Read Online Return to Sender by Julie Cross - Free Book Online Page A

“You’re keeping secrets from me. I can tell.”
    She exhales, stops, and leans against a tree just outside of the entrance to gym three. “She thinks it’s… it’s not appropriate for me to stay with you and your dad. She wants me to get my own apartment near the gym.”
    I’ve never met Karen’s grandma, but from the bits and pieces I’ve learned about her, she’s not a lady I’m particularly fond of. Then again, it sounds like things might be improving on that front. “You’re only seventeen. Isn’t living on your own kind of extreme?”
    She shrugs, but there’s stress in the way her shoulders ride up toward her neck. “I’m seventeen and a half now. I drive myself to gym every day, to all my therapy sessions. I do my own shopping now. I’m done with high school. I was totally against the idea at first.” Her gaze drops to her hands. “But Blair said something yesterday that got me thinking.”
    “What?”
    “She said that I’m going to get a lot more media attention and if gets out that you and I are together, that I live with my male coach and it’s gonna be just the two of us pretty soon…”
    Okay, I see where this is going.
    “It’s not me I’m worried about,” Karen rushes to say, finally meeting my gaze. “It’s your dad. He doesn’t deserve to be raked over the coals for something he did out of kindness. I don’t even think that would happen, but rumors suck and those will most definitely happen. What do you think?”
    Oh boy. Not exactly the kind of advice I’m qualified to give. “I don’t know. I see both sides to the argument, I guess.” I touch her cheek, tracing over the new freckles with my index finger. “Maybe take a couple weeks to decide. You’re here now, so it’s not really an issue at the moment.”
    Finally, she smiles at me and pushes off the tree. “You’re right. I have time to think about it.”
    I’m not sure I like the idea of her living alone. That seems a bit extreme, especially with everything she’s going through. But it’s also not my decision to make, so I’ll have to bite my tongue on this one.
    We’ve basically had no good make-out sessions in what feels like an eternity, not that we’ve had make-out sessions—we haven’t had any. Period. Seizing the opportunity seems like the best plan for the moment. I lean down and kiss her on the mouth and wait for her to press herself closer to me. It only takes a few seconds and Karen’s hand is on the back of my neck, tugging us together. There’s an urgency in her kiss, especially after our lips part and my tongue slips inside her mouth. Something I haven’t felt from Karen before. Something that says she’s working hard to slow herself down. That’s usually my position.
    My heart speeds up, my lips traveling down her neck as her fingers slide under the back of my shirt. I barely register the approaching footsteps at first, but when I do, I grab Karen around the waist and pull her behind the tree. She looks at me, eyes wide with confusion. I turn her head to the side just enough for her to see who is heading for the gym doors.
    “Nina,” Karen whispers, then rests her head against the tree closing her eyes and releasing a sigh.
    I can’t help smiling. She’s all flushed and showing clear signs of… “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you’re like completely sexually frustrated.”
    She opens her eyes, but focuses on something over my shoulder. “I don’t even know what that means.”
    “You do, too.” I place my hands on either side of her head, pinning her in. “You were like sixty seconds from stripping me naked.”
    “Yeah right.” She rolls her eyes and attempts to duck under my arms. Her face is bright red.
    I keep my arms firmly planted, not allowing her to escape just yet. Sometimes I miss the way things were before we became “Jaren,” as Stevie and Blair like to call us. We would have been able to talk about this with more ease. “You can just tell me whatever