Read Online Perfectly Shattered by Emily Jane Trent - Free Book Online Page A

try them. She’d look at it as research—though she didn’t own a brick oven, so no matter how good it was the dish wouldn’t be one to include in the upcoming competition.
    But good food was a draw anyway. The shrimp were served over stone-ground grits flavored with bacon and citrus. The dish was mouthwatering, and lived up to its reputation.
    “I wonder if I can have a brick oven installed in my apartment. I have to make this dish. Here, taste it.” Cami forked a plump shrimp into her friend’s mouth.
    “Yum,” she said with her mouth still full.
    Over dinner they caught up on anything worthy of discussion. Cami got the full details of the sexual interlude with Tyler, whether she wanted them or not. But the telling of the tale only made Brittany more depressed that he hadn’t called her again.
    “Maybe he’s just traveling. You know, busy.”
    “How long does it take to text? He just doesn’t want to see me.”
    “You just haven’t found the right guy yet.”
    “Have you?”
    “No, but I haven’t been looking.”
    “What about Bradan?”
    “What about him?”
    “You guys went to dinner. How did that go?”
    Cami shrugged, trying to appear more casual than she felt. “Okay. We’re just friends, I suppose. We talked. It’s the first time I’ve gotten to know him. He’s different in person than from a distance.”
    Brittany laughed. “Most people are.”
    “No, I mean when he’s not drinking. He was like a normal guy.”
    “A normal hot guy, you mean.”
    Cami hadn’t been able to get him out of her mind since the night before. She wasn’t sure how to handle it. Friends , he’d said. She’d have to settle for that. Not that she wanted more anyway. She didn’t know what she wanted.
    They ate every bite on their plates and ordered dessert. It was partly because Cami wanted to extend their time together so Brittany wouldn’t feel so alone, and partly because she wanted to try banana-pecan bread pudding. Another new dish for her.
    “Let’s split it,” Brittany said. “I’m stuffed.”
    Rubbing her stomach, Cami agreed. The dessert came on two plates, already split for them, and they dug in. The pudding was rich and flavorful, but after two bites neither could handle any more. Sipping coffee, they talked another half-hour or so, and finally it was time to go. Dinner had taken hours and Brittany felt better.
    With her coat buttoned tight, a scarf around her neck, and gloves on, Cami pushed through the door to the street. With her head down against the cold, she edged along the sidewalk. When she glanced up to get her bearings, Cami froze.
    Down the block was Bradan. She’d recognize that body anywhere. And he was with yet another woman. Did it never end? The worst part was that he was kissing her, and the sight of it made Cami’s heart fall. What did she expect?
    Brittany stopped behind her, nearly running into her. “What? Why are you stopping? It’s freezing out here.”
    Cami turned around with her back to the intimate scene she’d just witnessed. Whispering, though at that distance there was no way Bradan could hear, she said, “Oh my God, it’s Bradan.”
    Brittany gazed up the street.
    “Don’t look. I don’t want him to see me. Let’s get out of here.”
    Jogging a little to keep up with Cami, her friend said, “I thought you were just friends.”
    “We are,” Cami said, not stopping. Once she rounded the corner, she leaned against the building. “I can’t believe it. He’s with a different woman every time I see him. And he seemed so…I don’t know…sincere or something last night. I’m such a fool.”
    “You like him, don’t you?”
    “Is it that obvious?”
    Brittany nodded. “Let’s get off this street. I’m freezing my ass off.”
    A block up, Cami split with her friend and headed off in the direction of her apartment. She just wanted to get home, safe behind a locked door, away from the likes of Bradan. The biting cold didn’t affect her. She hardly