Read Online Not Your Match by Lindzee Armstrong - Free Book Online

in the light. A diamond she’d been so sure would one day rest on her finger. Andi’s eyes flicked up to meet Mark’s. They brimmed with a sympathetic apology. She wanted to slap him. He didn’t get to absolve his guilt by doling out compassion. She was the wronged party here.
    “Congratulations,” Andi said. Her mouth felt cotton dry. Ben’s shoulder brushed against hers, and she leaned into him. “Sorry, I’m being rude,” Andi said. “This is Ben. You remember him from high school.”
    “Of course.” Mark reached out and the two men shook hands. He glanced back and forth between Andi and Ben. “Are you two . . . ?”
    Ben wrapped an arm around Andi’s shoulder, pulling her close. “I just moved back to Los Angeles and we’ve reconnected.”
    Andi melted into Ben, more than willing to let Mark assume they were together.
    “That’s great. Congratulations.” Mark couldn’t seem to stop nodding. “I’m really happy for you.”
    Mandy placed a hand on Mark’s arm. “We’d better go. The movie’s starting.”
    “Right. It was good to see you, Andi.”
    “You too.” She thought for a moment he might go in for a hug. Andi grit her teeth and shrank against Ben. Mark settled for an awkward wave, and then he and Mandy left. She watched as Mandy grasped Mark’s hand and gazed into his eyes, laughing at something he said. Andi balled her hands into fists, red spots dancing across her vision.
    As soon as Mark and Mandy disappeared around the corner, Ben dropped his arm from Andi’s shoulder and moved away. “Sorry. I hope that was okay.”
    “It was more than okay. It was chivalrous. Thank you. It would’ve been too humiliating to get the sympathetic you’ll find him one day, Tiger expression.”
    “Are you okay?”
    “I will be.” Andi consciously willed her muscles to relax. Mark didn’t deserve her anger. He wasn’t worth that.
    She’d mail the box on Monday. This time she meant it.

 
     
     
     
     
     

     
    Ben glanced at Andi as she chuckled. Her laughter was almost silent, but her shoulder kept brushing against his as she shook with suppressed mirth. She held the Icee in one hand and the straw between her fingers as she hunched over the drink, trying to hide her giggles.
    Ben looked back at the movie screen. He had to admit, as far as movies went, this one was pretty far out there. Implausible was a nice way to put it. But everyone in the theater seemed totally entranced by the action on screen.
    The female CIA agent hooked her belt over a power line and slid down it, sparks flying behind her. She let go and fell thirty feet, just to stick a perfect landing on the top of a moving semi-truck.
    Andi snorted. The glow of the screen illuminated her face, and he could just make out her scrunched up nose and upturned lips. Her expression, her posture, her humor at the movie were all so Andi. She had made him feel more alive in a week than Whitney had in four years.
    Ben didn’t see what happened on the screen, but he did hear the cackle escape Andi.
    “Shhh!” the person in front of them said.
    “Sorry,” Andi whispered. She covered her mouth, shoulders still shaking, as the heroine did a somersault off the back of the semi and landed in the middle of the quiet country road, unharmed, hair still perfectly in place.
    Andi glanced over at him, and Ben quickly redirected his focus to the screen. His stomach swarmed with confusing emotions. When he’d seen Mark, Ben’s nerves had buzzed with the familiar jealousy he’d always experienced in high school. Helping her save face in front of her ex had been more satisfying than Ben had expected. He’d been worried she’d spend the rest of the day blinking back tears, but she seemed fine.
    His jean pocket vibrated with a text. Ben’s mind instantly crashed back to Whitney. What was he thinking? He couldn’t let his crush on Andi resurface.
    Thirty minutes later, the final credits rolled. People filed out of the theater, but Andi sat back in