Dirty Little Mistake (Dirty #2) Read Online Free

willing myself to feel less. 
    The thump-pause-thump of my steps became a steady thump-thump-thump.  I sucked in breath after breath, relishing the way the air burned through my lungs. 
    My pace increase d even more, making one step melt straight into the next. 
    Th-th-thuuump.
    Blood pulsed through my body at double time and at last the roughness inside me began to dissipate.
    I pushed my body to its limit, and I kept going until every muscle ached and I had no choice but to slow my feet and come to a near stop.
    I paced on the path, staring up at the stars as I waited for my breathing to normalize. 
    Just as it did, a poorly disguised sob carried through the air. 
    I glanced up and down the path and saw no one.  I took a step forward.  The muffled sound came again. 
    “Hello?” I called softly.
    There was no reply.  I took a step in the direction from which I thought I heard the cry in the first place.
    “Is someone there?”
    There was a pause before the soft reply. “No.”
    I recognized the feminine voice immediat ely and it made my heart trip over its next beat. 
    Turn around and walk away, urged a voice in my head.
    My body didn’t listen.  Her name popped out of my mouth automatically instead.
    “Brenna?”
    There was a long pause, and for a second I thought maybe I was going crazy.  Then her cautious answer carried through the bushes, punctuated by a hiccough.
    “Yes?”
    “Are you okay?”
    “I’m f-f-fine,” she stuttered.
    “It’s Ridley.”
    “Okay.”
    “From next door,” I clarified.
    “I know who you are.”
    “You want to talk?”
    “No.”
    I needed to walk away.   Almost as badly as I needed to stay.  I took a step closer to the bushes.  I couldn’t see a damned thing.
    “Are you hiding in there?”
    “No. I don’t know. Sort of.”
    “You want me to go away?”
    I didn’t know if I wanted her to say yes or no, but I was damned sure that either way, I couldn’t leave her sitting there in the dark crying.
    When she replied, it was in a tone that might’ve been more convincing if it wa sn’t so small and broken-sounding. “Yes. I want you to go away.”
    “I’m coming in anyway.”
    I pushed my way through the bushes, wondering why the hell I was doing it.  She told me to go.  Gave me my out.
    I moved forward again and was rewarded with a solid tree branch in the face. 
    Where is she?
    “Marco?” I called.
    I bit back a holler as I stumbled away from the branch but found myself trapped by a bramble bush.  I yanked myself out of it, tearing my t-shirt and my skin in the process, and getting my shorts stuck on the thorns instead.  I gritted my teeth.  I tried to maneuver my way completely free only to get my foot stuck in a root. 
    “Fuuuuuuuu - ” I yelled.
    My drawn out swear word was cut short as I fell face first into a pile of bark mulch.
    Soft hands closed over my arms.  I let Brenna pull me to my feet and guide me away from the floral onslaught.  She was dressed in pajamas and she looked vulnerable in a way that made my heart lurch. 
    “Polo.” Her voice was as soft as her skin. 
    She guided me to a worn-down tree stump, sat me down, and then knelt beside me.  She picked a few pieces of leaf and wood from my cheeks.
    “Did you burn down a rain forest in your previous life, or what?”
    “Hardly.”
    “Then why does the plant-life seem to have such a hate-on for you?”
    I leaned in and whispered, “I’m not sure. I’m afraid to make an assumption in case it’s wrong and they attack me again.”
    I watched the corners of her eyes crinkle up in amusement and her lips purse temptingly while she tried to suppress a giggle.
    I nudged her knee with mine. “It’s okay to laugh at my expense.”
    “ Thanks.”
    “Aren’t I so kind ?” I winked. 
    She continued to pluck bits of bark mulch and twigs from my face.  I allowed myself a brief moment of indulgence as she did it.  Each time her hand came close to my nose, I caught a whiff of