Read Online Beautifully Broken by Shayne Donovan - Free Book Online Page A

began clearing the blanket, meticulously packing the basket. Once everything was cleaned up he spread out and lay next to me, his arms propped up under his head. It was then that I noticed the tattoo. A simple black and white sparrow with its wings spread on the underside of his right bicep. Before I could stop myself I reached out and touched it lightly, just a graze of my fingertips, almost as if I was afraid if I touched it too hard it would fly right off his skin.
                  I brought my eyes to his and was startled to see him watching me intently. “I got it in Greece, it was gorgeous there, the water so blue… I went into the shop and looked around. The artist said that sparrows stood for true love…” He looked at the ink and let his hand slide over it, “I hope I get to see true love before it’s too late for me.” He said softly. His voice was quiet, just barely above a whisper and then he looked at me and what I saw nearly took my breath away. Cole Bradley was opening up to me. Just as quickly as it came his eyes turned playful again, “Will you let me take you out again tomorrow?” He bit his bottom lip in anticipation and I laughed. “You’ve been taking me out a lot. How am I supposed to work on Old Louise if you keep distracting me?” Oh my gosh…I was flirting. I felt the heat rise up and into my face and hoped he didn’t notice. “I like spending time with you. Besides I’m talking about tomorrow night.” His hair flopped down into his eyes and I nodded eagerly. “Yeah…okay.” The stars started to dot against the now black sky. Cole shifted next to me and onto his back, positioning his head directly next to mine. He was so close that if we turned, our lips would touch. He pointed to the sky, “See that star there?” He asked, I followed his finger to see a bright star, “yes.” Cole lifted up, propping himself on his elbow again. “It’s the start of Perseus. The legend states that Perseus, mounted on a Pegasus and returning from his battle with Medusa heard the screams of Andromeda. Princess Andromeda was the daughter of King Cepheus and his Queen Cassiopeia and she was considered very beautiful. So beautiful in fact that many were jealous of her.” I sat watching his beautiful lips tell the story, completely enthralled by him, “A young sea nymph was extremely jealous considering Neptune created them to be the most beautiful beings in the world. She was also in love with Perseus.” He looked away from the stars and into my eyes, seemingly momentarily dazed, “Why was she screaming? What did he save her from?” I asked breathlessly. Cole licked his lips, “There was a monster. A sea monster that the sea nymph sent after her. When Perseus came upon her the monster was about to kill her. He removed the head of Medusa from his bag and showed it to the monster, instantly sending it back into the ocean. He snatched Andromeda from the little island and whisked her away to be his bride. However the sea nymph was angry and went to the king to complain.” He smiled, “No man can say no to a sea nymph, their powers of persuasion is too strong. The sea nymph requested that they live forever apart. So the king threw them both in the sky just far enough apart that they could not touch.” I felt sad. I had hoped that they would be in the sky together. In a way I supposed they were. I felt the tears in my eyes and didn’t understand it. I wasn’t the biggest supporter of love but this felt unfair, much like my own life.
    Cole brushed my cheek gently, “Love does funny things to people. Love without jealousy is an imperfect love so the fact that the nymph was so jealous just proved how perfect their love was.” I nodded and smiled, suddenly I felt very open and exposed and shifted uncomfortably. The silence suddenly seemed to stretch on and weigh down on me.
                  A few minutes later and we packed up our night picnic and headed back to the car. I