My Heart be Damned by Chanelle Gray Read Free Book Online Page A

My old town. The buses were small and came by the hour, then after that, a Tube took me the rest of the way. I skipped down the stone steps outside my school’s entrance, just as the bus pulled away from the bus stop and tore down the narrow road.
    “No!” I groaned.
    I flopped down on the bottom step and buried my head in my hands. An hour. I’d have to wait a fricking hour until another bus. I wouldn’t get to The Hut for ages now. Not that I cared about what kind of impression I gave, but I didn’t want John to think I bailed and call the police.
    “You okay?” Sam asked.
    I looked up to see that he was staring down at me.
    “What’re you still doing here?” I asked accusingly.
    “Checking out books from the library,” he answered, lifting a bulging rucksack. “Looks like I’ve got a lot to catch up on. Thought I best get reading.”
    “Oh.”
    “You miss the bus?” he guessed.
    “Yup.”
    “You want a ride?”
    I bit down on my lip, contemplating the offer. On the one hand, it would mean getting to work comfortably and in a shorter time. On the other hand, that meant sitting in a car – alone – with a person I barely knew. Good thing I could defend myself if he tried anything.
    “That would be great.” I stood up and followed him around the school to the car park. Most of the cars were gone, and I spotted his black Mercedes easily.
    “Nice car.” I ran my hand along the door.
    “Thanks. It was a present for agreeing to move here without kicking and screaming…much.”
    “Your parents are decent. I’d be made to do it, argument or not.” I slid onto the leather seat, breathing in the new car smell. My favorite of all smells.
    He pulled out of the school grounds and began to speed down the tiny road towards town.
    “Where to?”
    “The Hut. You remember the way?”
    He nodded. “Yeah. Why there? It’s a bit early to be going, right? Or did I not get the vibe right? I do that sometimes.”
    “I work there,” I answered.
    “Oh. Right.”
    I turned to face the window, staring out at the plush green fields filled with cows. Maxwell had its own stables with its own Polo team. A team I’d been a part of until I quit last year. I wasn’t about to admit to anyone how much I missed it. There was no other feeling quite as exhilarating as the wind rushing past your face while on horseback.
    Obviously, competitiveness was in my blood, and there weren’t many other sports I could excel at without standing out too much. With Polo, it was less obvious and more about control than strength. It helped I’d been honing my control since I was six.
    However, it had been my mother, who’d encouraged me to join the Polo team, and now I couldn’t compete in a game without thinking about her and then becoming consumed with grief. I was no good to the team like that.
    “So,” I started, still not facing him. “How was hanging out with Sarah White and her clan today? Didn’t see you much...”
    “ Awww , did you miss me?”
    I shot him a warning look. “Not really.”
    His face fell. “Oh. Well, I got a bit lost, and they found me. Started showing me around, and I felt like I owed it to them to hang with them for the day. It wouldn’t look good if I just ran off to sit with you after letting them help.”
    “A hello or a wave would’ve been nice,” I said. I was only teasing...mostly. It was amusing to see him squirm.
    “Oh. I’m...I’m sorry.”
    I laughed, unable to hold a straight face anymore. “Don’t worry about it, Sam. I’m not gonna go home and cry about it.”
    “That’s good. I think.”
    For the rest of the journey, Sam and I volleyed questions back and forth at each other. Favorite movies, foods we liked and hated, or we were of two minds about, depending on how they were served. He never really had a bad word to say about anything.
    “Here we are,” Sam declared, pulling up outside The Hut.
    I grabbed my bag from the floor. “Thanks a lot for this, Sam. It, erm , it means