Crushing by Elena Dillon Read Free Book Online

brothers.”
    Wow. Okay. I think I hit a sore spot.
    “I guess I can see your point of view. I don’t actually think Dom saw it until you guys started pushing and shoving, but okay. He probably doesn’t take Holden seriously, since we see him like that a lot.”
    “He grabs you a lot?” He was starting to look angry.
    “No. He’s obnoxious and drunk a lot. I appreciate that you were concerned, but it wasn’t necessary.”
    He shrugged. “That’s your opinion.”
    “I can take care of myself. I’m not sure why nobody gets that.” Why were guys so irritating? Ugh.
    “Yeah I saw how well you were taking care of yourself.” He didn’t look convinced.
    I wasn’t getting anywhere. I looked at the time on my phone. I didn’t want to go, but I also didn’t want my parents to check in and find me gone. That would not help my situation.
    “I’d better get going.”
    I handed him Bailee so I could get up. She was obviously exhausted from her adventure. “I’m glad your uncle let you keep her.” I rubbed her head.
    “Yeah, I think he feels bad because he isn’t home much.”
    “I worried he would make you take her to the pound,” I said as I brushed myself off.
    “Well, I think he wishes he could change his mind now,” he said with a laugh.
    “What happened?”
    “She chewed a pair of his seven-hundred-dollar shoes. Not a banner moment for her.”
    “Oh man. Poor Bailee.” I reached over and gave her a scratch. “It’s not fun to be labeled a troublemaker.” She looked at me sleepily and licked my hand.
    I worked up the nerve to ask him something I’d been wondering about since he came back.
    “So…” We started back up the beach toward home.
    “Uh-oh.” He laughed.
    “No more stutter?” I asked.
    “Nope. Gone for good.”
    “I’m going to be totally nosey here. What happened?”
    “It’s fine. When we moved to Florida, my grandma and I took foreign language classes.”
    “And that helped?”
    “Yup. She read somewhere that it could help. I became fluent in Spanish and Portuguese.” He shrugged like it was no big deal. “Once I could speak another language without a stutter, it pretty much went away. Totally gone by the time I was fourteen.”
    We had stopped in front of my gate. I reached out and gave him a hug, squishing Bailee in the process.
    “Whoa. Okay.” He hugged me back.
    “I’m sorry. I’m just so happy for you.” I knew it must have been more work than he let on. I was relieved he didn’t have to live with that stutter forever. I could feel tears behind my eyes trying to get out.
    “It’s okay, Rory. I’m all good.” He shook his head at me.
    I gave him another squeeze, then let go and stepped back.
    He walked me through the gate up to my back door. I turned and we just stared at each other.
    “I’d better go in.”
    “Wouldn’t want the parents to know you are out with the bad boy and not the ‘Mr. Perfect’ they’ve picked for you,” he said.
    I felt bad that he knew how my parents felt about him. My life was not usually this full of drama. I huffed out a breath. “Sorry.”
    “Here, give me your phone. I don’t want you to have to climb down a drainpipe just to talk to me. I thought you would just come out the back door like a normal girl. I should have known you would do things the hard way.”
    We exchanged phones and put our numbers in.
    He handed me back my phone. His face was serious all of a sudden. “Now I won’t lose you again.” He gently brushed his fingers over my cheek and pushed a piece of hair behind my ear.
    I shivered. We stood there staring into each other’s eyes. Bailee yawned a huge yawn, and the moment was lost.
    “See you,” I whispered as I snuck in my back door. I turned and looked through the window. He was still watching me. When he turned and walked away, there was a tiny ache in the area of my heart. I already missed him. Not good.

Chapter 6
     
    After church the next day my family had lunch at home, and I started