Preying on You

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Authors: Elise Holden
Tags: thriller, Suspense, Romance, Lust, stripper, Erotic, love, Erotic Romance, desire, suspense romance
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me before we left for prom and left
him home alone. Closing my eyes, I remembered asking him why he
wasn’t joining us. Now I knew. It was because of me.
    I wouldn’t go so far as to
say that what I felt for you back then was love. No. More like a
boyhood crush mingled with a heavy dose of raging hormones. It
didn’t help that the wall between our bedrooms was so thin or that
our parents had an annoying tendency to leave frequently, giving
you every opportunity to stay the night.
    After Levi passed, I vowed
to myself I would take care of you. Somehow. But you disappeared. I
get that. Levi’s death was hard on all of us. He was a good guy. If
things had been different, I know he would have married you. Even
though it hurt, I just wanted you to be happy.
    Tears slipped from my eyes and down my
cheeks as I pressed my hand to my stomach. How could I not have
known? Not have seen? Ethan had always seemed shy when I was
around. I always thought he was just awkward around girls, but in
reality he’d been trying to deny himself for Levi’s happiness. For
my own.
    I knew if I stood any
chance of winning you over, I would need to become someone worthy
of you. I focused on my studies and made a good name for myself. I
worked long hours, all the while I hunted for any sign of you. I
scoured the east coast for a few years and had nearly given up
hope. Then I was transferred out here when I took a position at a
new law firm. When I discovered that you’d landed in a town not far
from me, I couldn’t resist seeing you, but I was afraid.
    Afraid that seeing me
would dredge up old memories I knew you were running from. It hurt
that you had chosen this path for your life. I knew you were better
than that, but as I watched you dance I could see something cold
and distant in you. It was only when I took pictures of you that I
could glimpse the girl I once knew, and vowed I would do whatever
it took to bring you back.
    I wanted you then, but
even more so now. Now that I’ve had you. Held you. Known
you.
    I don’t expect you to
forgive me for how I went about this. For hiding the truth that you
deserved to know. All I ask is for a chance. A chance to remind you
of who you once were, and who I know you to still be…
    Ethan
    I dropped the letter onto the table
and stared out the window, unseeing and numb. He had sacrificed so
much for me, and I’d never seen, never realized. What sort of man
would be willing to go to such great depths for a girl like
me?
    Back then Ethan had been cute. He’d
caught the eye of plenty of girls in school, but a part of me had
always wondered if he’d been gay and that was why he’d turned them
all down. In reality, I was the one who’d been blind. I had eyes
only for Levi and was incapable of seeing the truth right in front
of my nose.
    Ethan was right. I shut down after
Levi died. Made it my goal in life to run as far from the past as I
could. I shoved aside the pain and guilt because it was easier. I
denied myself the life I’d always dreamed of as penance.
    Pushing up from the chair I began to
pace. What if I didn’t have to run anymore? What if I was finally
ready to move on, to accept that even though Levi was killed while
hurrying to see me, the blame was not mine. Fate chose to steal him
from me. She was a cruel bitch but maybe she knew something that I
didn’t.
    I felt things with Ethan last night
that stirred deep within me. Yearnings for the girl I once was. One
who was free to laugh and love fully. To embrace her sexuality and
all that could entail.
    My time with Ethan in the limo cracked
through the walls that I’d built high and wide to protect myself,
but could I really be with him, knowing that he would always remind
me of Levi?
    I felt conflicted. My chest ached as I
found myself walking toward the door. Feelings of denial mingled
with guilt and nearly drove me back to my bed, to wallow in
self-loathing as I had done for years. Instead, I peeked out
through the hole and felt myself

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