When We Touch Read Online Free Page B

indifference.
    “I’ve got it.” She made an effort to keep the resentment from her voice, but it was impossible. No doubt he picked up on her tone. They were too familiar with each other for him to miss the slightest nuance. She knew the strength of his arms and how wonderful it felt to have them close around her, the rough texture of his jaw, the fullness of his lips and how soft yet demanding they could be when he kissed....
    Why had this person she’d trusted so deeply betrayed her? There were moments, moments like now, when she couldn’t believe that their lives had taken such a dramatic turn.
    He attempted to grab her case in spite of her refusal, but she hung on and kept walking, leaving him no choice but to fall back and follow.
    “Where’s Dad?” she asked her mother as they reached the front patio, an attractive covelike entrance to her parents’ rambler.
    “Out back, grilling some steaks.”
    Olivia didn’t ask where Noelle was. She didn’t want to see her sister.
    The smell of a home-cooked meal enveloped her as soon as she entered the house—evoking the only pleasant sensation Olivia had experienced since she’d left Brandon’s. Everything else cut like broken glass.
    A buzzer went off in the kitchen, and her mother hurried to remove whatever she had on the stove. “We didn’t want to eat without you,” she said, raising her voice to be heard, “but it was getting late. I’m glad you arrived in time.”
    Olivia didn’t comment. She’d promised herself she wouldn’t complain, wouldn’t wallow in self-pity, wouldn’t start a fight. But how she wished she could miss this meal. No aroma could be tempting enough to make her want to stay.
    Sensing Kyle’s presence at her elbow, she left her suitcase and pivoted to go back outside, already eager for a reprieve from the tension twisting her stomach. “I’ve got the stuff for the wedding favors in my trunk. I’ll grab it.”
    “Not with your hand hurt,” Kyle said. “Let me.”
    “No, thanks. I can manage.” She had no intention of allowing him do anything. But, to her chagrin, he joined her anyway. So she tried to ignore him. She didn’t want to see him any more than she wanted to see her sister, didn’t want to hear him, either, or confront the reality of what they used to be and what they were now.
    Once they were out of earshot of her mother, he caught her elbow to get her to face him and lowered his voice. “I’m so sorry, Olivia. I know…I know how hard this must be. It’s killing me that I’m causing you pain.”
    He seemed sincere, but maybe he was just being arrogant. She’d begun to doubt everything she’d ever known about him, except the physical sensations that had been such a major part of their relationship. Looking at him made her crave the familiarity they’d enjoyed. Since Carly, her best friend, had moved to Phoenix to accept a job offer with Southwest Airlines, Kyle had become both friend and boyfriend. Losing his friendship hurt as much as all the rest.
    Battling the threat of tears, she manufactured another smile. “You’re not causing me pain,” she said. “As a matter of fact, I’m already seeing someone else.”
    Dropping his hand, he blinked in surprise. “Your mother said…I mean, she didn’t mention that.”
    “I haven’t told her about him. There’s enough going on around here. This is your week, your wedding. I’ll save my announcements for later.”
    Did he go pale? Or was that her imagination?
    “Is it someone in Sac?” he asked.
    She could’ve said yes and left it at that. She wasn’t entirely sure why she didn’t. Maybe it was because a mere name wouldn’t have the same effect. “No, actually. He’s from Whiskey Creek. Someone you know quite well.”
    A muscle flexed in his cheek. “Who?”
    She’d already gone too far. But the same desperate compulsion that had overtaken her in the car when she injured her hand seemed to goad her now, until the name that would hurt him most