Read Online Leaving Amy (Amy #2) by Julieann Dove - Free Book Online Page A

accosted by Natalie. Her smiling face rested on his shoulder as her long, witch-like fingers tapped his butt. Gross.
    “Oh, right. Well, I’m here to host our annual misfit Thanksgiving retreat. A couple new faces this year. It draws quite a crowd, as you know, on the river.”
    Last year Jeff almost called the cops about the noise level, thanks to Wesley leaking Jim’s name. Our cabins are situated across the lake from each other. I watched his cabin out from the back deck—the flickering lights like lightning bugs and listening to the music bumping vibrations across the water.
    “Misfits?” I asked.
    “Yeah, all the people who have no people to celebrate with come and we all just camp out until Monday. Moochers, recent divorcees, hobos…you know, the fun ones.” He threw that dangerous smile on me.
    “You’re not a misfit, Jim. You do have people.”
    I knew for a fact that his mother and father were both still living in the same house because they came into the office to argue their property taxes. They’d almost doubled. And his sister is married with a child. Surely one or both of them were preparing turkey for tomorrow and setting a plate for him.
    The disappearance of his smile made the light in his eyes become dimmer. “I like these people better, I guess.” He looked toward the sky. “Say, how about you come over?”
    My cheeks warmed a bit at the suggestion. I was never cool enough to get invited to out-of-control parties before. Especially by the host himself. I felt as though I were a girl in high school all over again. This time I was popular.
    “I can’t. I wish I could. But you know, I’m here with Wesley and our dads’ old partner. We have routines. Rummy, solitaire, and if things get really out of hand, charades. That sort of thing.”
    He flung his head back and laughed. His Adam’s apple rose and fell. “I think you can slip out for one evening, don’t you?”
    I looked over to the other side of the Jeep, where Natalie was still spinning a web around Wesley. He looked at me with “help me” signs flashing in his eyes.
    “Wesley usually likes to just stay in.” I did that thing with my eyes. The “I would but, you know what I’m up against” thing.
    “I saw you last week.” He had me on lockdown with his piercing brown eyes.
    I began scrambling in my brain if I’d seen him . My eyes darted back and forth. “Okay.”
    “I saw you with another man, Amy.” One side of his head tilted, as though it’d gotten heavier and now suffered from an extra gravitational pull. “And the way you were acting tells me something’s up. Care to share?”
    “Amy!” Wesley shouted from the edge of the sidewalk. It appeared he was trying to shake Natalie like stuck gum to the bottom of his shoe.
    I signaled with a nod of my head. “Wait a minute.”
    I looked back to Jim. He hadn’t broken his stare from me. “Where was I?”
    “I was picking up takeout from Chez-Moi’s and you were nestled in a corner booth, kissing another dude. He had dark hair, a little bit longer than mine, and it certainly wasn’t Wesley.”
    Double shit. Why did I think that dating Mark in our small community wouldn’t get more advertisement? Maybe because at the time I didn’t care. Everyone was going to find out sooner or later that Wesley had left me. Now it was coming back to bite me. So much for throwing caution to the wind. I needed to reel that stuff in for now.
    “Amy! I’m dying of hunger here. Let’s go.”
    Natalie had already scampered to her side of the car. Probably got the brush-off and didn’t know quite how to handle it. She had the most peculiar twist of the lips and her hand rested on her little tiny, starved hip.
    “We hear ya, Douche Bag. Give her a second.” He waved his middle finger in Wesley’s direction and kept steady eyes on me.
    “I’m ready too, Jim. Come on,” Natalie said arrogantly.
    Jim drew a heavy sigh and exhaled it with flared nostrils. “Well, I guess I’ll see