Read Online As You Were by Kelli Jae Baeli - Free Book Online Page A

electronic cigarette.”
    Brittany kept frowning.
    “They haven’t been around that long, only a couple of years. But they allowed us both to quit tobacco.”
    “It’s not tobacco?”
    “No, it’s electronic. Battery heats an atomizer and creates a vapor. No tobacco, no toxins. Just nicotine and whatever flavor you prefer.”
    “It smells good. What kind is that?”
    “Apple.” Tru glanced at her. “I sell them. I have a distributorship and a website.” When Brittany didn’t say anything else, she thought about their harsh exchange of words before the eCig came up. “Maybe it’s my fault.”
    “What?”
    “Your amnesia. We had a fight the night you had the accident. I asked you to leave.”
    “I thought you said we were close.”
    “We were—are—but... shit happens. We had a fight, that’s all.”
    “What was the fight about?”
    Tru took another drag. “It doesn’t matter, now. It’s water under the bridge.” She experienced an emotional flash the second she made the comment. She imagined Brittany in that car, underwater, drowning...
    Brittany leaned her cheek over onto the headrest, and scrutinized Tru as she puffed the eCig, watched the road, and occasionally checked the rearview mirror. She witnessed the fight with some emotion that kept leaping to Tru’s face. “I’m not trying to cause trouble, Tru, I’m trying to find out who I am.”
    Tru pulled the eCig out of her mouth. “Give it some time. It’ll come back to you when you’re ready to remember it. That’s what the doctor told me.”
    Brittany adjusted the rings on her fingers. “What’s the story with all this silver and turquoise jewelry?”
    Tru looked over at Brittany’s hands, pleased to see that she wore the rings, even though they were on the wrong fingers. “I bought them for you. There’s this jeweler in Boulder that you like. She designs some wonderful things.”
    “Oh.” Brittany seemed satisfied, and fell quiet for several miles.
    When Tru took the first Gunnison exit, they were both ready to eat an early lunch and go to the bathroom—not necessarily in that order.
    Tru carried the pump coffee dispenser inside with her, noting that she had a habit of keeping it with her the last few weeks. She left it for the clerk to refill, and bought two packs of gum, while Brittany ordered cheeseburgers, fries, and drinks from the snack bar. They took the food to go, and trudged through the snow to the parking lot.
    “I hope you like cheeseburgers, cause that’s what I got,” Brittany announced. Tru clicked the security module on her key ring to unlock Brittany’s door for her and held it open while she got in. “Gentlemanly of you,” Brittany remarked, looking at Tru oddly.
    Tru closed the door and went around to get in, and they were on their way again.
    Brittany took the burgers out of the sack, and handed one to Tru. As they ate, Brittany considered the distance they had gone, and still had to go, before Castle Mountain. “Tru—” she said around a mouthful. “How come I was here in Gunnison when I had the accident?”
    Tru swallowed her own bite and glanced at Brittany, taking a quick drink of Dr. Pepper. “I guess you kept driving after you left that night. I told you I had a hard time tracking you down.”
    “Were you looking for me the whole time I was gone?”
    “Night and day. I was afraid—”
    “—that I was dead,” she finished for her.
    Tru took another bite and remained silent.
    “I guess that must have been hard on you.”
    “Hard doesn’t even begin to cover it. It was really horrible getting through the holidays all alone. I haven’t had a full night’s sleep since you disappeared.”
    Brittany frowned and extracted a large ring of white onion from her burger. She tossed it onto the bag next to the fries on the console between them. “Lots of onions.”
    Tru glanced down at the white ring stained with mustard. “You like onions.”
    Brittany halted before she took another bite. “I