Fighting Heart: Fighting Heart Erotic Bad Boy Romance Series Book 1 Read Online Free Page B

Turkish coffee and Mediterranean come-ons at Yemek’s. Penny looked horrified and amused in equal measure, and when she laughed I told her she was a bitch. She loved that. I showed her the stack of application forms destined for my bedroom trash can.
    “I was hopeful for you, Ash, but not optimistic. Sorry. Look on the bright side, at least you didn’t end up having to drink that coffee.
    “The bright side is he didn’t offer me any cream.”
    “You are so disgusting, Ashley.”
    “Correction, he was disgusting.”
    “Anyway, you involved me in your little drama, for which there is a price.”
    I frowned, jokingly. “If it’s financial, it’s more than I can afford.”
    “I tend to meddle. As you get to know me you will see that I’m a meddler. Don’t get me wrong,” said Penny, “I’m cool, I will laugh at your jokes, but the downside is that I’m a meddler. I can’t help myself.”
    She was just a tad drunk already, which made me smile and sip my own beverage. The cool cider tasted so good after all the stress of the day.  “How have you meddled, Pen?”
    “I got talking to some people after the seminar and I mentioned you were in a tight spot for some cash.”
    “Oh. Exactly who did you tell, Pen?”
    “Well, it’s true isn’t it?”
    “Yeah, but I don’t need people to think Miss Olivia Twist every time they see my face.”
    “Boys you mean.”
    “Especially the boys!”
    Penny’s face went a little serious and then I knew she’d told everyone. “Oh Lord. Is it going to be in the student newspaper?”
    Penny nearly coughed her booze up and laughed. “No. But a few people know. Including a couple of special people. Well, one special person.”
    “Who? Come on?”
    “Brandon Lynes.”
    “Excuse me?”
    “You’ll see, he’ll be here in, what, five minutes…”
    “Who is Brandon Lynes? And why do you know he will be here in five minutes?”
    Penny did that coy shaky head thing and sipped her drink. She clammed up. Now I felt embarrassed, awkward and excited to boot. I nearly polished off the rest of my cider in two minutes flat.
     
    “Penny, there you are.” A deep voice appeared behind me. I looked up to see the figure of a man who regularly worked out at a gym. There was a lumberjack shirt – blue check – over a plain white vest, and the vest clung snugly to his body as he outstretched his big arms to schmooze Penny with a continental double kiss. Yes, there were pectoral muscles. Check. And those little sidey muscles. Check . And signs of a six pack. Check . Oh Lord. I looked up and behold, I saw the face of the man. Penny stood to receive her continental kiss, and briefly hugged the guy back.  Then the guy looked down at me, and I took the opportunity to look him full on in the face. Good cheek bones, and a long square jaw. There was a bright white smile shining at me from between two full male lips. There was stubble, but not the hipster beard which I had grown to dislike because so many guys were sporting one.  Then there was his long hair swept back into a parting, revealing his big shining blue eyes. I was temporarily stuck looking at his face like when a child looks at up at the stars for the first time. He was the Lion King. The guy from the lecture who gave me the look. I was caught up in wonder, and I needed to snap out of it or risk looking a total moron. Luckily, Penny meddled some more.
    “Ashley, this is Brandon Lynes. Brandon’s on his second year in Literature, but he’s already something of a hot shot on the literary scene. He got published in August in Ostler’s Review. You wrote a tribute to George Orwell, right?”
    “It was a homage to Down and Out in Paris and London and The Road to Wigan Pier, his political/biographical pieces on poverty.  Orwell knew what society needed to hear and he served it right up to them, warts and all. Society needs a similar voice today, so I tried to write a piece in that vein. Ostler’s liked it, and the rest is