Read Online The Story of Us by AuthorStephanieHenry - Free Book Online

night?”
    “Yeah, bits and pieces of the
beginning. How did I get so drunk? I don’t even drink. I mean,
barely ever.”
    “Do you remember when you first saw me
last night?” he questions seriously, his usual smirk
gone.
    I know what he’s getting at. And I do
remember. I remember thinking he was upset. And I reached out to
him. I remember hugging him and having a moment with him. But I’m
not sure I want to admit that to him. “Umm…”
    “C’mon, princess. You remember,” he
says softly.
    “I thought you were going to stop
calling me princess.” I attempt to change the subject.
    He blows it off like I didn’t say
anything at all. “You remember,” he insists.
    “Okay, yes. I remember,” I reluctantly
admit.
    “Why?”
    “Why, what?”
    “Stop,” he demands. “Look
at me. You know what I’m asking. Why ?”
    Suddenly, I’m having a hard time
looking at him when he’s only wrapped in a towel from the waist
down and dripping water. I just can’t. And yet, I can’t help
myself. For the first time, I notice a tattoo on his bicep. It’s
not a huge one that covers his whole upper arm, like a lot of guys
have. It only takes up one spot on his upper shoulder. I try to
make out what it is, but all I can see is that the whole of it is a
puzzle piece. There’s a lot of intricacies inside it that I can’t
make out without staring. I look away, for fear of being caught and
try to ignore the rest of him by looking only into his eyes, but
that doesn’t help much either. His eyes are soft, begging for me to
answer. I sigh loudly, “I thought you were upset. I thought you
needed comfort, I guess. It was stupid and I had a buzz and I
shouldn’t have. I’m sorry, okay?”
    “Don’t be sorry,” he insists. “How did
you know I was upset?”
    “Were you?”
    He shrugs his shoulder like it’s no
big deal, and I can tell that’s as close to a ‘yes’ as I’m going to
get. So I wasn’t imagining it.
    “Why?” I ask.
    “Do you really care?”
    I think about that question for a
moment. As much as I’d like to say no, I can’t. “Yes.”
    His eyes turn molten at my admission.
I can tell he wants to open up to me. But then his expression
changes and his eyes cloud over. “Just some family stuff. Nothing
too important. Just a bad day,” he answers, being as vague as
possible.
    I can’t hide my disappointment. But I
know I shouldn’t be surprised. Did I really think Craig Morgan was
going to open up to me? Has he ever opened up to anyone before?
He’s the typical bad boy type. He lets you see inside him just
enough for you to think there’s something worthy under his rough
exterior. Then he shuts you down and goes back to being as cold as
ice.
    “Okay…Well, I’m sorry for making your
night worse,” I say. “I’m sure babysitting wasn’t in your
plans.”
    “Princess, watching you sleep in my
bed was the best part of my night.”
    This would be incredibly sweet if he
didn’t have that half-grin on his face that tells me that he meant
it in a smutty way.
    I inwardly scream at how frustrating
he can be, but I don’t let him see how he gets to me. “I should be
going,” I simply say. “Thanks again.”
    “Wait. Let me get dressed and I’ll
walk you.”
    “No, that’s alright. I can
manage.”

Chapter 6

    The weeks pass miserably. Ever since
that night, Tyler avoids me. And Tiffany, who happens to work at
the Grind where I go daily, shoots me death looks every time I see
her. She has a friend on the cheering squad, so I get some backlash
there too. I don’t understand. Nothing happened between me and
Craig. I don’t know why she hates me. A few months ago, I thought
seeing Craig working at the Grind everyday was going to be
frustrating. Now, I sigh in relief when it’s him taking my order
instead of Tiffany.
    Today, I get a double-whammy.
Tiffany’s working and Tyler’s sitting at a table with an iced
coffee in hand. Tiffany will never like me, that I can be sure of.
So I walk