Embrace (Evolve Series #2) by S.E. Hall Read Free Book Online Page A

for just busting out the big guns.
    “So why exactly does Sawyer not like you?” Through their
curt words to each other, I got a hint of why Laney doesn’t like her,
apparently something about Douchebag Dane, but that really didn’t clear up Sawyer’s
animosity.
    “I don’t know.” She leans her head back against her
headrest and sighs. “I guess because of Dane, although I’ve never done anything
bad to Dane…or Sawyer. How do you even know Dane? From Laney?” she asks as she
looks over at me.
    I just nod, looking down and grinding my back teeth.
    “So, are they together now?”
    “Yes.” It kills me to say it out loud, to admit it
to another person. It makes it too real.
    “Can’t say I didn’t see that coming a mile away,”
she says, wincing for me. “And you what, got here too late?”
    “Looks like it. She was at his house when I hand
delivered my transfer slip. Surprise! ”
    “Damn, I’m sorry, Evan. That had to hurt. But
couldn’t you fight for her? Do you guys have a long history?”
    I run my hands through my hair, squeezing my eyes
shut. “We do…” I grapple for my words, trying to keep my voice steady in front
of her, “but mostly as friends. We’d only just begun anything more than that,
and college pretty much ruined it. It was new and obviously not strong enough
to last. Maybe even the wrong thing for us.” I blow out a deep breath, finally
opening my eyes and turning to face her. “I’m learning that now, the hard way.”
    She says nothing, just meekly smiling, her eyes
filled with pity, which I hate. When it’s clear she’s remaining silent, waiting
for more of my pitiful story, I switch it up.
     “So what’s the story with you and Dane?”
    I’m guessing this is the “deep thoughts” part of a
high, because normally I wouldn’t want to discuss him at length and Whitley and
I had been doing so well avoiding these topics. I still can’t believe I slept
at her place and am just now learning why my lifelong best friend hates her.
Bass ackwards.
    She smiles nervously, drawing in the side of her lip
to nibble on it, her hands fiddling with the hem of her shirt. “Dane and I grew
up together. Our parents were very close and threw us together for everything—music
lessons, singing lessons, same private schools, dances—you name it.”
    I nod, giving her a comforting smile, urging her to
go on. “It was always assumed, well, with the help of endless blatant comments
from our parents, that Dane and I would simply end up together. At first, I was
all for it.” Her voice falters and her gaze drifts past me, far-off and
disconnected. “I’m not sure now if that was because I actually liked him like
that or it was just another one of the programs my parents installed that I mindlessly
followed.”
     I can almost hear the self-analyzing going on in
her head, but just as quickly as she’d gotten lost, she’s back, looking at me
once again. “Doesn’t matter either way.” She smirks facetiously. “Dane never
wanted me.”
    Pain etches her eyes and she quickly recovers the
frown she doesn’t think I noticed. “Then when his parents died, and he came
here to be near Tate, well… I followed him. I thought if nothing else, we’d be
friends. I’d known him so long, and he was lost and alone. I just wanted to be
the one constant, the one familiar comfort, in his life.”
    I can’t even help it, I reach over and take her hand
in mine. She looks down to our joined hands and a small, soft smile appears
before she goes on. “I think maybe he appreciated it, until Laney came along.”
    And there you have it—two peas in a pod. No wonder
we had formed an instant, unspoken-but-understood friendship. The finer details
may be different, change a few names and exacts, but Whitley and I share the
same story. I know exactly how she feels, which is why I remain silent. There’s
nothing really for me to say, anyway. She doesn’t want me to tell her how bad
it sucks—she knows