Read Online A Fine Mess (Over the Top) by Kelly Siskind - Free Book Online Page A

purchases. “Okay. I’ll find a cool store.”
    “Tomorrow it is.” He turns around, and I watch his backside as he makes his way into the party, the hint of muscle behind his denim mouthwatering. Muscle I’ll never touch.
    Shay slams her drink on the bar before I can blink. “Men are idiots.”
    I glance over her shoulder and meet Kolton’s stormy gaze. “What happened?”
    “The Asshole bought me a car.”
    “A car?”
    “A car.”
    “Like, full size?”
    Her nostrils flare. “I know, right? It’s ridiculous. I told him I’d get one eventually, but I wanted to wait. His house is in a great area by a bus line. I was excited about exploring Vancouver on foot, but he was all freaked out I’d feel trapped. It’s like he needs to solve all my problems.”
    “Will you make him return it?”
    She growls and flicks her curly hair. “I don’t know. The man drives me crazy. But enough about my first-world problems, why was Sawyer dancing like an extra from High School Musical ?”
    I unleash my sleep apnea snorting sound. “He was trying to make things less weird between us.”
    “Seriously?”
    I nod.
    She spins and gawks at him, as though confirming his insanity. He has a few of his staff in stitches, probably telling them about the time he hooked Kolton’s hair on a fishing line. He loves that story.
    She swivels back to me. “Did it work?”
    “A bit.” The corseted waitress brushes by him again, and I roll my long necklace through my fingers, pausing on each bead as its story unfolds: A girl alone at prom, her date flirting with someone else. “He apologized, too,” I add. “He admitted he’s attracted to me”—her mouth drops open—“ but he doesn’t want to act on it. He knows I’d want more.”
    “Wow.”
    “Yeah.”
    “Did he say why he’s antirelationship?”
    “No, but I think it’s because of his family. Most of them are divorced, and he’s never gone into detail, but something heavy happened with his mom when his dad left.” A couple of times, I’ve glimpsed darkness under Sawyer’s happy exterior. A scar left behind from his youth. It happens when his father comes up—a flattening of his mouth, shadows in his eyes. I take the cues and change the subject, but my curiosity is often piqued. Especially now, since his past is keeping us apart.
    “I can’t fault him for that. As hard as it must’ve been to hear, at least he’s honest. If he slept with you and then dicked you over, it would hurt a lot more, and I’d have to kill him.” A waitress passes with a tray of red velvet cake pops, and Shay grabs two. She moans after her first bite. “God, these are good. You should try one.”
    I shake my head. “Not hungry.”
    “Anyway,” she says, pointing her other treat at me, “ you’re still single. What about Ethan? He looked pretty handsy with you, and he’s cute. I thought Sawyer’s head was going to explode watching you guys.”
    I wrinkle my nose. “I’m not ready. Ethan is nice, but I have to get over this Sawyer thing before I date, which is totally messed up. I just broke up with my boyfriend of eleven years, and it’s my friend of nine months I’m upset over.” Frowning, I pick at my cuticles.
    She licks her last Popsicle stick clean and puts it on the bar. “There are no rules. No right or wrong when it comes to the heart. You do you, and forget about the rest. Personally, I—” She stops midsentence and cocks her ear toward the speakers above the bar. “No he didn’t…”
    Van Morrison’s “Sweet Thing” plays, a shift from the funky beats.
    Kolton’s wooing song.
    I’ve made her retell that story countless times: how after they broke up, he apologized for pushing her away and promised to support her newfound independence, while this song played in the background.
    He comes up behind her and whispers in her ear. Shay’s cheeks burn the color of her Merlot, and she places her glass down.
    When he walks away, she grabs my wrist. “Mind if I