Read Online With Strings Attached by Kelly Jamieson - Free Book Online

get over this feeling of helplessness and frustration. She sank down onto her bed and sat there for a moment. She knew she drove Matt crazy with her stubborn independence, but there was no way she was ever going depend on anyone but herself ever again.
     
    Dylan hopped over to the couch, pivoted on one foot and slid his crutches out from under his arms, then lowered himself to the seat. He looked at Matt, who stood there watching Corey with a faint frown on his face.
    “’Sup, dude?” Dylan asked.
    Matt turned his gaze on him. “Huh? Oh. Nothing. She’s just so damn stubborn.”
    Dylan lifted an eyebrow. “Uh-huh.”
    Matt shook his head and threw himself down into the chair.
    “What’s up with that?” Dylan asked.
    Matt pursed his lips and lifted one shoulder. “That’s Corey.”
    “Okay.”
    They sat there in silence for a moment. Dylan checked out Corey’s place. It was cute. Nothing fancy that was for sure, but then, he lived in hotel rooms, what did he know? It felt comfortable. He liked it.
    The warbling of a cell phone broke into the silence in the small apartment. Both men looked at each other.
    “Corey’s,” Matt said. He rose and crossed the room to where her purse sat on the counter. “Cor! You want me to get this?”
    “Okay,” she called from behind her closed bedroom door.
    He reached into her purse and found the phone and pressed a button. “Hello?”
    Dylan leaned back, ignoring the faint ache in his foot, watched and listened.
    “Oh hi, Ms. Fenwick.” Matt grimaced at Dylan and rubbed the back of his head. “Yeah, it’s Matt. How are you?” A pause. “Good, good. Yeah, she’s right here, I’ll get her.” He lowered the phone and moved to Corey’s bedroom door. He rapped softly then opened the door a crack. “Corey. It’s your mom.”
    Dylan was pretty sure he heard a groan and then Corey opened her door and took the phone, looking none too happy.
    “Hi, Mom.”
    Matt remained close to her while she talked, a concerned expression on his face that gave Dylan the impression a call from Corey’s mom wasn’t exactly a good thing. What was that about? Tension thickened in the room as she spoke. Dylan didn’t want to eavesdrop on something clearly personal, but what choice did he have in the small apartment? He watched Matt run a hand down Corey’s streaky blonde hair. The gesture gave him a funny feeling inside, a kind of squeeze to his guts.
    “Oh my God.”
    He looked back at Corey’s face, her mouth open, her eyes closed.
    “You’re kidding,” she continued. “You have got to be kidding me. How did he find you?” Another long pause. “That’s…oh my God.” Her throat worked as she swallowed. “No, I don’t want to see him! Jesus. What is he thinking?”
    Curiosity spiked inside Dylan.
    Corey leaned her head against the wall, eyes closed, her posture slumped. “No. Please, Mom. Don’t tell him. I really don’t want anything to do with him.”
    Was this the ex Matt had mentioned? The one who’d treated her like crap? Was he some kind of stalker? Dylan sat forward, concern rising up in him now too. He met Matt’s eyes with a silent question. Matt shrugged.
    “What’s there to think about?” Corey demanded into the phone. “He walked out on us years ago. Why now? I don’t get it.” Silence. “No. Absolutely not. Yeah. Okay.” She sighed. “I’m doing okay. Business is good, yeah.” She chatted for another minute with her mom, then said, “I have to go. Matt and another friend are here. I’ll call you next week and we can talk more. Yeah.” She swallowed again and almost choked on her next words. “Love you too, Mom. Bye.” She snapped her phone shut and remained slouched against the wall, then straightened. She shot Dylan an apologetic smile. “Sorry about that.”
    He lifted a shoulder and smiled. “No worries. Your mom?”
    “Yeah.”
    “What’s going on, Cor?” Matt asked quietly, touching her hair again.
    She closed her eyes briefly.