First Love (Complicated Love Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page B

him, then how do you know for sure?” 
    “I don’t and I won’t. I’m hoping to keep an open mind when I talk to him, but without knowing for sure, I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to believe him. And that breaks my heart.”
    I know not to drink on an empty stomach, but I wasn’t thinking about that when I started drinking, and now, my head is starting to spin and my stomach is gurgling. I’m going call it a day. Yesterday was a long, stressful day and, with everything that’s happened, my body’s exhausted. Surely I can get all of my answers when I wake up in a few hours and call Brian.
    “Thank you both for letting me crash here. You guys have been a lot of help, and I really appreciate it. I’m going to go pass out now, and pray that, when I wake, it the day brings some clarity and no hangover.”
    “Goodnight,” they say in unison.
    Once in bed, I can’t sleep. All I can think about is Brian. I don’t want to believe he’d cheat on me, but I saw him. Or did I?  I really want to speak with him, but I’m drunk. If I call him now, then he’ll know he’s busted. But I want to see his face when I tell him because then I’ll know whether or not he’s lying. He’s never been the best liar.
    Shawna told me I could use her phone to call Brian if I wanted to, and before I can stop myself, I am dialing him. I want to hang up, but I can’t.
    “Hello,” Brian says.
    Hearing his voice brings tears to my eyes.
    “Hello? Donna, is that you?”
    I want to answer him because this is the man I’ve come to know as my protector and the love of my life.
    “Please, baby, answer me. I need to know you’re all right.”
    But hearing his voice also causes me to question everything he’s ever said to me. Shit, I have to answer. I’m the one who called him.
    “Yes, I’m here,” I say, but I’m not sure if I can trust him or myself.
    Double shit—I should have followed through with my plan of going to sleep and waiting a few hours to call him. Stupid girl. “
    Thank God. Are you okay? Where are you? Wait. To be honest, I already know you’re at Shawna’s because I called her. I was worried about you.”
    Even though he’d called several times, he still wanted to check up on me and make sure I was safe for himself.
    “I’m doing better now. I’m going to have a hangover from hell in the morning. Or, well, in a few hours when I wake up.” I lose my train of thought. This is why I shouldn’t drunk call. “Oh, I’m planning to drive home later today so we can talk.”
    “What? You’re going to drive home by yourself? I really don’t think you should. Will you be sober enough to drive?  Can Shawna and Frank come with you? I would really love to see them. Then they can fly home. We can buy their plane tickets. With the stress of the wedding and all the driving yesterday into the wee hours of the morning, you’ll be too tired to do it all by yourself, and I would hate for anything bad to happen to you.”
    See, this is why I fell for this man. He’s always looking out for me. He wants me to be happy. He always says, “If you’re happy, then I’m happy.” Up until yesterday at his office, I believed him.
    “I’ll ask them in a few hours when they get up. They’ve been talking about coming up for a visit so I could meet Frank and you could see them. I don’t know why you didn’t set them up when you were in law school. They seem to be amazing together.”
    “Well, if they can’t come with you, I’ll fly out and we can take the weekend to drive home. I actually like that idea better. There are some things we need to talk about, and it’ll give us alone time. What do you think about me coming out to drive home with you?”
    God, that sounds wonderful. Man up and tell him how you really feel. “You know what?  No, I don’t want you to come out here. The whole purpose for me coming out here was to get away from you and figure out how to deal with my broken heart. Not let you back in