Read Online Whisper (New Adult Romance) by Ava Claire - Free Book Online Page B

too much hate boiling in my veins. “Jenna is not fine. I am not fine. And you...you’re a monster!”
    I was out of the cafe, tears of anger hot and boiling as I hailed a cab. My phone was in my hand, and my finger lingered on Scott’s name, but I remembered Liam and scrolled back up to his letter of the alphabet.
    It only rang twice before he answered.
    “Hey you.”
    Just the sound of his voice made me feel better.
    “Hi,” I bit my lip. “Can I see you? My mother...I...I need an escape.”

CHAPTER ELEVEN
    T he question was obvious, hanging unspoken in the air between us, but Liam didn’t push. I went up to his apartment, a tiny one bedroom apartment over a Laundromat. Apparently my timing was perfect. He was wearing the last few pieces of his clean clothing, a chocolate shirt and a pair of black slacks that made me think dirty thoughts. When I realized he was going commando and I could make out everything he was working with down south, my mother was already a distant memory. When he caught me ogling him, I covered up the offense by offering to help him with his laundry.
    After stepping into the sweltering Laundromat, I had second thoughts about my (mostly) selfless gesture. I placed the basket on the table and followed him with my eyes. He dug a fistful of quarters from his pocket and slipped them into the vending machine. He came back with two sodas, holding one out for me.
    I took it gingerly. “Thanks,” I mumbled, cradling the cool drink. “I can’t remember the last time I actually drank a soda. I mean, I ordered one at lunch, but that’s because I knew it would drive my mother insane.” I answered the silent question he asked with his eyes. “Empty calories. ‘Your body’s your temple’, she always said.”
    What she really meant was my body is a commodity. If I didn’t stay thin and perfect, what would my fans aspire to? The temple stuff and the health BS was just a cover. The only temple she cared about was the Temple of Wealth, and her god was the almighty dollar.
    “Your mom’s...quite something.” His wording was cryptic, but his face was anything but. He found her disgusting.
    You and me both , I thought bitterly. Discussing just how hard my mom sucked seemed like a cathartic exercise, but the thought of talking about her gave me an itch for the very thing I called him up to avoid. I almost wished he’d take the edge off and ask me the question that raced across his face and stalled on his tongue before he started separating his clothes.
    Wait – he separated his clothes? I knew that was the proper way to do laundry and it lowered the chances of colors bleeding, but the few memories I had of doing laundry consisted of just stuffing clothes in the tub every which way and hoping for the best. It was so cliché, but watching a muscled, tattooed guy being all domesticated was bringing needs inside me to life.
    After he separated the last two items, he glanced up, his eyebrow a dark question mark. “What?”
    I almost told him that watching him separate laundry was making me want to hump him then and there, but I toned it down. “I just realized that I barely know you even though I’ve already seen your underwear. I actually want to know more.” I exhaled when it was all out, the shackles I put around my heart slackening. Just a little bit. There was no harm in telling him I liked him. And when his eyes sparked with confirmation that he liked me too and his lips teased into a lazy smile, I realized just how much I liked him...and just how devastated I’d be when things inevitably went south.
    He lined up his remaining quarters. “You know the highlights. My name, the tragic story of my short-lived fame—”
    “Morbid fascination with washed out former child stars,” I finished for him. I’d meant it as a joke, but my voice was dark and bitter.
    “Don’t do that.” The timer was going on the machine and he hadn’t even loaded it, but he held my gaze steady like he had all the