Shatter Me by Kim Hartfield

Author:Kim Hartfield [Hartfield, Kim]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Romance
Published: 2018-11-12T00:00:00+00:00

Sixteen – Sydney

I fought to hide my grimace as I walked into Lora’s studio apartment. She’d invited me over here so I could visit Virginia, and indeed, the kitten scurried up to me with her usual enthusiasm. Still, my happiness at seeing her was overshadowed by my dismay at the state of the apartment.

It wasn’t that it was messy – although it was. The place looked like Lora hadn’t cleaned in a week. My issue was more with the complete lack of furniture and the bags strewn across the floor.

She’d been here for over a month, and she was still practically living out of a suitcase. She clearly hadn’t made an effort to turn this into a home. This was where she slept, and nothing else.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, carefully watching the expression on my face. “I should’ve cleaned. I didn’t have time after work, I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s fine. Um… where should I sit?” She didn’t even have a chair, for heaven’s sake. Then again, with the size of this place, she barely would’ve had room for one.

“Oh,” she said. “Um…” She dropped the pillow from her mattress onto the floor. “Is this okay?”

It would’ve been if I was twenty-five. With my creaky knees, it was less okay. Since I didn’t have much choice, I said “sure” and sat down anyway.

Lora took a seat on the mattress. Virginia sniffed my legs as if trying to place my scent. Eventually, satisfied, she lay down beside my thigh.

“So, career stuff?” I asked. “Did you have some more questions for me?”

“More than I can count,” she sighed. “I’ve sent in a few resumes, and I’m working on getting some volunteer positions.”

“That’s great! I know you’re going to find something before you know it.” I hesitated. “It might be too soon for you to volunteer at Open Heart, but if you’re interested in picking up some shifts at the soup kitchen or the refugee program where I volunteer, I can put in a word for you.”

“That’d be nice.” She gazed at me affectionately. “You do far too much for me.”

I gave a nervous laugh. “Not at all. I still owe you for letting me hang out with Virginia.” I picked up the kitten, who was sleepy enough to settle into a heap on my lap. Success! I petted her, hoping she’d stay for a while.

Lora shook her head. “You’ve done a ton for me, Sydney, and all I do in return is get mad at you and get rumors spread about you.”

“First of all, I don’t care that you got mad at me as long as you ended up cutting Chantel off.”

“I did.” She looked pained.

“And as for the rumors… they don’t matter, either.” I massaged Virginia’s back. “Aside from the cheating aspect, and those who know me never would’ve believed that, anyway. Heaven forbid I should date a pretty woman.”

Lora’s eyes widened. “It wasn’t embarrassing for you when people thought we were seeing each other?”

“Why would it have been? If they knew there was no cheating involved, they would’ve been happy for me.

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