Read Online Home Again by Lisa Fisher - Free Book Online Page B

I’ll be fine. It’s just one dinner.”
    John sighed.
    “Just remember, you’re legally bound to keep your mouth shut.”
    “How could I forget?”
    I cringed at the way he said it, knowing that what he was saying was true. I shouldn’t lie to East, but I also shouldn’t be restricting my diet either.
    When East came back with his hotdog, I was suddenly aware of how hungry I was. On tour, it was easy to skip meals. I was so busy, half the time I didn’t even think about it, but now that I wasn’t always moving, I was painfully aware of my empty stomach, filled only with those relentless little butterflies.
    “Want a bite?”
    “Eww, no. Did you put a pound of ketchup on that? Gross!”
    “It’s good, Carter. You should try it.”
    “No way. You know how I feel about that poison.”
    He chuckled. “Oh yeah. I forgot how weird you are,” he said between bites. “You know, you don’t eat very much.”
    “I eat,” I said quickly. “Besides, you know I hate ketchup.”
    He gave me a sideways look, but didn’t say anything else.
    “I used to love coming to these things,” I said after a minute.
    “Yeah, we had a lot of fun here.”
    I blushed, thinking back to the first time East and I came here as an official couple.
     
    “What are you thinking about, Carter?”
    “Just about how weird it is, calling you my boyfriend.”
    He laughed. “It sounds good to me, beautiful.”
    My face flushed, the butterflies took flight. “I—” Whatever I was about to say was cut off by Easton’s perfect lips on mine, kissing the words right out of my mouth.
    “You make me really happy, Ais.”
    “You took the words right out of my mouth, green eyes.” If only he knew how true that was.
    If he were love, I would never let him go.
     
    “What are you thinking about, Carter?” he asked, taking the last bite of his hotdog.
    I smiled, feeling déjà vu. “Just about when we came here sophomore year.”
    “Which time?”
    I shoved his shoulder playfully. “The first one after we started dating.”
    “Oh, yeah. That was one of my favorite movies.”
    I rolled my eyes at him. “You’re such punk. You didn’t watch one scene of that movie. Can you even tell me what it was?” I laughed.
    “Honey, if you expected a sixteen year old boy to pay attention to anything else—when he’s with the most beautiful girl on this planet—you’re expecting way too much.”
    Blushing, I gave him a half smile. “To be honest, I didn’t watch it, either.”
    “I know, babe. It’s hard to watch a movie when someone as handsome as this, has his tongue down your throat.”
    “You’re such a nerd. A cocky one, too.”
    “Not cocky, just very confident in my abilities.”
    “Riiight.” I shook my head at him. “You were an inexperienced sixteen year old, East. I wouldn’t get too confident,” I joked.
    He feigned hurt. “Does that mean I wasn’t any good?”
    I shrugged nonchalantly. “Who was a good kisser at sixteen?”
    He gasped and rolled on top of me. “You’re such a brat, Aisley Carter.”
    I wiggled beneath him, holding in a laugh.
    “I guess if I were so bad at sixteen, we need a do-over.” He brought his lips down to mine, just barely touching. Teasing me in the worst way. But instead of kissing me, he brought his hands to my sides and started to mercilessly tickle me.
    “East, stop! Stop!”
    When East decided I’d had enough, he rolled over beside me and laced my fingers through his. “I’m glad you’re home, Carter.”
    “You took the words right out of my mouth, green eyes.”
     
    ***
     

Chapter 8
     
    I hated that I was forced to be here. Somehow, Devin found out about group therapy, and actually thought it would be good for me.
    Cue desperate laughter.
    So here I was.
    And if ever there were a place worse than home, this was it. In this scuzzy Seattle building, with its dirty white walls and ugly blue carpet. There was nothing comforting about this place. I was seated in a room with four