Shattered Rose (Winsor Series) - By T L Gray Page 0,8
why she was never available by phone. I deflected as long as I could, but finally, one of the teachers called the state and Child Protective Services showed up at my door. At that point, my mom was having a hard time even standing on her own, and she really needed more care than I could give her. We were living off her disability, which barely covered her meds, so things were pretty rough. They called my Aunt Diana, Issy’s mom, and within a week we moved in with them. Things got better at that point, and Issy and I have been best friends ever since …” His voice trailed off at the end, but he didn’t move.
I had no idea why Jake would tell me all this when he’d known me for all of twenty minutes, but I felt honored that he would. I also saw him differently. This was a guy who was handsome and caring…a true anomaly.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered, not knowing what else to say. “Thank you for trusting me with your story.” He didn’t say anything else, and I realized he had fallen asleep. I grabbed a blanket from the closet, draped it over him, and headed to my room. My body wouldn’t let me leave without getting one more glance. His head lay relaxed on the back of the couch and his chest rose and fell in peaceful rhythm. My stomach started to flutter, sending waves of excitement through my whole body. I had heard about crushes from Cara, but never experienced one myself. However, as I watched him sleep, for far longer than was natural, I knew I was in trouble.
“Dear Lord, I know you will place people in her path, people who may love her or hurt her. I pray those people in some way bring her to know you either for the first time or as a rekindling of the relationship you already share…”
2. JAKE
The next morning I jumped out of bed, far too eager to see Jake again. I ran to the bathroom, brushed my teeth and hair, and put on some make up. I was going for the I-look-this-gorgeous-every-time-I-get-out-bed look. I opened my door and let out all my breath when I saw the empty sofa. My disappointment concerned me, especially since I hardly knew this guy.
Issy was sitting at the bar, slowly sipping what looked like a disgusting green drink. She looked awful. She was still wearing her clothes from the night before and her makeup was smeared down her cheeks.
“Don’t say a word. I’m fully aware of how scary I look this morning, and I really don’t care.”
My lips turned upwards as I thought, Even hung over this girl has spunk.
“When did Jake leave?” she asked, slowly sipping her green drink.
“I’m not sure. He fell asleep on the couch, and then I went to bed.” I tried to sound as nonchalant as I could, but I saw Issy’s eyebrows go up as she looked at me.
“I was kind of brutal to him last night.” She looked genuinely remorseful until a moment later when her eyes became cold once again. “I’m so frustrated. I mean, I love him, don’t get me wrong, but I’m in college and I feel like I have my dad following me everywhere I go. It’s not like he doesn’t have his own demons. He spent the last two years in a frat house hooking up with anything in a skirt.” She let out a dramatic sigh, reached her arm across the bar and laid her head on it. “Owww…my head hurts!”
I held in a laugh. I was honestly starting to wonder if this girl ever had a thought that she didn’t verbalize. I looked at her drink again and couldn’t help but ask, “What on earth are you drinking?”
“It’s my hangover juice. Does the trick every time.” She sat back up and looked at me intensely, making me a little nervous. I swear her eyes could penetrate the soul. “So, what did you and my cousin talk about last night?”
I shifted uncomfortably and started pulling some cereal out of the pantry. “What do you mean?”
“Oh come on, that’s Jake’s MO…the tortured, brooding type. Girls love it.”
I didn’t know what to say. I wanted to believe her words had no effect on me. I mean, I just met this guy, who cares what his “MO” was. My defenses immediately went up, a practice I was used to doing when a situation got out of