Envy - 2 Read Online Free PDF

every girl—for about a day. She’d blown him off, and he’d disappeared. Kane didn’t believe in making an effort.
    She shook her head. This time he real y must be desperate.
    “Who was on the phone?” Adam asked, sitting down on the worn quilt that served as their picnic blanket and passing her a deliciously cool bottle of Coke.
    “Your best friend, actual y.” Searching for a relief from the searing, dry heat of the afternoon, she pressed the bottle against her forehead, enjoying the icy chil that ran down her spine.
    “Harper?” he asked, confused.
    Beth flinched. She respected Adam’s friendship with the beautiful girl next door, but she didn’t have to like it.
    “No, your other best friend—you remember Kane, don’t you?”
    Adam shook his head in disgust. “What, is he trying to track me down? Dude, I never should have told him I was going out with you today.”
    “Actual y, he was looking for me,” Beth said, smacking him lightly with an annoyance that was only half for show.

    “You? Why would he be cal ing you?”
    “People have been known to want to talk to me,” she informed him, irritation mounting.
    “I know, I know,” Adam murmured, kissing her on the forehead. “You’re in high demand. In fact,” he added, kissing his way down her nose and landing on her lips, “I want you right now.”
    “He wants my help,” Beth explained, somewhat mol ified. “With studying for the SATs.”
    “Kane? Studying?” Adam burst into laughter. “I don’t think so. Seriously, what did he want?”
    “I know, I thought it was weird too,” Beth admitted. “But he seems to real y want a tutor.”
    “And he asked you ?”
    “Why wouldn’t he ask me?”
    “I just meant—whatever,” Adam stopped himself. “So he’s had a personality overhaul and wants a tutor for the SATs. You’re not going to do it, are you?”
    “Of course I am—he’s my friend,” she reminded him. “Wel … he’s your friend. And he needs my help. Why wouldn’t I do it?”
    “Oh, I don’t know, maybe because these days you’re too busy to eat or sleep, not to mention see your boyfriend?” He kept his voice level and light, but Beth could feel the dangerous tension bubbling beneath the surface. There just didn’t seem to be much she could do about it—and she couldn’t stop herself from egging him on.
    “Not al of us want to spend our lives lying around watching TV and drinking beer,” she snapped, hating herself for it the moment she heard the words slip out of her mouth. “At least Kane cares about something and is wil ing to work hard to get it. How could I say no to that?”
    “Fine,” he grunted.
    “Fine.” And, after a moment, “we’re starting tomorrow.”
    “What?” he yelped. “We’ve got plans for tomorrow!”
    “I know,” she said in a gentler voice. “I’m sorry—it’s just, he wanted to get started right away, and he seemed so desperate …”
    “You see? This is exactly what I’m talking about! How hard was it to find some time together this weekend, and now you’re just …?” He threw up his arms in disgust.
    “Adam, stop.” Beth took his hands in hers and clasped them to his chest. “I’m here, with you, now. Can’t we just enjoy this?” He didn’t respond, but he left his hands in hers, and she felt a gentle pressure squeezing back. Beth looked around—the park was mostly empty, and they were partial y hidden from view by a cluster of decrepit trees.
    She brought his hands to her lips and kissed them softly, then released them. He grazed his fingers across her cheekbones and cradled her face.
    “How about if we stop talking about Kane for a while?” she suggested, lying back on the quilt and pul ing him down beside her. He stroked her hair, and she breathed in the nearness of him, the familiar scent that somehow evoked both a cozy kitchen of fresh baked bread and the wide expanse of a bright summer morning. “Why don’t we just—”
    “Stop talking at all