Crushed by Amity Hope Read Free Book Online Page B

But if she was feeling lik e she needed to break up with him for a while, that would help explain why.
    “I know I didn’t handle it the best,” she began. Reece let out an irritated sound and made a face that let her know he agreed. “But no, I was not already seeing Ethan. I wouldn’t do that to you,” she said as she gave him a miserable look.
    He w asn’t sure if she was miserable because he had asked th e question , or just miserable because she was being forced to deal with him .
    He wasn’t even so sure that he believed her . B ecause there was a whole lot he didn’t think she’d do to him. Reach inside of his chest and twist out his heart, for one thing.
    Her eyes actually softened a s she noted the expression on his face. He wasn’t real sure what expression he wore
     because he was too dumbfounded to really give it much thought.
    “Look,” sh e said as she put her hand on his wrist. Her thumb made circles on his skin. His fingers twitched, wanting to take her hand in his. He fought it. She sighed and leaned toward him . “This was a good thing. You’ve been with Mia all summer. T hings must be going well.”
    She gave him a small smile and nodded at him like she was encouraging him to agree.
     She squeezed his wrist before pulling her hand away. Even after she did, he could still feel her touch.
    Pathetic, he kne w.
    “Yeah, things with Mia are great,” he lied, giving her the answer she seemed to want.
    She held her smile and blinked a few too many times. “See. It was for the best. Now you can go to parties, football games, just… out . ”
    “What do you mean by that?” he asked, disgusted by the pitch to his voice.
    “You’re not stuck at my house with me and Luci. You can actually do things. Normal things people our age should be doing. Not sitting around my house doing dinner dishes
     and babysitting. You should be relieved .”
    “Don’t tell me how I should feel,” he fumed. “You have no idea how I feel!”
    He couldn’t blame Cleo for not wanting to leave Luci alone. She did sometimes but Luci
     was only eleven. Cleo never left her home alone after dark. After their mom died in
     that house, Cleo wasn’t the only one that had an aversion to staying there alone. Paul was gone more often than he was home. When Paul was home, they ha d go ne out. A lot of times he or Luci would end up calling to ask them —or at least Cleo—to come back. Or sometimes Cleo would insist Reece go to things without her so he would.
    It took a moment for her comment to wedge itself into his brain. “So you think you were doing me a favor by dumping me?” he grated out in disbelief.
    “Yes,” she said as she crossed her arms tightly over her chest.
    “Well that’s the suckiest thing anyone has ever done for me!”
    She opened her mouth to argue but he cut her off. “I never complained about spending time with Luci!” he reminded her. His voice was full of frustration.
    “I know you didn’t but it shouldn’t have had to be that way!” she said back, just
     as frustrated.
    “I didn’t mind. Not at all,” he said forcefully. Sure, there were times that he had wished they cou ld just go out. Lots of times. He knew that Cleo felt the same but she was in a crappy situation t hat was out of her control. So he had thought they’d just made the best of it. Luci was always in bed by nine .  T hen they ’d have the house to them selves so it wasn’t all bad. In fact, he kind of liked the trade off.
    “Reece, sweetie, you had to have been bored!” she insisted. “We were like an old married
     couple sitting at home all the time!”
    “ Since when did you become anti-marriage? ” he sarcastically wondered.
    “Reece—”
    “Did I ever even know you at all?” His voice had become hard and accusatory. “Because
     I’m starting to think I didn’t.” He realized belatedly how much his volume had ratcheted up.
    Mr. Jessen shot back into the room at that moment . H e stopped so abruptly