Less than Perfect by S. J. Evans (librera reader .TXT) 📖

stool, the only thing that held her up was her own hands that gripped underneath the stool. She stared into those memorizing eyes, her expressions almost resembling a timid animal. The boy did the next best thing to get to her: he dropped his hand to her leg.
Skye flinched back and squeaked, the slightest movement kicking her off of the stool; only, she didn’t fall, because strong gentle hands braced her steady, those warm hands belonging to the boy with the emerald eyes. There was only a thin line that separated them and both could feel each other’s breath against their faces. She hadn’t even realized that her hands had grabbed a hold of the boy’s shirt in instinct. After a moment of the two staring into each other’s eyes, the boy pulled them both upright, only to have laughed when he got back up. He signaled the bartender for another drink and stared ahead of him.
Skye’s heart was pounding, and it wasn’t only from almost falling—she knew that it was from the experience of just being so close to someone like him. She wanted to apologize but she felt stupid, she tried to find words to explain, but she honestly didn’t understand what had happened herself.
That was when the boy had done something entirely unexpected. He kept his eyes straight ahead, but words came from his mouth, “Do you enjoy falling off of stools or something, or are you just prone to getting boys to catch you?” his deep and harmonious voice asked, a grin dancing around his lips.
She had been taken aback by his dreamy voice and the words only caused her to blush a deep red, but she still tried to scramble up something to say. Clearing her throat, she opened her mouth to speak, but the boy turned his gaze upon her and raised an eyebrow, stopping her. He didn’t say anything though, and Skye took that as a sign that it was her turn to speak, but suddenly she was mute, afraid to open up. She finally mustered something up, “Actually, I think you’re mistaken. I slipped because you were invading my space.” She said incredibly clearly despite the nerves that were at high alert.
He laughed and shook his head, the hair on his head falling perfectly back in place. “Was I really invading your space? You seemed to like it,” he said, his voice seductive and edgy. The smirk grew and he raised his eyebrow more as he leaned slightly closer to her.
She sucked in a breath. Did he really just say that

? She thought in disbelief. “Yes, you were. And don’t even think for a minute that I liked it.” She partially had lied though, she did sort of like it.
“I think that you did, so you don’t have to hide it. But, would you like for us to start over anyways?” He said sweetly, the soft and kind tone was such great refreshment to her over the harsh and angry tone she would get from Bryan and Johnny so regularly. Skye nodded her head in response, she didn’t care to speak out loud. “The name’s Jules,” he extended his hand and Skye hesitantly shook it, feeling the heat spark throughout her entire body.
“Skye,” she replied, “interesting meeting you.”
“I think that is has been very nice meeting you. And, for the record, you have a very pretty name, just like everything else about you.” He winked and grinned, almost as if to himself.
Skye was taken aback again; she couldn’t believe what she had heard. She didn’t know what to say other than, “Um—thank you.” She choked on the words, utterly confused. He was flirting with her—actually flirting with her—Skye Montgomery, the quiet and frequently unnoticed girl. The only thing that she could figure was that he was either, one: very playful and flirtatious with every girl, or two: he was completely messing with her head. He hadn’t only given her a second glance, but he somehow made the move to talk to her.
“You’re quirky, you know that? But it’s in the best way possible; I just can’t seem to figure you out.” He was full of surprises. “Want me to let you in on a little secret, though?” He said as he leaned in closer to her.
“Sure, since you so gracefully pointed out that I’m quirky.” She scoffed.
The boy—Jules—laughed and pointed his finger casually at her. “Don’t let a guy distract you, ever, okay?”
“Okay, whatever you say, hotshot.” She mumbled, laughing at his blatant attempts at getting her to blush. So far he was winning; he had already made her become as red as she had been when Bryan had lashed out at her.
“Ah, I think you’ve got the right idea, but let me tell you something. ‘Hot’ doesn’t even come close to describing you,” he let the words hang in the air to get a reaction out of her.
She raised her eyebrow and let out a quiet huff.
“You’re far beyond that,” was all that he said before he got up, dropped the money on the counter, and started walking away.
If Skye hadn’t contained herself she would have let her jaw drop to the floor, she couldn’t come to terms with what he had told her. Flirting no longer covered what he had done. She wanted to call out to him but she had no idea what to say or do.
Jules turned around and looked at her, “I’ll see you around, stool girl

.” He called out to her, the words trailing out in a seductive way that left her practically drooling over him. The grin he had given her before he had left and gotten lost in the crowd took her out of concentration. She hardly even noticed that he had said her name when he left, the name that sounded as if it was destined to pass through his lips. She was in awe, entirely shocked and overwhelmed with a warm feeling of delight. She had been left completely mesmerized.
All of the delight and warmth vanished in the blink of an eye, though, when she felt strong and rough hands grip her shoulders, pinching the skin and bone. She let out a cry and pain overtook the warmth that had been there moments before, and the wave of oppressing fear poured into her body again. She knew those hands; she knew who was behind her. Bryan

.
Warm breath brushed down through her hair and sent shivers racing down her spine. “I think that we need to talk, beautiful.” Bryan’s whispered warningly, the tone dark and sickening.
She could hardly breathe, everything flashed before her eyes as she thought about what he would do. There was no telling what he would do, but considering the dangerous anger implied in his voice, it wasn’t going to end well for her.

Harsh Reality

Bryan yanked on Skye’s shoulders, pulling her abruptly off of the stool. She refrained from letting out a sound, knowing that if she drew attention to herself it would only create more trouble. She knew that he would hurt her even worse when they’re alone. “Come on, we really

need to talk.” He slithered, his grip on her shoulders painfully tight.
Skye let out a whimper as he dragged her back into the dark, her shoulders throbbing from the strong grip. “This doesn’t look like the place to talk,” she whispered, clutching his hands. She wanted to cry out because the pain was intoxicating as his fingers slid into the crook of her neck, pinching her.
They were nearing the back exit of the club, the dark corner frighteningly quiet. They were already so far away from the people and cold fear was slithering through her veins. “We’re going to the back, that way we can talk

.” He growled. He knew that she was scared but it didn’t faze him, instead it was what was pulling him to do it even more. He was feeding off of her fear.
“Why, what do we need to talk about?” She cried in a hushed tone.
“I don’t like what I saw,” he trailed off, shoving the exit door open with his back and yanking her out after him. She whimpered as he tossed her forward and onto the ground, almost as if she was trash, as if she meant nothing to him. “What was going on between you and that boy?” He growled under his breath, his jaw tightening.
“Nothing, nothing at all,” she breathed, pushing herself up so that her hands supported her. Her heart was hammering against her chest and she had to gasp for breaths.
He gave her a look of disbelief. “It didn’t look like nothing, babe. You wouldn’t be lying to me would you?”
Suddenly she couldn’t breathe; her words were caught in her throat tangling them painfully inside. She tried to swallow but all she could do was stare at her boyfriend with fear. She scooted herself back a little and shook her head. She had to tell him that she wasn’t lying before he got the wrong idea, but it was already too late—he had the wrong idea.
Bryan dropped to his knees beside her—his jeans soaking up the dirt and grime of the alley—and pulled her violently up to him, his hands wrapped behind her back. “Why are you lying to me, babe? I don’t understand why you’re covering for him, it’s not like I’m going to do anything to him.” He said through clenched teeth, his entire body shaking with anger. He shook her violently, his hot breath spiking her fear.
Finally Skye managed to catch her breath and form words, “I’m not lying, Bryan. Nothing happened, we—we were just talking, I—I’m sorry.” She stuttered, gripping his arms so that she wouldn’t hurt herself.
“Who was he?” He muttered, his voice filled with so much menacing anger that Skye had to blink a few times before she could think straight. “Who was he?” He repeated painfully louder.
She flinched at the tone of his voice and hot tears formed at the corners of her eyes. “Jules, his name was Jules.” She whispered, desperately quiet.
The alley around them was dark and vacant, and deathly quiet besides their own conversation. “I swear if he ever talks to you again, I’ll—”
She didn’t want to hear what he’d do; she couldn’t face the fact that she had just brought some stranger into the mess that was her life. “Don’t Bryan, please just don’t do this. I promise that I’ll stay away from him if you just leave him alone.” She begged softly, her gentle voice carrying its way throughout the foggy alley. She was weary, tired of his anger and tired of his aggressiveness. She just wanted the night to be over.