Beautiful Tragedy (A Standalone Romance Novel) Read Online Free PDF Page B

her so much, but it wasn’t my fault. She was
so damned cute in her red sweater and little knit beret. Her poor little
freckled nose was as red as her coat though, and she looked miserable. I
considered putting my arm around her, just to keep her warm. But then I had
thought about the hot chocolate and thought being told “No” about that would
feel like less of a rejection.
    The line at the concession stand was long and as I
stepped behind a grandpa and his grandkids I heard a familiar voice. It was Tammy…the
stalker.
    “Hey Brock.”
      She sidled up
next to me and said, “I thought you said you hated football.”
    This is what I had told her, and in my defense it’s
mostly true. Tammy was a cheerleader last year. I hadn’t gotten the story about
why she wasn’t on the squad again this year, but last year she used to invite
me to the games every time I saw her. I tried making excuses at first, but when
at last I ran out of them I had just straight up told her…I don’t like
football. She had still tried to persuade me, but I had stuck with my
convictions.
    “Hey, Tammy. I still don’t like football. I just
agreed to come with some friends.”
    “Oh, are you with that girl I saw you with the other
night?” She asked the question like she had some right to know. I literally went
out with this girl twice. She acted like she was my ex-wife or something. Move
over Glen Close, there’s a new stalker in town.
    “Yes, actually. Her name’s Molly,” I said. Just the
sound of her name made me smile. “She’s one of Megan’s good friends.”
    “Oh,” Tammy said in that holier-than-thou way Tammy
had about her. It suddenly dawned on me; Tammy didn’t like Megan, at all. Back
at the beginning of the summer, after I had brushed her off more than dandruff
off a black coat, she had met Jake. He’d just started here, and Tammy didn’t
know that he was my roommate. They had a class together, and she set her sights
on him. Jake wasn’t interested, but he’s a polite guy, so he didn’t tell her
so…until he met Megan. He came to one of my shows about a week after he’d met
Tammy. Megan was there with a friend, and as they say…the rest is history. He
straight up told Tammy to her face about a week later that he wasn’t
interested. She, of course, blamed Megan for “moving in on him,” and pretty
much tried to have her blackballed from everything on campus. To Megan’s
credit, she didn’t get rifled at all over it. She just kept being her sweet
self and people liked her of her own accord, in spite of Tammy’s jealous
protestations.
    As Tammy opened her mouth once again, the guy behind
me said, “I’m sorry, but weren’t you behind me?” Tammy looked embarrassed and
appalled that this guy would have the audacity to call her on it. The guy
suddenly became my new best friend. I mean, I actually for the first time in my
life (and hopefully the last) thought about full-on kissing this guy on the
mouth. Tammy looked at me, expecting me to help, so I did. I smiled at the
wonderful man and said, “I think you’re right. She was behind you.” It may have
been the cold, but I swear I saw smoke shoot out of her ears as she went back
to her spot in the long line. By the time I got mine and Molly’s hot chocolate
and turned around to head back to our seats, she had decided to turn her back
on me. The cold shoulder…how refreshing ,
I thought with a grin.
    When I got to our row this time, I didn’t even have to
smile at big boy again. He not only got to his feet to allow me past, but he
pulled his skinny girlfriend up with him. Molly was watching me as I approached
and I handed the cocoa to her and said, “I’m sorry. The line was ridiculous.”
    “That’s okay,” she said, “I stopped being able to feel
my hands and feet so long ago that I wasn’t even sure how much time had
passed.”
    I sat down and as I did, her arm brushed against mine.
Okay, the fact of the matter was that her wool coat sleeve