Love Nouveau by B.L. Berry Read Free Book Online Page B

can tell that he feels it too.
    I sit back on my side of the couch and take a large sip of my coffee, looking at him over the rim of my mug and trying to figure him out. His beautiful maple eyes meet mine and pierce right through me, incinerating me to my core.
    Suddenly, my phone vibrates from my backside, startling me and breaking me from his gaze. I quickly pull it out to find a text message.
     
    Rachel: Outside!
     
    “That’s my cue.” I quickly finish my coffee and make my way to meet Rachel in the driveway. Phoenix stands up and walks me to the door.
    I’m a little eager to get out of this confined space we’ve been sharing the past few minutes. Not because I’m uncomfortable, but rather because the way he makes me feel is unfamiliar and a little unnerving.
    “See you tomorrow night.” He looks at me with longing in his eyes.
    I unsuccessfully try to hide my smile and give him a tight nod. “Tomorrow night. I’ll text you the address.”
    I’m halfway out the door when I feel him pull on my hand, tugging me back inside. His eyes burn through to my soul and my knees weaken. Ever so slowly, he lifts my hand to his lips and places a delicate kiss on my palm before curling my fingers in a fist.
    “Hold onto this until tomorrow,” he whispers.
    Warmth radiates from my palm to my arm and throughout my chest. I can’t help but smile.
    Promise lingers in the air between us as I float down the driveway.
    “Shit, girl. You look like you had a great time last night.” Rachel gapes as I slide into the front seat next to her.
    “That’s a thoughtful way of telling me I look like hell.” The world is so bright it’s screaming at me, so I reach between the seats and put on her spare pair of sunglasses. “But yes, I had a great time.”
    “So what happened?”
    I wince as Rachel drives away from the curb with such force that I slam my head against the back of the seat. “No idea. I can’t remember half the party,” I confide, bringing my hands to my forehead and slowly massaging my temples.
    “So you blacked out again?”
    I knew Rachel would call me out on that. Before I left for Italy, I had a habit of drinking myself into oblivion. Within our circle of friends, I was the one who always had the crazy stories of waking up in bizarre locations … the stacks of Memorial Library on campus, in the Chancellor’s garden, and then there was the epic moment when I woke up on the fifty-yard line on the “W” signifying Wisconsin in the middle of Camp Randall Stadium. It’s not something I’m particularly proud of, but it always made for a great story. But last night … last night something was different.
    “I guess. After you left to go hook up with that frat guy, I kind of went overboard.”
    “Ivy!” she scolds. I can’t help but blanch at her volume. My insides curdle and I’m torn between needing to vomit and wanting to cry.
    “I know. I was just pissed at Matt. Who the hell does he think he is showing up unannounced and expecting me to fall back into his arms? I am so over his shit.”
    “Yeah, well some guys will never change. Hopefully, he took the hint. So how’d it go with blondie?”
    “It didn’t.”
    “But you never just crash at someone’s house,” she says in disbelief.
    “I know,” I admonish myself. “Sully, the blond, only started talking to me to introduce me to his friend Phoenix.”
    Rachel throws her head back against the headrest and releases a deep belly laugh. “Guys are such idiots. Grow some balls and drop the wingman act already. Sorry it didn’t work out.”
    “I don’t know if I’d say that…” I linger, deep in thought and suppressing a smile. “Phoenix was … he was different.”
    “Different?”
    I nod in response. Unlike most guys, he seemed genuinely interested in what I had to say, unafraid to tease me, and didn’t have a main objective to get me into bed. Ironic since that’s usually my M.O.
    “He was just an all-around good guy. Apparently,