Torn - Part Two (The Torn Series) by Ellen Callahan Read Free Book Online Page A

felt so good I could have died happy right there. “So fucking good,” I growled, lowering my head next to her ear.
     
    I took her slow. With no practice to run off to, no day job for her, we had nowhere to be. I savored the feel of her breath on my neck, relished in the sensation of being wrapped up in her arms and her legs and her warmth; I was drowning in her.
     
    And I was lucky. Surly had reminded me of that. We were young and we were healthy and relatively carefree. I couldn’t remember what I’d been so upset about. Some stupid ex-boyfriend? Fuck it. This was where I belonged. This was where we belonged.
     
    Maybe my brain was on some sort of sex-high but that was how I was feeling as I rocked us both over the edge, as I kissed her sweet lips and captured her cries of ecstasy before releasing my own.
     
    She giggled when I finally withdrew and rolled aside, breathing heavily as if I’d just had a workout. I suppose it kind of was. “Think we woke your roommates?” she asked.
     
    Jokes. She’s making jokes. I shook my head. “Don’t worry about them.”
     
    “What’s wrong?” she asked. She propped herself up on her arms and looked down at me, eyes creased with worry.
     
    I touched her cheek. “Nothing, babe.” I kissed her until the worry faded away. My phone buzzed on the nightstand next to me, so once she was smiling again I let her roll aside and grabbed it.
     
    My brother. Fuck. That was the end of my good mood. It said simply, “downstairs.” Great, the bastard was here to ruin our morning.
     
    “Who’s Tony?” I turned the phone off and glared at her. I hadn’t realized she was craning her neck to read the phone but there she was, eyes wide and innocent. She cringed at the displeasure on my face. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have read it.”
     
    “Damn right,” I mumbled, rolling away and finally getting out of the bed. She pulled the sheets up to her chin as she sat up and watched me rummage through the drawers for clothes.
     
    “It’s a bad habit. Please don’t be mad.”
     
    Bad habit, indeed. I knew she and her ex had been all up in each other’s phone business. Hell, it was his text from her phone that had led to me finding them kissing in their doorway - a memory I did not need to dredge up. Not right then and not ever.
     
    My anger melted when I looked at her, though, lips still swollen, hair in disarray, sitting there in my bed. I sighed. “Tony’s my brother.”
     
    “Oh.” I knew that raised more questions but I didn’t want to talk about him.
     
    “Sorry. He’s a fan of the drop-in. You can wait here, I’m just gonna go downstairs and tell him to fuck off.”
     
    That raised her eyebrows. “You don’t want me to meet him?”
     
    “Correct.” I yanked on yesterday’s shirt. I wasn’t planning on going anywhere with him. I wanted to curse him out a little and then get back into bed with Riley, and not emerge for the rest of the day if we could help it.
     
    “Why not?”
     
    I grunted with impatience. “It’s not you. He’s an asshole.”
     
    “So what, I can be an asshole.” She smirked. “Let me come with you. Between the two of us we can out-asshole him for sure.”
     
    Pre-coffee, her logic almost made sense.
     
    Or maybe the thought of having her there with me was more appealing than it should have been. I was not the kind of guy to turn to anyone for support, least of all some chick. But she was more than “some chick” - our lovemaking that morning had made that pretty fucking obvious, whether I liked it or not.
     
    “Fine.” I took off the old shirt and dug out a new one. “Get dressed. We’ll tell him off and go get breakfast.”
     
    ○●○●○●○●○
     
    I wished we’d been more firm in our plan, but Tony had a way of being just enough of a charming piece of shit to change the words as they came out of my mouth. I meant to say “Fuck on off,” but instead I mumbled, “Fine, join us for pancakes,