Read Online If Only (The Willowbrook Series Book 1) by Ashlyn Mathews - Free Book Online

heading out to get our jackets and lock up the workshop. You want me to check on yours while I’m over there?”
    She stuck her head out of the bathroom, her shirt held over her chest, giving him a glimpse of bare shoulders and a flat stomach he’d love to span his hands across.
    “No need to,” she said. “Mine is locked.”
    “Okay, then, I’ll be right back.”
    Whistling, he headed out the door to make a private phone call. He needed advice, and who better to get it from than the queen of dating herself. Eve . The cold numbing his fingers, Rhys quickly texted her to call him before he shoved his phone back in his back pant pocket.
    After high school, he dated here and there, but he wouldn’t count that as a . . . aw, shit, what was the word? He rolled his shoulders. The sun was out and his eyes hurt from the glare. Like rays reflecting off water. Ships in the ocean. A courtship . He puffed his chest. Yeah, that was the word he was searching for.
    Asa was a romantic at heart while he knew nothing about how to court a woman. The cheerleader in high school didn’t count. She bat for the other team, and to help her while she sorted through the confusion of her sexuality in a small town where people still had close- minded beliefs, Rhys played along and became her boyfriend during their senior year. His phone buzzed.
    “If you plan on breaking Asa’s heart, I’m gonna string you up by the balls on the school’s flag pole.”
    “Still full of attitude.”
    “I’m serious, Rhys. Now what do you want?”
    “Guess?”
    She sighed, the sound full of frustration. “Look, it was my bad for inviting you two to my party and worse, that I told her you wanted to speak to her in the back bedroom. But I won’t let you break her heart again. Does she know?”
    “Know what?”
    “Don’t play dumb. You haven’t told Asa you have a friend with benefits waiting for you in Cali, have you?”
    “How—”
    “Lucas told me, okay? Asa is my friend.”
    “Look, I’m glad she has you to watch her back,” he said. “And Lucas is a bastard for discussing my personal business with you, but for what it’s worth, I haven’t seen that gal for over six months now.”
    Eve made a choking noise. “You’re telling me you haven’t had sex in over six months?”
    “It’s nothing to be ashamed of, Eve. But we’re not here to talk about my sex life. I need some advice.”
    “Shoot.”
    He smiled. He’d always thought it was strange that outgoing Eve had become Asa’s best friend, but now he understood why. They were very much alike. Asa just kept her personality hidden while Eve’s was out there for the world to see.
    “Did Asa tell you what happened later that night?”
    “You mean after you two slept together and she ran off crying? I had to drive her home, and she refused to speak to me.”
    “You’re making me feel like shit all over again.”
    “You should. She never said a word to me, but after that night, she wasn’t the same, Rhys. Then when her father died . . .”
    He pulled his arm back, ready to smash his fist into the side of the workshop. Instead, he smacked his palm on the wood exterior and rested his forehead on its rough surface.
    “I saw the truth in her eyes, Eve. She loved me, and I felt the same, but the thought of abandoning my dream in order to love her had me scared. So I told one of the guys it was a mistake to sleep with Asa.”
    Yeah, he was a coward for not using the exact words he had uttered that night. “And you said it so she overheard you, right?”
    He didn’t answer. They both knew she had. How else to explain Asa’s tears? “You’re a jerk, Rhys Miles. Why should I help you?”
    “Because I want her.”
    A low growl rumbled through the phone line. “She’s not a prize, jackass.”
    He blew out a breath. “It came out wrong. See what I mean? I’ll always say the wrong things.”
    “Now, you’re whining.”
    Rhys clenched his jaw. What did Lucas find attractive about