Random Acts of Hope by Julia Kent Read Free Book Online

hell is—” He chopped his question off mid-sentence when he saw the blowup doll.
    I had to hand it to Charlotte. I had said “in person” for delivery on that order. A rush of rage poured through me, though. Not humiliation.
    Rage. Red-hot rage shot through every vein, every artery, every inch of skin because suddenly those five years spread out between us like a painful set of ropes binding us, the burn from trying to break free so bad it was better to remain imprisoned.
    “I’m here to deliver your new girlfriend to you. Plus the half-gallon of warming lube .” Charlotte hefted it onto the table, where a bunch of half-empty glasses and beer bottles rattled with the movement. “And your flesh simulator for the iPad.”  
    I scratched my chin and felt my cheeks turning hot .
    “Thanks, I guess.”
    “You ordered it.”
    “Doesn’t make this any less awkward.”
    “One bit of warning: do n ’t use the warming gel with the flesh simulator. You’ll get lesions worse than rug burns.”
    I flinched, my hand nearly going to my crotch. “Is this supposed to be funny?”
    A single shoulder raised in response in a dismissive shrug. The cloth of her dress slipped another inch, revealing the line of her bra. My breathing slowed and I had to control it and the rush of desire that shot through me. “Was ordering all that shit from me and having me deliver it in person ‘funny’?”
    “I thought you’d call me.”
    “Phones work both ways. Yours been broken for five years?”
    “Only my heart,” I blurted.  
    I said that.
    I fucking said that.
    She looked like I’d slapped her. The red creep of shame that covered her neck told me I couldn’t have pointed a steel-tipped arrow at her chest and pierced her with a might y pull and hurt her more than those words did.
    “ Y our heart? You—” A sob escaped, ragged and beautiful, brutal and filled with half the wounds we’d inflicted on each other in our minds.
    And then I was touching her arms, my hands around her waist, her lips crushed against mine, hard and furious, that kiss trying to transcend all those years and say something—anything—to replace the silence.
    She broke away first, palms against my chest, hand over my heart and moving in concert with its pumping.
    Her lips parted and her eyes turned up, chin still down, and she uttered the last words I heard her sp eak before she marched out:
    “God damn Liam.” Her hand flew up and she slapped me so hard I knew I’d have a red flush that matched hers.
    Turning on her heel, she deposited the sex doll in a gape-mouthed Darla’s arms as Green Hair stomped off after her, the entire bar abuzz with whispers about what they’d just seen.
    Whatever the hell it was.

Chapter Five
    Charlotte
    I couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t breathe, couldn’t see, couldn’t think. But oh, could I feel. Too much. Too many feelings. My feet took over and began to race through the open main door of the bar, down the s treet, my brain on fire and my heart in death throes.
    “Charlotte!” I heard Maggie call out in the distance, but I couldn’t stop. If I stopped I’d be a sobbing mess forever, and I’d already tried living life like that five years ago. It wasn’t to my liking. Just running and running until I was exhausted wouldn’t work either, but I had to put as much distance as I could between myself and that kiss.
    That kiss!
    God damn Liam, al l right. How dare he? How dare he! Every second that kiss lasted felt like a contraction, like the loss of the baby all over again. Like the loss of him all over again.
    Losing my friend, losing my baby, losing myself—it was never going to fade, was it? The tears poured down my face as I ran, low heels be damned, click-clacking on uneven pavement as downtown Boston lights became a blur.
    “Charlotte!” Maggie’s voice was sharp, the clasp of her hand on my elbow a yank that jarred me. “Slow down. Calm down. Breathe.”
    “Can’t,” I gasped. “Can’t. If I—if