Contingent by Livia Jamerlan Read Free Book Online Page A

has been four weeks since we broke up and already you have a girlfriend.”
    “It’s complicated.”
    “Go fuck yourself.” I raised my hands in the air as I walked backward.
    “It’s not what you think.” He moved towards me again.
    “Are you seeing her? Do you fuck her on a regular basis? Does she like it when you whip her?”
    “Lynn . . .”
    “She called you her boyfriend.”
    “Lynn—”
    “Don’t move a step closer.”
    “Braelynn.”
    “No! You don’t have a right to say my name anymore. You, Haas, are a coward and a liar. From the very beginning, I said I didn’t want to be someone who kept your bed warm while you two figured shit out. It’s been four weeks and already she’s back in your life.” I reversed my step and pushed against his chest. “You are a stranger. I. Don’t. Know. You.”
    “You don’t understand.”
    “I don’t give a shit!”
    “Peyton?” Devon’s voice called from the deck. We both turned to look at the bitch.
    “Go! Your girlfriend needs you.”
    My feet spun in the sand. I walked further away from the house, the tears that I had been fighting now dripped down my face. The roar of crashing waves blocked my soft cries.
    He didn’t follow me.
    It wouldn’t be the last time he broke my heart.

    I returned to the house after a twenty-minute walk, my head clearer. I had cried out all that was left in me. I was drained but with a plan. He wouldn’t get the best of me. Not anymore. There were a few people standing around the fire pit on the deck, so I sat next to them and found myself lost in thought as I stared out at the ocean. The conversation around me flowed, but I tuned it all out, caught up in the soothing rhythm of the waves crashing. The sun had dipped below the horizon and the ocean breeze cooled the air. I focused on each wave that came in from the Atlantic before it returned to ocean. I ignored the conversation because I didn’t want to hear his name or his voice.
    “Braelynn, right?” A gentleman stood next to the patio couch I was sitting on as I stared across the deck, admiring the deep blue water. Startled by his presence, I shifted to meet his eyes. I knew him . . .
    “Uh, yeah, um . . .” I couldn’t remember his name. He was the man who had approached me at Spencer’s after party. The dreamy athlete that Page Six wrote about.
    “Landon.” He smiled down at me and my hand moved to brush the ends of my hair. He oozed sex appeal.
    “I was getting to it.” I shifted back on the couch and chuckled, recovering from the fact I couldn’t remember his name from our brief meeting. “I wasn’t expecting to see you here. You caught me off guard.”
    “Is this seat taken?” He pointed to the empty spot beside me.
    “No, please sit.” I scooted over and I turned my body towards his as I hugged one of the decorative pillows. “How do you know Kennedy?”
    “I really don’t know her, per se, but I know Caleb. Friends of friends of friends.” He took a swig of his beer before placing it on the table in front of us.
    “Oh.” I folded my hands on my lap.
    “And you’re here with . . . ?”
    “No one. Kennedy and I were roommates before she married Caleb.” I spoke to Landon, but my attention was focused on the person standing in the kitchen looking directly at me. My eyes locked on Peyton’s for a second before I looked back at Landon and smiled.
    “Ah, and here I thought you were here with Haas.”
    “No.” I lowered my head. “He and I are no longer a thing.”
    “I see.”
    “Nor do I want to talk about it.”
    Peyton didn’t own me anymore. He left me and was now in the arms of another woman. There was no sense worrying what others thought or hoping he would find me again. It was time to take a look at my life—and to continue moving forward.
    “I wasn’t going to ask.” He lifted his hands as if to defend himself. “I was actually going to ask if I could take you out sometime.”
    From my peripheral, I knew Peyton was still