Read Online SunnyWithAChanceofTrueLove by Jessie Evans - Free Book Online
Authors: Jessie Evans
Ads: Link
still in sixth grade. Still scared and small and too tongue-tied and weak to fight back. She didn’t want to let him affect her this way, but when she looked into Spencer’s face, she heard all the ugly names he’d called her echoing in her head, remembered the way he’d been the first to notice that she wore the same stained jeans to school every day, and felt that old black hole of pain open in her chest and threaten to suck every ray of sunshine from her world.
When she was a child, she’d walked on eggshells to keep from making her mom and dad angry at home and gone to school with barely enough energy to get through the day. She hadn’t had the strength to stand up to Spencer and his friends. She’d barely had the strength to survive. Without her afternoons with Ross to look forward to, she wasn’t sure she would have made it through alive. He was the light in her long days of darkness.
And now he was crossing the room, his eyes glittering with determination, the way they had that afternoon years ago, when he’d shown her he thought she was worth fighting for.
But she wasn’t about to let him fight for her again. She was going to fight for herself, and make sure her sweet man stayed safe. She wouldn’t let anyone put Ross in danger, especially not herself.
“I’m sorry,” she said, cutting Spencer off in the middle of his story. “But I have to go. My boyfriend is ready to leave.”
Spencer’s smile hardened, but he didn’t move to let her pass by on the left and his friend blocked her way through the crowd on her right. “Why don’t you ask your boyfriend to join us?” he asked. “We can all have a few beers and you can decide who you’d rather go home with—him or me.”
Elodie cringed. The thought of going home with Spencer was so repugnant she had to fight the urge to gag.
Before she recovered the ability to speak, Ross was tapping the other man on the shoulder. “Excuse me,” Ross said, his voice vibrating with anger, no matter how polite his words. “Would you mind letting the lady through? I’d like to dance with my date before we have to leave.”
Spencer turned, meeting Ross’s eyes with an ugly smirk. The men were both a little over six feet, but where Ross was leanly muscled, evenly proportioned, and all around perfect, Spencer looked like a balloon that had been filled near the bursting point. His muscles were too big to be attractive and she knew enough about the man to guess he maintained his massive size in order to intimidate other people, not because his work involved carrying victims out of burning buildings.
“Hey there, Ugly Ross,” Spencer said. “This pretty little thing is with you? How’d you manage that, son? Lace her food before you served her lunch at the Roadkill Café?”
His words were met with laughter from his friend, but Ross simply smiled. “I’m not open for lunch, Spencer. If you’d learned to read, you’d know that. But I’m sorry if you came by and couldn’t figure out why the doors were locked.”
Spencer laughed, an ugly chuckle that was horribly familiar from the days when he and his friends would take turns seeing who could describe her “Stinky Elodie” stench in the most disgusting way. She’d spent so many lunches with her eyes glued to her food, too upset to eat, no matter how hungry she was, because of those monsters.
Suddenly, standing here in front of him, watching him prove he was still the same nasty bottom feeder, was too much to take.
“I’m ready to go,” Elodie said, meeting Ross’s eyes in a silent plea. “I need to rest before work tonight. Can we go?”
“Of course.” Ross stepped toward her with his hand held out, only for Spencer to check him with his broad shoulder, knocking him back before their fingers could touch.
“So how’s business at the Roadkill Café?” Spencer asked, turning his back on Elodie as he faced Ross.
She fought the urge to punch him in the kidneys and make a run for it. She
When she was a child, she’d walked on eggshells to keep from making her mom and dad angry at home and gone to school with barely enough energy to get through the day. She hadn’t had the strength to stand up to Spencer and his friends. She’d barely had the strength to survive. Without her afternoons with Ross to look forward to, she wasn’t sure she would have made it through alive. He was the light in her long days of darkness.
And now he was crossing the room, his eyes glittering with determination, the way they had that afternoon years ago, when he’d shown her he thought she was worth fighting for.
But she wasn’t about to let him fight for her again. She was going to fight for herself, and make sure her sweet man stayed safe. She wouldn’t let anyone put Ross in danger, especially not herself.
“I’m sorry,” she said, cutting Spencer off in the middle of his story. “But I have to go. My boyfriend is ready to leave.”
Spencer’s smile hardened, but he didn’t move to let her pass by on the left and his friend blocked her way through the crowd on her right. “Why don’t you ask your boyfriend to join us?” he asked. “We can all have a few beers and you can decide who you’d rather go home with—him or me.”
Elodie cringed. The thought of going home with Spencer was so repugnant she had to fight the urge to gag.
Before she recovered the ability to speak, Ross was tapping the other man on the shoulder. “Excuse me,” Ross said, his voice vibrating with anger, no matter how polite his words. “Would you mind letting the lady through? I’d like to dance with my date before we have to leave.”
Spencer turned, meeting Ross’s eyes with an ugly smirk. The men were both a little over six feet, but where Ross was leanly muscled, evenly proportioned, and all around perfect, Spencer looked like a balloon that had been filled near the bursting point. His muscles were too big to be attractive and she knew enough about the man to guess he maintained his massive size in order to intimidate other people, not because his work involved carrying victims out of burning buildings.
“Hey there, Ugly Ross,” Spencer said. “This pretty little thing is with you? How’d you manage that, son? Lace her food before you served her lunch at the Roadkill Café?”
His words were met with laughter from his friend, but Ross simply smiled. “I’m not open for lunch, Spencer. If you’d learned to read, you’d know that. But I’m sorry if you came by and couldn’t figure out why the doors were locked.”
Spencer laughed, an ugly chuckle that was horribly familiar from the days when he and his friends would take turns seeing who could describe her “Stinky Elodie” stench in the most disgusting way. She’d spent so many lunches with her eyes glued to her food, too upset to eat, no matter how hungry she was, because of those monsters.
Suddenly, standing here in front of him, watching him prove he was still the same nasty bottom feeder, was too much to take.
“I’m ready to go,” Elodie said, meeting Ross’s eyes in a silent plea. “I need to rest before work tonight. Can we go?”
“Of course.” Ross stepped toward her with his hand held out, only for Spencer to check him with his broad shoulder, knocking him back before their fingers could touch.
“So how’s business at the Roadkill Café?” Spencer asked, turning his back on Elodie as he faced Ross.
She fought the urge to punch him in the kidneys and make a run for it. She
Similar Books
