Drowning to Breathe Read Online Free PDF

Because I wanted nothing more.
    A curl of aggression wound through Lyrik. I could feel it, him feeding off me, the intense need I felt to track down that bastard Jennings and finally right all the asshole’s wrongs.
    Lyrik was just like me. When you get pushed up against a wall, you push right the fuck back, fists and fury and uncontained aggression. Pair that with Ash spouting his mouth wherever we went? The three of us asked for trouble then turned around and kicked its ass.
    But if we gave into that craving, we were only going to make things worse.
    “Anthony’s on his way. He has an attorney lined up. We’re going to set this straight.”
    “Okay?” Ash drew out as he set his hands on his hips, staring me down.
    “Okay, what?”
    “Then what the hell are you doing here?”
    Running.
    I gave a harsh shake of my head. “Martin’s using the assault against her. No question the asshole is the one who got the courts involved. I won’t be a liability.”
    Just like Shea had said, he’d been waiting to strike. Bet the sick fuck had been watching us these past months.
    Two birds with one stone and all that.
    Lyrik swore, while Ash grew livid. “Are you kidding me, Baz? Did she ask you to go?”
    I didn’t answer.
    “Unbelievable,” he spat toward the ground.
    Yeah. It was. All of it.
    “You’re an idiot.” Ash kept on like the fucker he was.
    Didn’t have it in me to go toe to toe with him, to debate what was right when every goddamned thing was wrong.
    Feeling like I might crawl out of my skin, I turned my back on the disappointment rolling off the three of them, because they didn’t know , didn’t know how fucking bad this hurt or the lengths I’d go in order to protect Shea and Kallie.
    I escaped out the glass-paned doors leading onto the deck.
    Outside, the night was thick. Humidity clung to the sky in the wake of the storm that rolled away like the receding tide. It’d left the slightest chill. A dampness that sunk down to my bones.
    My boots thudded on the wooden planks as I marched down toward the sea.
    Drawn.
    Lights glowed from the windows of the house behind me. Two stories were lit up like a torch, casting the beach in darkness.
    I inched down the smooth sand where the tide had been pulled out to sea. I wanted to shout and rant and rave about how fucking unfair this world was.
    Always stealing the good .
    Blotting out the beauty and light when the vile was allowed to run rampant.
    I stretched my arms out to my sides and let his presence crawl over me.
    Julian.
    He was always there, waiting for me.
    I closed my eyes and let the unending regret consume me.
    I froze when I sensed the presence behind me, and I slowly turned to find the lone figure hugging his knees to his chest. He was hunched over, obscured from the stretch of lights from the house where he sat at the base of a dune.
    Lost to the dark.
    “Austin,” I whispered. The sound was eaten up by the wind. I edged toward him, somehow cautious, hating the fact I’d had little time to take care of my baby brother over the last couple of days.
    In the texts I shared with Lyrik after what had gone down with the paparazzi and those fucking repulsive pictures, he promised everything was cool. Said they had Austin covered.
    Yeah, the guys were family.
    But I wasn’t sure that could make up for my absence.
    Only I could understand what kind of brutal blow the incident here on the beach with Kallie had been to Austin.
    The memories it’d evoked.
    He was back to covering his head with that goddamned hoodie.
    Fuck, I hated it. Hated that he continued to hide from the past just the same as he allowed it to eat him alive.
    I had the urge to shake him.
    To tell him again it was not your fault .
    I didn’t. Instead, I slumped down beside him. I pushed out a breath and scrubbed a hand down my face.
    “What are you doing here?” he asked, digging his fingers into the sand where they dangled between his knees.
    I gazed out over the sea. “You know