Exposed (VIP Book 4) by Kristen Callihan

Author:Kristen Callihan [Callihan, Kristen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Plain Jane Books
Published: 2021-07-12T18:30:00+00:00

Brenna

Alone. Finally.

Even though the shop still hums with conversation and the soft clinks of silverware against china, it’s wonderfully quiet at my table. A nice little cocoon of silence.

I pour the remaining dregs of tea into my cup and take a sip. It’s gone cold and bitter, but I don’t care. I need to do something with my jittery hands.

Shit. I don’t want to deal with my parents. I really don’t want to deal with them in front of my friends. The potential for humiliation is too great. Not when they try their best to make all those around them equally unhappy, and I am one of their favorite targets. In their eyes, I am a traitor. I went off with spoiled, rich Killian and turned my back on them. I shouldn’t let it bother me. Yet one snidely spoken comment from my father and I’m decimated, uncertain, and embarrassed to live within my own skin. I loathe how family can do that to me.

I hate feeling weak, feeling less than. I hate that this insecurity has affected every aspect of my life when I’ve worked so hard to be strong, independent.

After finishing off the tea, I set the cup down with more force than necessary and collect my stuff. It’s still pouring, and I call a car from the service we keep on staff. But my mind drifts to Rye. He surprised me by showing up here.

I can barely look at him when our friends are around now. I’m convinced they’ll see everything on my face, the need to touch him, the way my eyes linger on his face, his arms, his broad shoulders. The scent of him, crisply spicy, deeply masculine, is still in the air around me, and all I want to do is breathe it in.

Our official sex-up day is tomorrow. It feels like a year from now. I wanted to leave with him, ask him to take me away somewhere—his bed, mine, didn’t matter. Just take me away and make me feel good. Make me feel something other than the gnawing sadness and disappointment that talk of my family churns up.

I’m becoming too attached already. I resent the days we’re forced to stay apart. They’re a punishment, something I have to grit my teeth and bear.

In other words, it’s all a mess now. Killian is clearly suspicious. The fact is, Rye and I are getting along too well for any of our friends not to notice. That they expect us to remain as we were, always at odds, always fighting, irritates me. Are Rye and I not allowed to grow?

Either way, it’s a good indication of how they’d react if they found out what we’re doing. Which is to say: they’d want to discuss and dissect every angle. They’d either proclaim us married by the end of the year or broken up by Sunday. A cold sweat breaks out at just the thought of them converging on us. No, it’s none of their business, and I plan to keep it that way.

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