Read Online Burning Barriers (Barriers Series Book 3) by Sara Shirley - Free Book Online

kitchen, sipping on my beer and trying to keep my opinions to myself. She’s trying to push me away and has openly admitted she won’t be staying here in Breckenridge after this summer. I’m completely at a loss as to what to do with her. One minute she allows me back in her heart, and I see how much she wants us, and then the next, she’s this sassy, feisty chick not allowing anything to penetrate her walls.
    I need to finally ask her to break her silence on what really happened to her. I know I need to tell her how much my life has sucked since she left. The uncontrollable drinking after Dad died, the number of women I screwed just to get her out of my head, and let’s not forget my biggest problem right now… I’m still fuckin’ in love with her after all these years.
    I take another long pull from the beer bottle in front of me before sliding it across the countertop. A scratching sound from the back bedroom interrupts my eavesdropping and perpetual thoughts of the situation with Lucy.
    Shit. Summit.
    I walk down the hall out of hearing range from Lucy and open up what is now my master bedroom door. This used to be Mom’s room until she moved out years ago. After some minor changes, I’ve transformed it into my own sanctuary. Apparently, it wasn’t all that relaxing for my three-year-old Golden Retriever, Summit.
    The big ball of energetic fur has scratched her way out of the room and is walking down the hall with her toy duck dangling from her mouth. Suddenly, she freezes in the hallway, listening to the unfamiliar sound.
    “Summit, come here,” I say sternly, knowing she hears Lucy moving around in the living room.
    It’s like watching what’s about to happen next in slow motion. As I start to shut the bedroom door behind me, the duck falls from her mouth to the floor, and her ears focus on the new voice in the other room.
    “Summit, no!” I snarl as her paws burn out on the wooden floor, and I move without hesitation in her direction. A wail from the living room tells me Summit outran me. Nothing could prepare me for what I come across as my eyes catch a furry tail wagging haphazardly in the air just beyond the sofa.
    As I round the corner, I see Lucy lying on her back. Her dress is twisted around her waist as Summit jumps all over her. I quickly come to Lucy’s aid, pulling Summit by the collar off her so my woolly companion understands not to be so rambunctious with guests. Mom always said I should have put that dog through puppy training. I never did since I typically only have the guys over from time to time to watch football games on Sunday afternoons. Most of the time, I basically live with the guys at work, so I enjoy my time alone in the house anyway. All the random hookups I’ve had over the years, I never brought back here. Not when the girl lying on the floor in front of me holds too many of those memories for me under this roof. She was my first in so many freakin’ ways it wasn’t funny. First love, first kiss, and first sexual experience. You name it; she was there with me for each one.
    Lucy lies there adjusting her dress and hair before attempting to stand. She continues to smile and laugh while petting Summit’s head. I reach over to help her get to her feet, but when our hands connect, something jolts through me and she shoots me a look that tells me she felt it, too. Her eyes move quickly to Summit as I pull her up off the floor.
    “So, whom may I ask is this wicked cute barrel of fur?” Lucy asks in a baby voice, bending down to rub behind Summit’s ears as she tries to give Lucy her paw.
    “This is Summit. Seems as though you two already technically met, but she’s been my best girl for the last three years around here. Wait. Did you just say ‘wicked’?”
    With a slight head tilt and a questioning glance at me from her crouched position near Summit’s head, my question finally registers, and Lucy chuckles softy. “Well, I guess I did just say