Darkest Love by Melody Tweedy Read Free Book Online Page B

ass retreat into the bathroom. A clatter of pots and bubble of coffee soon after let him know she had moved to the kitchen.
    â€œKeep my coffee black, Mands.” He rolled on his side and dozed off again as the smell of eggs and bacon started to waft into his nostrils.
    â€œOh.” Rain awoke from the nap some fifteen minutes later to breasts in his face and an elegant breakfast on a tray. The crackling of the meat in the pan had filled his dreams with snapping things: fireworks and rubber bands.
    â€œGee, Rain. You sure are a jumpy lover.” Mandy’s face was pretty and startled above his coffee cup. That Perpetually Startled Bimbo look was actually sort of hot.
    â€œWhat can I say?” Rain cracked, seizing a toast from his plate and digging into his eggs. “I like quick pounding motions. You learned that last night.” He winked, stuffing his face as Mandy ran a manicured hand up and down his leg. She looked a lot better with the panda-eyes washed off, and any dullness in her skin was compensated by her cooking skills. Feta cheese and pesto in scrambled eggs was a surprisingly good idea…
    Rain nibbled on. It was not a bad life.
    * * * *
    â€œOw!” Annie wailed as Lily’s palm hit her shoulder. The sting, as painful as a belly flop, spread through her arm and she hissed. Lily watched her silently as she pressed her tongue between her teeth and doubled over, waiting for the pain to subside. How was her friend able to use those slender fingers like a whip?
    When her shoulder had recovered, Annie stood, letting the chair scrape back with another awful sound—
    shkreeeeeeeeet . She raised a palm.
    Lily’s eyes widened. “Oh, no you don’t. Snap out of it.”
    Too late. Annie sent a furious palm into Lily’s décolletage, catching the edge of her collarbone. Ha. The thud was disappointingly dull, but that area was prone to breakage. Annie had shattered her own décolletage on a field trek once.
    â€œAnnie. Calm down! I’m sorry. I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry!” It was Lily’s turn to double over.
    â€œLily. I love him. Don’t ever say things like that to me again!” Annie’s voice echoed from the walls of her small apartment and astonished her with its shrillness. It was as if the wraiths of her own lust and humiliation were rising from the walls, hitting her ears. The sound did not seem to be coming from her.
    â€œPlease calm down, you crazy beast! Annie, I’m scared for you. You let him… choke you in the water?”
    A fresh set of tears welled in Annie’s eyes and fell down her already streaked cheeks like storm water. Her throat was hoarse from crying. Lily had slept on the couch after they’d arrived home from Guastavino’s. They’d gone to sleep peacefully enough, sipping peppermint tea and joshing that Rain wasn’t that hot in his suit anyway. When Annie woke up it was a different story. Her head felt like it had been bashed with a hammer. She'd stumbled to the bathroom and peered at her own sad, hung-over face in the mirror glass.
    She had started crying. All the emotions she had held in since Sivu came out at once and she just bawled, shrieking when Lily tried to comfort her and bucking against her friend’s impatient cries that Annie always did this: she let Rain Mistern get the better of her.
    â€œI’m sick of cleaning up his messes!”
    It was a terrible moment to reveal that Rain choked her to unconsciousness. That was when Lily had gone silent. With a quivering lip, Annie had swept out of the room, and when Lily found her staring at the Offline icon next to Rain’s name on Skype, it was the last straw.
    SMACK. Her friend had dealt her that belly-flop slap.
    Now the women stood face–to–face. Annie felt her heart pounding faster and a new feeling rising inside her: fear. I am going crazy.
    Lily was just trying to help. “Lily, why am I such a