Starstruck - Book Two by Gemma Brooks Read Free Book Online

New York this weekend?” he
asked.
     
    As much as New York sounded amazing, we’d been spending a
lot of time together, and I was growing slightly homesick.
     
    “That sounds great and all,” I replied. “But if it’s okay
with you, I think I should go home this weekend. I need to check on my mom.
Catch up with Piper. That sort of thing. I’ve never been away this long
before.”
     
    “Brynn, that’s totally fine,” he said, almost insulted by
the fact that I would need to ask his permission. “I’ll book your tickets
today. Not an issue.”
     
    My face lit up as relief washed over me.
     
    “I’m going to hate being away from you though,” he said with
a pained look on his face.
     
    “We’ll talk and text every day,” I promised. “Or iChat or FaceTime
or whatever. It’s just a couple of days.”
     
    “I know,” he said as he stood up and walked over to me. “I
just hate letting you out of my sight.”
     
    He pulled me up into a standing position and kissed me
deeply. My heart fluttered, and I felt like putty in his arms once again. I
didn’t want to leave him either, but I had to check on things back home.
     
    “You’re not going to see that Luke guy, are you?” he
whispered in my ear as his hands caressed my back.
     
    “No,” I said. I was being truthful. I hadn’t really thought
much about Luke the last few weeks. I’d been too distracted by Hudson and all
the excitement that was suddenly appearing in my life thanks to him. “I’m
offended that you’d even ask me that.”
     
    I swatted his chest playfully, but deep down I truly was
offended.
     
    “Just checking,” he said as he nibbled my ear. “You’re mine
now. Not his. Remember that.”
     
    Every so often, I’d catch glimpses of Hudson’s possessive
streak, and truthfully it turned me on.
     
    “Has Luke tried to contact you or anything?” he asked.
     
    Why were we still talking about Luke?
     
    “Not at all,” I said. “Piper doesn’t even really call me that
much. That’s kind of why I think it’s important that I go see her.”
     
    “If it makes you happy,” he said. “I just want you to be
happy. I’m not going to keep you away from your friends and family. I’m not
that kind of guy.”
     
    “I never said you were,” I insisted. “I just need one
weekend at home, and then I’ll come straight back here and we can pick up where
we left off.”
     
    “Promise?” he asked as he breathed heavily into my ear and
held me close.
     
    “Promise,” I replied. I felt tiny and powerless, both
physically and emotionally, under his tight hold.
     
     
     
     
     

CHAPTER 10
 
     
     
     
     
     
     
    My  kitten heels clicked on the hardwood floors of the
coffee shop in Rock River. Up ahead, Piper was leaning against the counter,
reading some sort of magazine. She was in her own little world, not even
bothering to look up when the bell on the door rang.
     
    “Excuse me, miss,” I said. An ornery half-smile crept upon
my lips. “I’d like to order a coffee.”
     
    She looked up, and a small part of me hoped she’d run around
the counter to me and throw her arms around me. I missed her so much.
     
    Instead, her eyes looked me up and down, barely recognizing
me at first.
     
    “Oh, my god,” she said. “Brynn.”
     
    I smiled and placed my hands on my hips.
     
    “You look so…different,” she said as she stared.
     
    “New clothes,” I said. “You like them?”
     
    “No, it’s not that,” she said. “You look so…skeletal.”
     
    “I’ve just been eating healthier out there,” I lied.
“Everything is organic this and free range that.”
     
    She pursed her lips in disbelief, but I refused to elaborate
beyond the explanation I’d already given her.
     
    “What’s wrong?” I asked her. I hated that she wasn’t excited
to see me.
     
    “Nothing,” she said. “Just wasn’t expecting to see you
today.”
     
    She kept staring at me with a blank expression, and it