Every Part of You Taunts Me Read Online Free PDF Page A

“You know I will.”
    “And dinner’s your treat.”
    “You are such a conniving brat.”
    She laughed, loud and long and hard, her heart lifting suddenly from a weight she hadn’t been willing to admit she was carrying. “Oh, I’ve missed you. So fucking much.”
    “Me, too, babe. See you tonight.”
    *   *   *
    Aidan had brought her along.
    Simone shouldn’t have been surprised. The girl was Aidan’s girlfriend, and his submissive, a combination he’d been looking to find for a long time. A good friend would’ve been happy for him … and Simone was going to try her best to be.
    The girl wore her pale blonde hair in a long braid. Dark glasses with square frames. Black fitted T-shirt and black capri trousers. Nothing about her stood out as unique, but she had a pretty smile, and she shook Simone’s hand firmly, without hesitation.
    “You should’ve told me,” Simone said under her breath as they took their seats at the table and the girl–her name was Corrina, Simone reminded herself. Corrina excused herself to use the restroom.
    “I thought maybe you wouldn’t come if you knew.” Aidan gave her what looked like one of his old cocky grins, except there was a shadow of uncertainty beneath it.
    He’d been really nervous, Simone saw. Genuinely worried. Touched, she reached for his hand, linked their fingers. She brushed a kiss along his knuckles.
    “I might not have. But that would’ve made me the asshole,” she told him.
    He squeezed her hand and pulled her closer for the hug he hadn’t given her when he picked her up at her apartment. It was awkward, stretching across the empty chair between them, but for the moment it felt so good to be hugging him that it didn’t matter. He kissed her cheek, hard.
    “Don’t go away like that again,” Aidan said fiercely into her ear.
    He pulled away when Corrina came back to the table, but not quick enough. The girl saw the embrace. She was good about hiding her feelings, though. She gave Simone a smile that seemed almost genuine. It was better than the one Simone would’ve been able to make if the situation were reversed, that was for sure.
    That was the moment when Simone decided to like her.
    “So, Corrina,” she said. “Tell me about yourself.”
    *   *   *
    Later, when Aidan had paid for the meal and talked her into going back to his place instead of having him take her immediately home, Simone had the chance to see Corrina in a different light. The moment she walked through Aidan’s front door, she took off her shoes and set them carefully on the mat next to the door. Then she knelt and unlaced Aidan’s and set them aside, too.
    “No, thanks,” Simone said when Corrina looked first to Aidan for affirmation, then up at her. “I’ll take care of my own.”
    “Go change and then bring us a couple of coffees, sweetheart,” Aidan told her. When she turned to go, he stared after her for so long Simone wondered if he were going to simply wait until she came back before he even turned to her.
    “You are in so fucking deep,” she murmured, shaking her head and pushing past him to take a seat on the couch.
    She pulled her phone from her bag, thumbing the screen to check for messages, but there was nothing but a few alerts from apps she barely used. Nothing from Elliott. She opened her lists of texts, just to check and be sure, but the last thing on it was her message telling him to have a great day. No reply from him.
    Aidan laughed and took a seat in the chair across from her. “She’s … perfect.”
    Simone raised her brows and looked up at him from over the top of her phone. “Nobody is perfect.”
    “She’s perfect for me.”
    Jealousy is a hard emotion to swallow, even when you’re trying hard to shove it down your throat to keep from being an ignorant asshole to someone you used to love. Simone forced a smile. “I’m happy for you.”
    “Good. I’m glad.” Aidan grinned, then narrowed his eyes to look her over. “Are