Broken but Breathing (Jinx Tattoos Book 2) Read Online Free

eyes. It touched him.
    “I’m so sorry,” she whispered.
    He felt something inside him soften.
    “We’ve all lost here,” he said.
    Murmurs of agreement surrounded him.
    “Is there anything the group can do to make this time easier for you, Snake?” Bryan asked.
    He shook his head. “Just listening is plenty.”
    “I think it’d be wise for you to make sure you have a buddy right now. It’s something to consider,” he said.
    Snake nodded.
    “What’s a buddy?” Estelle asked.
    “Someone you trust to call when you feel yourself becoming too overwhelmed. We all have them,” Bryan replied.
    Estelle nodded. It was her turn. She toyed with the belt of her black trench coat.
    Bryan smiled at her, a soft expression on his face. “You don’t have to talk tonight, Estelle. We’re here to support you and allow you to go at your pace.”
    She glanced up at Snake, almost as if she needed reassurance. Snake nodded. He wasn’t sure why she was so fearless. Most women shied away from him. It felt…nice. That was a dangerous emotion to indulge.
    As they wrapped the session, he stood and stretched. Jason hovered in the doorway, eyeballing Estelle like a dog in heat. Fuck .
    “Can I walk you to your car?” Snake asked.
    Her eyebrows arched. “I…yeah, sure,” she replied with a shrug.
    “Be seeing you,” Snake said to the others, quickly ushering her out the door.
    “Estelle, I wanted to offer myself up as your buddy,” Jason said.
    “Oh—”
    “She can’t. We already agreed we’d be each other’s check in point,” Snake said.
    Jason scowled. “Is that true, Estelle?” he asked.
    “Yes, sorry,” she answered.
    Good girl. Snake placed a hand on the small of her back and guided her out of the church.
    “You didn’t seem comfortable around, Jason. It’s why I jumped in. I’m not the type to strong arm anyone to get my kicks.”
    “I wasn’t. I appreciate you stepping in. I wasn’t expecting to deal with that at a grief meeting,” she admitted as they stepped out into the evening air.
    “Most women flock to him.”
    “Exactly why he made me wary. Men that are used to yes, and woman being interested in them tend to have over-inflated egos.”
    “You got good instincts. He likes to hit women at their most vulnerable. It’d be smart to keep him at a distance, and let him know you’re not interested.”
    Her brow furrowed. “I thought I did.”
    “He doesn’t understand subtle hints,” Snake said.
    “Just great.”
    “Other than him, the group’s good.”
    “Yeah?” She cocked her head to the side as she looked at him.
    “It’s hard being new. But if you stick with it, that fades, and you find a group of people who can say they understand what you go through without bullshitting you.”
    “Is that why you come?” she asked.
    “Yeah.”
    “This is me,” she said, gesturing to the black BMW in the parking lot.
    He whistled. “Nice ride.”
    She shrugged. “It gets me from point A to point B.”
    In style no less .
    “Are you really going to be my buddy?” she asked.
    “Do you want me to be?”
    “I promised my doc I would be all in with this, so yes.”
    “All right. Let me see you cell phone.”
    He typed his number into her cell and called his own, saving her number.
    “There you go. You get into a tight spot, and need to talk, call me.”
    She nodded. “Same for you.”
    He smirked. “Yeah, all right.”
    He waited as she unlocked her door and slid inside.
    “See you around, Estelle,” he said, tapping her hood as he walked over to his bike. He got on and pulled out of the parking lot knowing the refined woman would never place a call.

CHAPTER TWO
    Estelle
    I like bartending. She studied the quick pour the teacher demonstrated and did her best to emulate the technique as she counted silently in her head. The last thing she wanted to do was over pour and cut into the bar’s profits. She’d watched enough Bar Rescue to know that was a huge no-no. The highly addictive