Full Measures by Rebecca Yarros Read Free Book Online Page A

snow.”
    A small smile crept across his face. “What makes you think I don’t still have it?”
    “They’re dangerous.”
    “They’re fun.” He swung the Jeep into the oncoming traffic lane, passing the Subaru with Texas plates in front of us. I swallowed a protest at the speed he did it at. It was freaking snowing, but it didn’t seem to faze him. He eased off the gas once he pulled back into our lane.
    “Is it true?” I asked, sliding a glance at him. “About all that illegal racing stuff in high school?”
    A muscle in his jaw twitched, flexed. “I left a lot of things behind when we moved from Arizona. It’s the benefit of moving. You get to start over, and what you used to do doesn’t define you anymore, or at least it’s not supposed to.”
    Didn’t I know it. We’d moved more times than I had fingers to count. His phone buzzed on the console between us, and a discreet glance revealed the name, “Heather.” Yeah, I guess not much had changed on the girls-chasing-Josh front. It was a good reminder.
    “Looks like you’re wanted.”
    A smirk played at the corner of his lips. “Sure, by the ones not worth chasing.” He didn’t try to read the text, or even ask me to do it for him. He ignored it completely.
    I let out an exasperated sigh. “Why are you doing this, anyway?”
    “Taking a pretty girl out on a Friday night?” His hands flexed on the wheel; he knew darn well what I meant.
    “Driving over two hours to take me to see my boyfriend.” Man, when I put it that way, why the hell was he doing it?
    “Because it’s what you need.” His eyes didn’t leave the road, so he couldn’t notice the way I studied his profile in stunned silence. The cut angles of his face leaned more toward Grecian, less all-American than I originally thought, but that mouth of his . . . I shook my head to clear it of the thoughts I should not be having, especially with a text from Heather sitting between us. “Why are you with Riley, anyway?”
    Well, that sure snapped me out of my Josh-watching. Riley. Right. “Because it’s what we do.” Once it was out of my mouth, I realized how stupid it sounded. “That came out wrong. That’s not what I meant.”
    “Defensive much?”
    I looked back to the road, only visible by the headlights. The snow falling softened everything around us, leaving us secluded. “I just meant that we have a plan, and we stick to it. We’ve been together over three years, and we have two more before graduation. Then Riley wants to go to law school so he can prep for politics. He wants to get married before law school.”
    “Seems to be a lot of Riley in that plan.”
    White hot frustration crept up my throat like acid, and I clenched my fists in my lap. Who was Josh Walker to question our plan? “There’s a lot of me, too.” Ouch, that did sound defensive. “I mean, I’m the one who wants to get married then, because I can’t see us going another few years before we finally have s— ” I abruptly cut myself off. Heat stung my cheeks. The car was dark, so he couldn’t see, couldn’t possibly know I was the exact shade of red as his Jeep’s paint job.
    “Have what?” he questioned.
    I didn’t answer.
    He snapped his gaze to me, eyebrows arched in surprise. “You’re telling me that in three years, you haven’t had sex?”
    “Eyes on the road!” I countered. He stifled a laugh and turned back to driving. My hands flexed open, closed, open, closed. “I can’t believe I just said that. You can’t say anything!”
    “Are you a wait-for-marriage kind of girl?” There was no mocking in his tone. “It’s cool if you are, it’s just that three years is a long time to a guy.”
    I shook my head. I’d already said this much, what was the harm in finishing the thought? Besides, it’s not like we ran into each other on campus or anything. “Riley wants to wait for marriage. He says it’s for me. You know, squeaky clean and perfect. He promises waiting will be worth