Game of Love Read Online Free Page A

really great at ignoring it. Fuck . That weekend she’d come back had changed everything—and nothing at all. It didn’t matter. This was Ellie, and he wasn’t going there with her. He suppressed his desire to let Ellie in again.
    “Thrive!” Mitch yelled from across the bar.
    Ellie turned quickly in Mitch’s direction and clung to Dex’s chest to steady herself. “Hey, I think he’s calling you.”
    “Yeah, that’s Mitch. Every time I come into the bar, he does that. It’s kind of his way of greeting me. He and Reg work for me. We were just about to have a meeting before I saw you.” He put his hand on hers and pulled it from his chest—missing it instantly and chiding himself for feeling that way. “Come on. I’ll introduce you.”
    “Hold on.” She leaned over the booth and tugged her suitcase from beneath the table.
    How the hell did I miss that? He realized that she hadn’t answered him about where she was staying. “Wait. Is this your first night here?”
    She looked at the suitcase, then back at Dex, as if she were trying to figure out the answer. “It is,” she finally said.
    “Are you here for a week?”
    “No. This is all my stuff. I’m moving here.”
    Holy shit. Your entire world fits into one suitcase ? He remembered when Ellie had left her foster family when they were kids. She’d told him that people had a lot of wasted stuff and that she preferred to keep only what she needed. He realized now that she’d probably said that to protect herself, so he wouldn’t think less of her. Damn it. I could never think less of you . Everything about Ellie was so much more valuable than material belongings could ever be. Nothing and no one in his life had ever replaced her, and he didn’t know if anyone or anything ever could. He reached for the suitcase, and she struggled to get it out of his hands.
    “I can do it, Dex.”
    Same old Ellie .
    “I know you can . I was just trying to help.”
    “Thanks, but I’ve got it.” She flipped her hair over her shoulder with one practiced snap of her chin and tugged the heavy bag behind her.
    He could hear the unsaid words in his head. I don’t need your help. I can do it myself. That’s what she’d said when they’d first met. She’d been in fifth grade, he in sixth. Because Ellie was a year younger than him, he’d immediately put her into the ignore column of his brain. Ellie had been living with a family a few blocks from Dex’s house, and when she’d stepped off of the bus, she’d dropped her binder. He’d stopped to help her pick up the contents and she’d snapped at him. I don’t need your help. I can do it myself. Having grown up with a four-star-general father, Dex knew when to step back and shut up. But standing back and watching her run after the papers that had been carried in the wind went against everything his hippyish, peace-to-all-creatures mother had ever taught him. He’d picked up the papers that had fallen at his feet, and Ellie had glared at him with those beautiful—though at that moment dart-throwing—eyes and hadn’t said thank you when he tucked them into her binder. In fact, she hadn’t said anything at all, and neither had he. But like two peas in a pod, from that day forward, they’d walked home side by side in amicable silence. When they’d reach the corner of Marlboro and Carlisle Streets, where Dex turned right and Ellie turned left, Dex would lift his hand in a waist-high wave and Ellie would lift her chin and walk away.
    During those afternoon walks home, Dex had been drawn to Ellie’s strength as much as her quiet vulnerability. Dex was a quick study, and he’d learned what made Ellie comfortable and what set her off. Like a baby hawk, he’d imprinted onto Ellie with silent adoration. When Ellie climbed into her silent place and shut him out, he was there for her. That was all she needed—and maybe even all she wanted.

Chapter Four
    ELLIE STRUGGLED TO maneuver the bulky, heavy suitcase through