Read Online Chasing McCree by J.C. Isabella - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: J.C. Isabella
Ads: Link
don’t eat in
front of people at school.” She looked a little embarrassed and
nervously sipped her drink.
“ Why?”
“ Well, since I joined the
cheer squad, Rachel decided we should diet.”
“ You’re kidding.” I didn’t
mean to stare, but Briar looked good to me, maybe even a little
thin. So what was the point of being on a diet when she clearly
could use a sundae and a slice of pizza?
“ We need to fit in our
uniforms.” She set her drink down, crossed her arms and glared at
nothing particular. “And then a few weeks ago Alex said my butt
looked big in my jeans.”
I wasn’t going to even touch
that.
“ What do you
think?”
Oh, hell. “It looks normal to
me.”
“ That’s what I
said!”
I held out half of my sandwich,
“Hungry?”
She wrinkled her nose. “I’m
good.”
“ Okay, more for me.” I
watched her mouth twist into a shy smile and she scooted closer. I
temped her a little. “It’s got all the bad stuff on it.”
“ How bad?”
“ Cheese, mayonnaise, sweet
pickles, bologna…”
She held out her hand, “I
hate pickles, but I can’t pass up anything that bad .”
The rest of the week Briar and I had
lunch together. She’d pack something, I’d pack something, and we’d
have a picnic of sorts by the band room. We started to see each
other after school too.
I began to think it was fate I found
her in the park. She was unlike anyone I’d ever met. She was sweet,
but she had sass too. She’d make a bold statement, then reel
herself back in, a little embarrassed.
Briar Elizabeth Thompson was a
firecracker waiting to go off.
I could see it in her bright green
eyes. She’d be a hell of a handful once she let go, but it was
better than her acting like she was reserved and timid. She always
tried to say the right thing and be the good girl her mother
expected.
I knew the second Briar’s fuse was lit
there’d be no stopping her. She’d take the world by storm and have
a hell of a lot of fun doing it.
She was still naive, and way too
sheltered. The night we went to the beach, she never realized the
man asking for drugs had had a gun on him. The small automatic had
been shoved in the waistband of his pants and covered by his
shirt.
Where I came from, everyone had a gun.
If you didn’t, then people thought something was wrong with you.
Here it was different. Something was wrong if you had a gun hidden
in your pants on a beach at night. Way wrong.
Second I saw that gun, I couldn’t get
us out of there fast enough.
And the stairwell…shit. I felt as if
five years had been shaved off my life by the time we got to the
truck.
No way I’d get used to city living.
They were all bat shit crazy.
But Briar wasn’t like the rest of them.
I saw something different in her. She and I would make a good team.
We got each other. Sometimes I didn’t have to say anything and
she’d smile at me, as if she knew exactly what I was
thinking
We spent the weekend stuck inside
because of rain, but at her Grandma’s house there was plenty of fun
to be had making waffles, virgin daiquiris, and watching old
movies. It was also funny to watch Grandma get sloshed and fall
asleep to the sounds of Grandpa’s TV and war shows.
When the week before summer break
rolled around, I was up at five as usual. Throwing the pillow over
my head didn’t do anything, sleeping in wasn’t something I was used
to.
I slipped out the backdoor and walked
across the yard for the small paddock Ash kept to. He was up and
ready to start the day. Had we been back home I’d have taken him
out for a brisk run through the pastures to the lake. It was our
morning ritual. Down here I could only take him for a trot around
the backyard.
My mom knew how attached to Ash I’d
become over the years. He’d been my father’s horse. Had been born a
few years after me. I couldn’t leave him behind. Luckily enough, my
mom lived in the part of town where horses were allowed, and
arranged an area for him in the backyard.
front of people at school.” She looked a little embarrassed and
nervously sipped her drink.
“ Why?”
“ Well, since I joined the
cheer squad, Rachel decided we should diet.”
“ You’re kidding.” I didn’t
mean to stare, but Briar looked good to me, maybe even a little
thin. So what was the point of being on a diet when she clearly
could use a sundae and a slice of pizza?
“ We need to fit in our
uniforms.” She set her drink down, crossed her arms and glared at
nothing particular. “And then a few weeks ago Alex said my butt
looked big in my jeans.”
I wasn’t going to even touch
that.
“ What do you
think?”
Oh, hell. “It looks normal to
me.”
“ That’s what I
said!”
I held out half of my sandwich,
“Hungry?”
She wrinkled her nose. “I’m
good.”
“ Okay, more for me.” I
watched her mouth twist into a shy smile and she scooted closer. I
temped her a little. “It’s got all the bad stuff on it.”
“ How bad?”
“ Cheese, mayonnaise, sweet
pickles, bologna…”
She held out her hand, “I
hate pickles, but I can’t pass up anything that bad .”
The rest of the week Briar and I had
lunch together. She’d pack something, I’d pack something, and we’d
have a picnic of sorts by the band room. We started to see each
other after school too.
I began to think it was fate I found
her in the park. She was unlike anyone I’d ever met. She was sweet,
but she had sass too. She’d make a bold statement, then reel
herself back in, a little embarrassed.
Briar Elizabeth Thompson was a
firecracker waiting to go off.
I could see it in her bright green
eyes. She’d be a hell of a handful once she let go, but it was
better than her acting like she was reserved and timid. She always
tried to say the right thing and be the good girl her mother
expected.
I knew the second Briar’s fuse was lit
there’d be no stopping her. She’d take the world by storm and have
a hell of a lot of fun doing it.
She was still naive, and way too
sheltered. The night we went to the beach, she never realized the
man asking for drugs had had a gun on him. The small automatic had
been shoved in the waistband of his pants and covered by his
shirt.
Where I came from, everyone had a gun.
If you didn’t, then people thought something was wrong with you.
Here it was different. Something was wrong if you had a gun hidden
in your pants on a beach at night. Way wrong.
Second I saw that gun, I couldn’t get
us out of there fast enough.
And the stairwell…shit. I felt as if
five years had been shaved off my life by the time we got to the
truck.
No way I’d get used to city living.
They were all bat shit crazy.
But Briar wasn’t like the rest of them.
I saw something different in her. She and I would make a good team.
We got each other. Sometimes I didn’t have to say anything and
she’d smile at me, as if she knew exactly what I was
thinking
We spent the weekend stuck inside
because of rain, but at her Grandma’s house there was plenty of fun
to be had making waffles, virgin daiquiris, and watching old
movies. It was also funny to watch Grandma get sloshed and fall
asleep to the sounds of Grandpa’s TV and war shows.
When the week before summer break
rolled around, I was up at five as usual. Throwing the pillow over
my head didn’t do anything, sleeping in wasn’t something I was used
to.
I slipped out the backdoor and walked
across the yard for the small paddock Ash kept to. He was up and
ready to start the day. Had we been back home I’d have taken him
out for a brisk run through the pastures to the lake. It was our
morning ritual. Down here I could only take him for a trot around
the backyard.
My mom knew how attached to Ash I’d
become over the years. He’d been my father’s horse. Had been born a
few years after me. I couldn’t leave him behind. Luckily enough, my
mom lived in the part of town where horses were allowed, and
arranged an area for him in the backyard.
Similar Books
