Path of Destruction by Caisey Quinn, Elizabeth Lee Read Free Book Online

out the door.
    She’d only made it halfway down the hall when she heard his voice. Not Coach McDermott’s as she’d expected, but the one she didn’t ever want to hear again.
    “I didn’t know,” he called out from a few feet away. “I didn’t know about your brother.”
    Pulling in a deep breath, she turned to face him. He came closer, close enough to touch, but she remained motionless.
    “I’m sorry, angel face. I am so damn sorry. I swear to God I didn’t know.” He braced his arms beside her head on the lockers behind her. “I would’ve done something, would’ve come to the funeral. I would’ve been there for you.”
    She swallowed hard, allowing herself to indulge for just a moment. Her eyes drank in his strong jaw, flexing with the same intensity of the deep emerald gaze burning into hers.
    His head tilted forward until his nose was barely a fraction of an inch from hers. “Please don’t shut me out. We should talk. There’s so much—”
    “There’s nothing,” she said, surprised by the foreign sound of her own raspy voice. “It was a mistake, all of it. Just…stay away from me.”
    When he stepped back, she turned away, planning to put as much distance between herself and Hayden Prescott as humanly possible. But he wasn’t going to make it that easy. His hands pulled at her hips, holding her back against his front.
    “Don’t say that. Please don’t ever say that.” His voice held a plea she couldn’t ignore.
    She fought the urge to look at him, knowing she would fall, just as she had all summer, for his lies again if she had to look into those eyes. This close, she could hear his breath.
    “With everything going on, the memories we made this summer are all that’s getting me through,” he told her.
    “Some memories are best left in the past where they belong. Let me go.” She tried to tug out of his grasp, but his strong fingers held tighter.
    “Ella Jane, please. Please just listen.”
    “Let. Me. Go.” Slamming the steel walls down around her heart, she glared at him over her shoulder. “You of all people know I’m not interested in being your dirty little secret. Move.”
    Shoving his arm aside, she took two steps before he grabbed her arm and whirled her around to face him.
    “Stop running from me, dammit. I’m done begging.”
    Before she could blink, he crushed his mouth to hers.
    For one minuscule second, she allowed herself to feel. Pleasure coursed through her, weakening her knees while filling her with a strength she thought she’d lost. She wanted to grab his neck, yank his hair, and pour all the pain and passion into that kiss—the hurt, the heartache, and the loss. But she couldn’t. This was the same brand of weakness that cost her everything she cared about.
    “Stop,” she commanded, pulling back.
    They couldn’t do this. It wasn’t just about his girlfriend, though that certainly made her feel pretty vile. It was Kyle. He would never kiss anyone again, would never be kissed again. He’d never been in love that she knew of, and it felt treacherous to have anything he hadn’t.
    “We can’t do this. I-I can’t. If you care about me at all you’ll leave me alone.”

B etween trying to figure out the labyrinth that was Summit Bluffs High School and keeping tabs on Ella Jane, Cooper was over school by the end of first hour. He’d heard that she stormed out of her first class like her ass was on fire but when found her in the hallway, she didn’t mention it. She just kept her lips pinched shut and pointed down at her crumbled schedule before leading him into gymnasium for the P.E. class they had together. It was the only class they shared, but he’d take whatever time he had with her. At least if they were in the same classroom, or gym, he could keep all the assholes away from her. Luckily for them, the second-hour class was filled with Hope’s Grove students.
    The two of them settled in on the bleachers and waited for the teacher to come out and