Eight Days (Love Always #1.5) by D. Nichole King Read Free Book Online Page B

yelled at her, and left her alone in the parking lot.
    I don’t dwell on it, though. I’m too tired. Being the good ol’ boy is exhausting. How could Liam stand it? I slide the phone back into my pocket and rest my head over my arms on top of Kate’s bed. I’m asleep in no time.
     

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Day 5
     
     
    I grimace at the sunlight that pours into the room, waking me up. When Liam was alive, he’d get up at the butt crack of dawn and either run or swim before anyone else was up. Sometimes, he’d even have breakfast made for everyone. Maybe the new Liam-Damian hybrid I’m working on can leave that part out. I’m not a morning person.
    “Good morning.” Marcy’s voice greets me, and I squint at her. She’s already showered, dressed, and back on her laptop, nursing a cup of coffee.
    “Right,” I answer, rubbing a palm down my face. I need to wake up, get ready, and do a repeat of yesterday. No mistakes today.
    I grab my bag and head to the private bathroom. For a hospital, the water pressure in the shower is pretty decent. When I’m shaved and dressed, I wear a content expression that doesn’t belong to me and walk out, ready to fetch some breakfast for Marcy and me.
    “I’m thinking biscuits and gravy today,” I say, dropping my bag in the far corner of the room. “What can I bring up for you, Marcy?”
    She takes a sip of coffee and peers at me from over the rim. It takes a few seconds before she speaks. When she does, her motherly tone shines through.
    “Damian, that’s very sweet, but I already ate. Why don’t you go ahead?”
    Hesitant, my gaze skims over Kate. Even though her mom will be with her, I hate to leave. My record shows that I screw up when I leave this room, and I’m trying so damn hard to be deserving of her. Hell, I barely recognized myself yesterday.
    But, as much as I dislike hospital food, I’m starving, and really, their biscuits aren’t too bad.
    “Okay. I’ll be right back,” I say, mostly to Kate.
    On the first floor, I round the corner into the cafeteria. I load my plate, grab an apple for later, and swipe my hospital ID card with the cashier. As I go to take my food upstairs, I see Ellie out of the corner of my eye. She’s sitting by herself in the far corner of the cafeteria, her gaze trained outside. I should stay on my trajectory as planned, but then Ellie bows her head, covering her face with her palms. Instantly, I divert and walk toward her instead.
    I stay focused on her as I cross the room. She doesn’t move. Except when I get closer, I see her shoulders trembling. Her hands muffle the soft sobs.
    “Ellie?” I say quietly so I don’t startle her.
    She sniffles and dabs a napkin over her cheeks. I slide my tray onto the table and pull out a chair opposite her. She doesn’t acknowledge me, keeping her head down.
    “What’s going on?” I ask when she doesn’t speak.
    Ellie purses her lips and stares at her untouched food. I don’t know why she doesn’t want to look at me, so I scoot into the chair right beside to her and reach my hand up to her face, turning her head to me.
    “What happened, Elle?” I ask again.
    Whenever something goes wrong, Ellie tries to get a hold of me, but the last text I received from her was two nights ago.
    Her eyes close, and a tear slips from one of them. I hold her chin between my thumb and forefinger, so when she opens her eyes, she’ll see me. See that I’m here for her.
    Ellie’s lips tremble as she works to contain her sobs. Eventually, though, her eyelids lift, and I’m staring into the blue irises that I’ve grown to know so well. They glisten with moisture.
    This moment, right here, takes me back to the nights when she broke down in my bedroom after Liam died. Ellie is hurting, and the fact that she won’t talk to me about it frustrates me. For the last two years, she’s come to me with everything, even stupid girly shit that I don’t give a rat’s ass about.
    And for two years, I’ve