Read Online Hush, Hush #1 by Becca Fitzpatrick - Free Book Online Page A

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    incredibly sexy. There have been days when our friendship was the only thing standing in the way of my jealousy. Next to Vee, the only thing I have going for me are my legs. And maybe my metabolism. But definitely not my hair.
    “He’d better bring chips soon,” said Vee. “I’ll break out in hives if I don’t eat something salty within the next forty-five seconds. And anyway, the first three letters in the word diet should tell you what I want it to do.”
    “They make salsa with tomatoes,” I pointed out. “That’s a red. And avocados are a fruit. I think.”
    Her face brightened. “And we’ll order virgin strawberry daiquiris.”
    Vee was right. This diet was easy.
    “Be right back,” she said, sliding out of the booth. “That time of the month. After that, I want to get the scoop .”
    While waiting for her, I found myself concentrating on the busboy some tables away. He was hard at work scrubbing a rag over the top of a table.
    There was something strangely familiar about the way he moved, about the way his shirt fell over the arch of his well-defined back. Almost as if he suspected he was being watched, he straightened and turned, his eyes fixing on mine at the exact same moment I figured out what was so familiar about this particular busboy.
    Patch.
    I couldn’t believe it. I thought about slapping my forehead when I remembered he’d told me he worked at the Borderline.
    Wiping his hands on his apron, he walked over, apparently enjoying my 74
    discomfort as I looked around for some way to escape, finding I had nowhere to go but deeper into the booth.
    “Well, well,” he said. “Five days a week isn’t enough of me? Had to give me an evening, too?”
    “I apologize for the unfortunate coincidence.”
    He slid into Vee’s seat. When he laid his arms down, they were so long, they crossed into my half of the table. He reached for my glass, twirling it in his hands.
    “All the seats here are taken,” I said. When he didn’t answer, I grabbed my glass back and took a sip of water, accidentally swallowing an ice cube. It burned the whole way down. “Shouldn’t you be working instead of fraternizing with customers?” I choked.
    He smiled. “What are you doing Sunday night?”
    I snorted. By accident. “Are you asking me out?”
    “You’re getting cocky. I like that, Angel.”
    “I don’t care what you like. I’m not going out with you. Not on a date.
    Not alone.” I wanted to kick myself for experiencing a hot thrill upon speculating what a night alone with Patch might entail. Most likely, he hadn’t even meant it. Most likely, he was baiting me for reasons known only to him. “Hang on, did you just call me Angel ?” I asked.
    “If I did?”
    “I don’t like it.”
    He grinned. “It stays. Angel.”

    75
    He leaned across the table, raised his hand to my face, and brushed his thumb along one corner of my mouth. I pulled away, too late.
    He rubbed lip gloss between his thumb and forefinger. “You’d look better without it.”
    I tried to remember what we’d been talking about, but not nearly as hard as I tried to appear unmoved by his touch. I tossed my hair back over my shoulder, picking up the tail of our previous conversation. “Anyway, I’m not allowed to go out on school nights.”
    “Too bad. There’s a party on the coast. I thought we could go.” He actually sounded sincere.
    I could not figure him out. At all. The earlier hot thrill still lingered in my blood, and I took a long pull on my straw, trying to cool my feelings with a shot of ice water. Time alone with Patch would be intriguing, and dangerous. I wasn’t sure how exactly, but I was trusting my instincts on this one.
    I affected a yawn. “Well, like I said, it’s a school night.” In hopes of convincing myself more than him, I added, “If this party is something you’d be interested in, I can almost guarantee I won’t be.”
    There, I thought. Case closed.
    And then, without any warning whatsoever, I