All The Ugly Things (Love and Lies Duet Book 1) by Stacey Lynn

Author:Stacey Lynn [Lynn, Stacey]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: SL Books
Published: 2021-04-19T18:30:00+00:00

A familiar pink and black checked backpack slid onto the desk next to me right before Angie followed, slipping into the seat. She’d taken to sitting in the back row of class with me.

“Hey,” she said, chomping on a piece of gum. Peppermint, by the smell of it. “Have a good weekend?”

“Yeah. I did.” My grin shook as a flood of warm ripples ran down my spine. This girl didn’t care about my past. What I’d done or where I’d been. Somehow she kept injecting herself into my life with a smile and kind word. “Yours?”

“All right. My little sister got sick with croup, so Mom had to take her to the hospital. She was so bone-tired Sunday I had to watch both of my younger siblings. That sucked, but my brother, Josiah, wasn’t a jerk and helped so yeah.” She shrugged. “It was decent. You ready for this test on Thursday?”

“Not even in my dreams,” I admitted. “Any chance you’d be willing to help?”

I’d put it off for weeks. Asking didn’t come easy to me, even prior to incarceration. But I no longer lived in a ramshackle of a home, and I was taking Nancy’s long ago given advice.

It wouldn’t kill you to open up. It is possible for you to have friends again. A life.

I scoffed then, but so much changed in the last month.

Now, I naively pictured girls’ nights with laughter and meat and cheese boards while watching reality television or frivolous sitcoms I could now view on my forty-inch flat screen TV.

“Sure. I can help with your accounting if you tell me all about how you know Hudson Valentine.”

She said his name like he was a prince. The mere mention of his name sent a warm flutter to my stomach, which I tried to push down.

“There’s nothing to tell.”

Truth was, he was growing on me, too. I hadn’t agreed to a job or interview with his company and he didn’t press. I was procrastinating calling David. Their job offers were too much, and too obviously overpaying me to give me something better than I deserved.

Was it possible to request a salary less than offered? They wouldn’t take it.

It was my pride in all of this I kept getting hung up on, but I wanted to work for what I earned, not be given it without cause.

Regardless, I was almost feeling… settled. Growing a tiny mustard seed of hope, I could do this. I could be an ex-con and not be entirely judged for it.

Which was why I was taking the bullet and asking Angie to my home. She was growing on me, too. I noticed she was bubbly when excited, but quiet in class. Smart as hell. At least when it came to accounting but if she could figure that out and get straight A’s, she was a borderline genius as far as I was concerned.

“Please.” She rolled her eyes like I was being ridiculous. “It’s Hudson, and if you haven’t noticed yet by looking at him, there’s a lot to talk about when it comes to him.

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