Pieces of Us by Hannah Downing Read Free Book Online Page A

Lucy came around the corner carrying a box of cereal and placed it in the cart in front of Cameron. Then I watched in horror as she leaned in and kissed him on the lips. It was so casual, like she’d done it a million times before and expected to do it a million more. My heart was in a vice, right there in the cereal aisle, and I stood frozen, trying to catch my breath.
    I was torn out of my trance when Cameron glanced over his shoulder and saw me staring at them. A huge smile spread over his face, then vanished as he looked quickly at Lucy, then back to me.
    “Shit!” he said, loudly enough for me to hear from the other end of the aisle.
    I turned and walked away as fast as I could, pushing past some people waiting at the checkouts and racing out the doors.
    “Charlotte! Charlotte, wait!” I heard from behind me. “I’m sorry you saw that.”
    I couldn’t wait. I couldn’t talk to him and watch his lips moving — lips I’d just seen kissing another woman. I approached my car and dug furiously through my bag for my keys.
    “Fuck!” I threw my bag onto the hood of the car and rifled through it frantically. I couldn’t find my keys anywhere, and there was nowhere for me to hide from him as he approached.
    “I’ve been calling. How…how are you?” Cameron asked as he ran up to the car, breathing heavily from chasing me.
    “I haven’t answered your calls because there’s nothing to say, and I would appreciate if you’d stop calling,” I replied curtly as I pulled every item out of my bag and placed it on the hood of the car. The keys weren’t there. I sighed in frustration.
    Not being able to find my keys was the last straw, and I allowed myself to feel the anger that had been bubbling inside me for the past four weeks.
    “So are you with her now?” I spat, making eye contact with him for the first time.
    “No, not really,” he replied, looking at the ground.
    “What does that mean?” I hastily pushed everything back into my bag and leaned against the car. I felt something hard in my pocket against the metal of the door and remembered shoving my keys in there when I walked into the store. I pulled them out and heaved a sigh of relief.
    “It means that no matter what’s going on between Lucy and me, you’re the one I want,” he said meekly, shoving his hands in his pants pockets.
    “You were picking out cereal together, Cam. Cereal . She’s obviously spending the night.”
    I folded my arms across my chest and waited for him to reply. He didn’t. He just stared at me apologetically, and I felt the fury rise again like bile in my throat. I allowed the rage to boil for a moment before I noticed people staring at us from their cars. I gritted my teeth and forced my anger back down.
    “Cam, I don’t want to see you again. Ever.”
    I heard the coldness in my voice and was shocked at how even and calm I sounded. I unlocked my car and sat down inside.
    He yelled, “Fine!” just as I slammed the door and started the car.
    I knew he didn’t really mean “fine.” The pain on his face and the desperation in his voice led me to believe he meant the exact opposite, but I wasn’t going to challenge him.
    As I drove off I saw Lucy walk out of the store with an angry look on her face, and I accelerated to get away from them faster. Before I left the parking lot, I glanced into my rear-view mirror and saw Cameron watching me drive away. His shoulders were slumped, and his hands were buried in his hair, but I wasn’t turning back. I was beyond hurt now. I was done.

Chapter Three
    All Around Me
    “How does it feel to be home?” Owen asked, stroking my thigh softly.
    I sighed and looked out the car window, focusing on the trees and fluffy white clouds flying by, not the buildings and houses. They were certainly familiar, but also painful. I associated everything in Fairfield, Connecticut, with him .
    After the confrontation in the grocery store, I’d packed up and left town in a hurry. I hadn’t seen