Shattered: A Salvation Society Novel Bella Emy (best ebook reader for laptop .TXT) 📖

Giving in, I brace myself for the million questions that I know she’ll soon be throwing my way. “There’s nothing much to tell. I wasn’t really sleepy yet, so I decided to go downstairs to the bar. There was music playing, lights illuminating the beach, so I headed toward it. I grabbed a drink, spoke to Kalen, and called it a night.” I throw in that little detail like it’s nothing and hope it passes her by.

But it doesn’t and she grabs me by the arm once more.

“Wait, what? Go back…”

I act like I don’t know what she wants to hear. We reach the pier and stop to the right of it, taking a seat on some large boulders. “I called it a night after grabbing a Mojito.”

She shakes her head. “Nah-uh. You said something else.”

I furrow my brows. “Oh, the music and lights? Yeah, it was great. There were plenty of people dancing, too, and it was—”

“Kalen!” she finally shouts, looking like her eyes are ready to pop right out of her head. “You said you spoke to Kalen?!”

I pretend as though that little detail is nothing. “Oh, that. Yeah, we spoke for two seconds, no big deal.”

“No big deal? Girl, you were ready to puke when you saw him at the rehearsal dinner and then again the other day, and now it’s no big deal?! I think it’s a huge deal. Tremendous.” She studies my expression and then adds, “...and I think you’re pulling my chain, you bitch!”

I laugh. “Okay, so maybe it was a big deal, but I didn’t do much of the talking… he did. And he asked me out to dinner. I declined. Then he asked me out to breakfast, and I declined that, too.”

Now her eyes really are coming out of her head. “You can’t be fucking serious, Lexi?! He asked you out, twice in one night, and you said no both times?”

“Yes,” I state, matter of factly.

Erin throws her arms up in exasperation. “Oh my God, woman! I understand if you don’t want anything to do with him, at least nothing serious. But for God’s sake, would it kill you to talk to him or hang out with him?”

“What?” I let out a nervous laugh.

“I know you hate him for what happened long ago. I get that, trust me. What he did is in no way excusable. He acted like a douche. But he’s obviously still very much attracted to you. And you can’t tell me you don’t think he’s still hot, too… if not more so than he was.”

I shrug. “I don’t hate him… I just dislike him—a lot. But so what if I think he’s still hot… or hotter.”

She giggles. “Exactly. Anyway, no one is asking you to marry the guy. But you should totally see where it goes with Kalen.”

I consider her words. See where it goes with Kalen. I mean, did she forget what he did to me? God, I can’t even imagine it. Just the thought of us possibly hanging out again and getting close like we used to be, with him causing me to feel things I haven’t in so long… I mean, who wouldn’t love to get laid after so long? He definitely looks like he’d be damn good at it, too.

When we did it, I didn’t know anything about it. I was totally inexperienced, so I had no idea what to expect. Now, since I’m older and have gotten intimate with a few guys, I know.

I shake my head. What am I even thinking? I need to drive this conversation to safer grounds. “I don’t know, Erin. Everything we’ve been through? I’m still so irate with him. And would you believe he doesn’t even know or remember why I’m so mad at him? That just pisses me off even more!”

Bringing the thought to life makes me catch a grip and remember why I’m mad at him in the first place, and it’s exactly what I need to calm my fucking hormones down. I can’t believe I was actually considering going there with him again. It’s all the damn whore in me’s fault.

She shrugs. “Would you hate me if I were to admit to you that I don’t even know why you hate him so much?”

I gasp.

Kidding!” she teases, and I punch her in the arm. Then she continues. “Look, girl. I know what happened. I know the details and I know why you feel the way you do toward him. I was there when you spilled everything out to me as it happened and even years after it did. Whenever we talk about him and the past, you remind me. And that’s fine. But the reason why I know all of it so well is because you tell me and because I was there for you while you cried.”

“What are you saying?” I ask.

She smiles and drapes an arm over my shoulder. “What I’m saying is, maybe he doesn’t remember or forgot or frankly never even knew because he never heard it from you or you never got to tell him. Maybe now’s the time to kiss and make up… literally.”

I laugh, considering her words. Maybe Erin is right. Maybe if I just swallow my pride and talk to Kalen about how I felt, how I still feel, about everything that happened, I can put all of this behind me and move past it. It would be nice not to have these feelings of hatred—or rather heavy dislike because I don’t hate him, every time I think of the past.

“Maybe,” I respond.

Erin smiles widely. “Yeah, at least you didn’t send me to hell, and you didn’t say no. That’s definitely a start.”

I smirk. “Don’t get too excited. I only said maybe.”

She points a finger at me. “But you didn’t say no.”

Rolling my eyes playfully, I respond, “No, I didn’t say no…”

“And that, my friend, is a very good thing. Now, just to figure out how we’re going to ask Kalen out.”

My eyes widen, my expression