn off the way that she did. “What if I told you he set the anchor as soon as you walked away and he’s still out in the harbor waiting for your return?”
    This time I had Chrissy’s full attention. “Did I tell you that Finn was the one who drove me back to the airport the night I found Ray with Lilly? He tried to tell me what I would find before I burst into his room, but I didn’t listen.”
    “I had no idea,” Chrissy said in astonishment.
    “When Finn tried to explain to me Ray’s position, he began by telling me that you were rated a 10.” I laughed. “Like, what does that have to do with Ray cheating on me? Nothing, but everything Finn says relates back to you , because he’s still in love with you, Chrissy.”
    As Chrissy’s eyes began to glisten, she grabbed my teal shoe and pretended to be inspecting the heel again. I took her moment of weakness as my chance to leave.
    “You can have them if you do me a solid.”
    “Anything!”
    “Tell Ray I went to pick up my paycheck.”
    Chrissy looked at me sideways. “That’s easy enough. Couldn’t he just call if he wants to know where you are?”
    “I’d rather he didn’t. Can you just tell him I’ll be back by seven?”
    I stood up and went to open the front door but Chrissy moved too quickly. She stood up and caught my wrist.
    “Bob’s not working tonight so our checks won’t be ready for pickup until tomorrow. But you already knew that, didn’t you?”
    I didn’t