Second Down (Moving the Chains Book 2) Read Online Free Page A

longer I go without remembering, the less likely it is that I’ll ever get those days back. So...catch me up? Mike and Tini are being all cryptic.”
    All I can do is gape around me in total confusion. My mouth opens and closes several times, but no sound escapes. What am I supposed to say?
    You were my girl. Now you’re not.
    “Did, uh, did you ever make it to the diner to put your other play in action?” Evie whispers.
    Mike and Tini look at her and then at me with no clue what she’s asking me.
    My heart pounds erratically. I think I’m actually having a heart attackif the chest pain is anything to go by . I can’t catch my breath. If Evie doesn’t know anything, I have to get out of this room before I do or say something that’ll give me away. “Uh, no. That’s over with. It’s finished.”
    Tears prick the backs of my eyes. Even though I try to hold back, I scramble out of my chair and rush out of the room before I lose it. Or before she notices my mangled hands.
    What’s worse? Evie not knowing I’m the one who failed her, or Evie not knowing what we meant to each other before all hell broke loose?
    I’m met outside the door by two pairs of sympathetic eyes.
    “I tried to tell you, sweetie. I’m so sorry.” Diana puts a hand on my shoulder, her blue eyes that look so much like Evie’s full of tears.
    Why is she sorry? Does she know what happened between her daughter and me? Does she know her daughter gave me her fragile heart and warned me to be careful with it? Does she know that her daughter wrapped her hands around my neck, pulled me down to her soft lips? Does she know her daughter was my living dream and now that dream is just…gone?
    This must be what it feels like to have asthma. Since yesterday when I recognized that what I was seeing wasn’t a display of exhibitionism a hundred yards or so ahead of me on the trail, I haven’t been able to breathe. I lean back against the wall as the flashback hits me and steals what little breath I have left.
    My ankle protests the uneven terrain beneath me, but the only thing that pulses through my body with each footfall against the trail is her name. Evie, Evie, Evie. Her essence fills my veins, pushing me on through my exhaustion. My fingers tingle as my feet pound the dirt. Any minute now they’ll be buried in her hair again. The empty trail ahead of me goes on for miles. Birds call in the canopy above, leaves rustle in the light breeze. They all seem to whisper “Evie” along with my heartbeat. In my mind, her voice and her words play on repeat. “I’ve never been able to get over you…My boyfriend…You’re mine…I can’t run without my music.”
    Her taste is still on my tongue. My mouth waters for more. Around another bend, down the first steep hill, sharp curve to the left. Every inch of this trail is memorized after so many runs, just hoping to catch a glimpse of her and find something, anything to say.
    Today will be different. Today she’ll be happy to see me. She’ll throw her arms around me, and our sweat will mix together as our tongues tangle. The path stretches straight ahead again, and my feet grind to a halt at the sight ahead of me.
    Some asshole is taking his girl right off the side of the trail, out in plain view of any other runners. The way his bare ass thrusts so hard is like live porn. She can’t possibly be enjoying that much heavy action with the hard ground beneath her. But hey, if Alex’s stories are anything to go by, some girls like it rough.
    Evie will completely freak out if she sees this though. There’s gotta be some way around them without missing her if she comes running up this way. My eyes roam back to the couple getting it on in the weeds about a hundred yards away.
    This experience is going to last a whole lot longer than an orgasm if they’re rolling around in poison ivy. It’s on the tip of my tongue to warn them, but they’re too far away for me to make out much detail. Neither of them look