Healed by Rebecca Brooke Read Free Book Online

ear, lifting his mouth from me. Cool air kissed the skin on my neck where his lips had been, and I was disappointed he’d moved. He could have left his lips on me all night.
    I leaned back against him. “Thank you.”
    Andrew didn’t let me stay standing for long. Soon enough, he led me over to the couch to sit between him and Angie. Still smiling, I dug into my food. I was absolutely starving. It didn’t help that I hadn’t eaten since brunch.
    Andrew looked over at me and laughed. “Hungry?”
    “Mmhmm,” I agreed around a mouth full of food.
    He brushed a piece of hair back from my face. “That’s what you get for sleeping the day away and missing lunch.”
    If I hadn’t been so intent on not putting my chopsticks down, I would have smacked him for being an ass, especially with the smirk he was giving me. He was in so much trouble later.
    “No witty come back from Em. I think that scares me more than when she yells,” Caleb said, chuckling quietly.
    I didn’t want to disappoint but since my mouth was full of food, I had to resort to flipping him off.
    “See, there’s the Em we all know and love.” Caleb was full out laughing. I looked over at Angie, who was watching Caleb like he’d lost his mind. Slowly I set my food down, prepared to let him have it when Angie spoke up.
    “Umm . . . sweetheart,” she said. “I’m not sure that’s the best idea. Actually, you’re starting to sound like Josh.”
    I stood up, taking slow careful steps over to where Caleb was sitting. “If you want to be that way, I’m sure we can arrange a freak-out if you’d like,” I said, smiling sweetly at him. Turning, I gave Angie a quick wink so she would play along. If Caleb wanted to be a smartass he was going to pay for it—not with yelling, but with pure torture. Nick and Morgan sat at the kitchen island, laughing as I stalked Caleb like a lioness would stalk her prey. The smirk on his face quickly disappeared and his eyes widened.
    “I’m . . . I’m sorry, Em. I was just joking,” Caleb pleaded, his hands held up in surrender, his eyes darting between Angie and Andrew, looking for help.
    Andrew shook his head. “Don’t look at me, man. You’re the one who started with her. You should know better by now.”
    Just watching Caleb get all freaked out was worth it. Leaning down—watching his eyes practically bug out of his head—I placed a kiss on his cheek, stood up and walked away. The whole room burst out in laughter as Caleb sat there sputtering.
    But there was one laugh missing.
    That was when I looked over to where Josh was sitting. He looked like he hadn’t slept in days, the frown lines etched around his eyes and mouth saying it all. Things with Lauren hadn’t gotten any better since I’d seen her a few days ago. She was in a lot of pain and completely miserable.
    Walking over I took the seat next to him and rested my hand on his leg. The dark circles under his eyes just about did me in. He was always the one cracking the jokes, or the first one on your side when you did, so it was hard to see him suffering. Josh and I had been friends for the last three years, long before I met Andrew and Caleb, and he looked like he could use a friend more than anything. Living with Caleb and Angie, I knew they would be looking out for him, but I knew from experience that there were just those times that you needed to talk to someone outside of the situation, to see if you could get it to make any sense.
    “How’s Lauren?”
    Josh’s head rolled across the back of the couch to look at me as he shrugged his shoulders. The emptiness in his eyes said more than words could, but that didn’t mean he needed to keep quiet. At some point you just had to let stuff out.
    “Tell me.”
    He sighed and closed his eyes. “She hasn’t been eating or sleeping right. I’m just hoping it’s more about the pain and less about her fears about playing again. Pain goes away. I guess we’ll know more after she sees the physical