Just You by Jane Lark Read Free Book Online

so . It wasn’t abnormal for her.
    If this was a rich kid’s life, I was glad all those wishes I’d made on birthday candles as a boy hadn’t come true. “What about when you were a girl?”
    “I was in boarding school, I stayed there.”
    Her expression said she didn’t care. But she’d grown up on her own. A frown crushed my brow–I’d got her wrong in the office. But now she did look like the girl I’d worked with for a year. Her lips had pouted and her chin was up, in that aggressive bitch like expression I knew well.
    “How much did you see them?” My hand ran over my hair, back and forth, as I said it. I was still knee deep in shock.
    “A few weeks every year.”
    A few weeks? Well that had probably been as much as I’d seen Dad when he was meant to be with us, but that was because he didn’t give a shit and was in and out of jail–what about her parents then….
    “That’s crazy.” The words slipped out of my mouth before I realized I’d said them aloud.
    Her gaze burned into mine, and then there was the girl I’d met today, the one who looked uncertain as she bit her lip an instant before saying. “Not in my world.”
    She moved to pick up the popcorn and focused on pulling it open then sat back and started slipping the burst kernels into her mouth.
    I smiled, pity probably leaking into my eyes. She didn’t look like she’d had a happy childhood. Maybe that’s why she was so arrogant– self-defense . Maybe that office expression of hers wasn’t aggressive but defensive?
    “Are you sure you don’t want to go out and do something, we could go to a bar, or–”
    Her gaze spun to me as sharp as a blade. “No I’m fine. I want to stay in.”
    Nope, she hadn’t been happy. She looked away, and I shut up and let her watch the film. She had her knees bent up in front of her now.
    “Do you want more vodka?”
    She nodded, so I got up and topped up her glass, not adding anymore cola. Then I filled mine.
    She didn’t say anything as I sat down next to her again, just gripped her ankles and watched the film play out to its violent conclusion.
    When it finished she looked at me for the first time since I’d topped up her drink. “Sorry, I’m shit company…”
    I didn’t know what to say. “Do you really want to watch these? You don’t have to watch horror for my benefit.”
    Her shoulders shivered like a draft caught her. “Believe me, I’m not into rom coms and happy endings; I like horror.”
    I always thought the two of us were entirely different but now… I felt sorry for her…
    “Put the next film on. Then come over here…”
    She didn’t say anything as she downloaded the film. But once she’d got it going and slid back onto the bed, I lifted my arm and she did come over, slotting under it and leaning against me. Her fingers rested on my stomach. My abs gripped tight in a sharp spasm.
    I liked her touching me. I’d liked her touching me in the pool. And it was nice having her tucked under my arm.
    Portia was pear shaped, wider hipped with a tiny waist, and really slender on top. She felt delicate against me but it was kind of awkward. “Tell you what, why don’t we top up our glasses and lie down and watch it?”
    She threw me a suspicious smile but nodded anyway and straightened up. She fetched the bottle and brought it over to half-fill my glass, then she topped up hers before coming back with cola. “Neat or mixed?”
    “Mixed.” I let her fill my glass up and put it on the bedside table within reach. Then I laid down closer to the wall so she could fit on the bed in front of me.
    I propped my head up on my palm as she tipped the rest of the M&Ms into a bowl. When she came over, she offered me some. I took a handful.
    Then she set the M&Ms down and tossed the cushions from the other end of the bed, my way. “Use them.”
    I stuffed a couple beneath my head, with the sweet taste of M&Ms flooding my mouth.
    She put her drink down next to mine, then lay in front of me,