My Only Exception by Erika Trevathan Read Free Book Online Page A

and coke and I ordered a vodka and cranberry before sitting back to ogle Braden with the rest of the girls in the building. I’d need a little fortification if I was going to be able to let my guard down a bit. But there was no way I was drinking more than a few. I would never allow myself to get as drunk as I did the last time. That had been awful, and so unlike me, thanks to a certain Braden Worthington.  
    *  *  *
    I sat back watching the guys in the band perform for what would be the last time in this area for a while. Their excitement for the future was palpable and they were completely dominating the stage.  As was usual for a lead singer, it was obvious that Braden was a fan favorite, but Ryan had an especially huge fan following as well. The two of them brought on wild screams and excitement whenever they sang or moved toward the crowd. Braden with his effortless sex appeal and Ryan with his all-American good looks drew the girls in like bees to honey.
    I pushed back the insecurity that was threatening to rear its ugly head. I had pretty much decided that I needed to stop trying to foresee what could happen between Braden and I long-term and live in the moment.
    I’d deal with regrets and a broken heart later.
    *  *  *
    Braden’s eyes raked the crowd and came to rest on our table. When he saw me, he gave me a seductive half smile before turning back to sling his guitar over his head and step toward the microphone that was front and center stage.
    He leaned forward with both hands wrapped around the microphone, his lips just millimeters from it, and seconds later his perfectly husky voice slid seductively through the room.
    “This is a song that I wrote about a girl I know. One that’s somehow gotten under my skin in a way no one ever has before. I’ve just got to convince her that I’m worth the risk.”
    Loud female screams and “I love yous” followed this statement and he turned around to signal the band. I recognized the first chords of “my” song almost immediately.
    Damn. It had really done a number on me the first time I’d heard it, and if the fact that I was on the verge of hyperventilating were any indication, it would be no different this time.
    Braden’s eyes found mine as his voice filled the building, pulling us all in with its smooth, sultry tenor.
    Bree nudged me with her foot in recognition of the song that he was singing and then reached over to grab my hand under the table in a show of support. I was thankful to have a friend who knew how I was feeling without having to say a word. She knew about the walls I had thrown up for myself and she knew how scary it was for me to have them broken down.
     This guy was going to be the death of me. He was slowly and surely breaking down every single one of my carefully built walls.
    And… he was also leaving in two weeks.
    I somehow made it through the song without fleeing from the feelings it provoked in me. Maybe the promise I ’d made to myself to be more open to something between Braden and I, no matter how short-lived it might be, had made Braden’s feelings for me a little easier to listen to.
    *  *  *
    I breathed a sigh of relief when the song was over and I wouldn ’t have to face those emotions quite so blatantly.
    I relaxed and enjoyed the rest of the show, dancing and singing with Bree and Katie, and forgetting, for a little while, that I ’d have to face those feelings once again with Braden after the show.
    Once the band finished their last set, the guys exited the stage and made their way over to our table. That process took the better part of an hour, considering they were stopped every two feet by fans, and by then I ’d downed my third, and final, vodka and cranberry. By the time Braden walked up to our table, I was more than ready to have him to myself. What I wasn’t expecting, was for him to lift me off of the chair I was sitting on and sit down instead, pulling me onto his lap.
    Man, he wasted no time .
    He