Broken Silence by Natasha Preston Read Free Book Online Page B

open with hello,” Jasper said sarcastically, winking at me as he walked out of Lizzie’s room.
    Slowly, I raised the phone to my ear. Cole’s quiet laughter made me smile.
    “Cole.”
    “He told you to open with hello,” he said.
    “Yeah, well, he’s an idiot.”
    “Agreed. So, do you wanna go get some ice cream?”
    Wow. How easy was that! A huge grin stretched across my face.
    “I’d love to.”
    I couldn’t wait get ice cream again. It was something we’d done all the time when we were younger.
    “Great,” he said. As if I was going to say no!
    “I’ll pick you up in an hour? Will you be ready then?”
    “Yeah,” I whispered, gripping the phone tight. My stomach was doing flips.
    “Okay. See you in a bit.” He hung up, and I smiled to myself. That conversation was a little awkward, but I didn’t care. Hopefully things would be normal between us by the end of the day.
    Lizzie wiggled her eyebrows. “I’m outta here. Have a good date.”
    Before I could correct her, she was out of the room. It wasn’t a date. Even if Cole wanted anything it was too early for that. Life wasn’t a fairy tale. Things took time and effort, and even then there were no guarantees.
    Jumping up, I grabbed my clothes and ran into the bathroom to have a quick shower and get dressed. My morning routine took a little longer since I started wearing make-up. My dad never let me wear it, but that was my decision now. I didn’t particularly like the stuff, so I only used a little mascara and a natural eye shadow. It wasn’t about making myself look better; it was about having the choice.
    As soon as I was ready, I went downstairs to find Mum. The smell of coffee wafted through the hallway, and I knew she was in the kitchen. She smiled as I walked in.
    “Morning.”
    “Morning,” I replied and smiled.
    “You look nice. Are you going out?”
    I froze. Nice? Trying too hard nice? I had on a navy blue maxi dress – Australia clothes!  Was it too much to meet Cole in? Maybe I should go more casual.
    “You’re meeting Cole, aren’t you?”
    I nodded numbly, mentally searching through all the clothes I brought with me.
    “What’s wrong? I thought you’d be happy?”
    “Should I change?”
    She smiled, and I knew inside she was going, ‘Aww’.
    “No, you look beautiful. Stop worrying, Oakley. You could turn up in a bin bag and he’d still love it.”
    “That’s not helping.” I sipped a glass of water slowly, trying to calm my nerves. “Yeah, I really need to change.”
    Before I could take a step closer to the door, the bell rang. That would definitely be Cole. It had been almost an hour since we spoke.
    “Too late,” Mum said and grinned, amused.
    “No, it’s not. Get the door, I’ll be back in a minute,” I called over my shoulder as I ran out of the room. Her laughter rang through the house. I was being stupid, but today was extremely important and even the small details mattered. I grabbed a pair of light blue skinny jeans and a long T-shirt. Much more casual.
    As I dressed, I heard muffled voices downstairs. I prayed they were catching up and Mum wasn’t telling him I was changing again. He was so close to me, and that made me feel dizzy with nerves and excitement.
    Taking a deep breath, I slowly crept downstairs. His eyes landed on mine as soon as I stepped into the lounge, and my heart started beating wildly.
    “Hi,” I said hoarsely, chewing on the inside of my cheek.
    He smiled, his eyes lighting up. I loved seeing him like that.
    “Hi.”
    “Have a nice time,” Mum said and walked into the kitchen, giving us some privacy.
    “You ready to go?” I nodded in response to his question. I could barely talk!
    We drove in a comfortable silence. I watched as he pulled his lip between his teeth every so often. He was nervous too. It felt too good to be true. I was still waiting for him to get angry with me again. He wasn’t being honest about how he felt. This going for ice cream was incredible but it