Forever My Love: A Contenporary Romance (The Armstrongs Book 2) Read Online Free PDF

with Ryan. Until a few days later when she'd stumbled around a corner and overheard him talking to his friends. Ryan was one of the popular kids, and most of his friends were jocks or cheerleaders. Something she'd never aspired to be, or ever had the chance of becoming. She was all legs and uncoordinated. And when she looked in the mirror, she didn’t see a beautiful woman trying to get out, she saw braces – the ugly silver metal dominating her face!
    She'd learned to steer clear of the popular kids, who thrived on making fun of others less fortunate than they were in the athletic ability and beauty categories. And even though she knew Ryan counted many of them as friends, she'd pushed that thought aside because of the way he treated her. Like a princess, like she was the most beautiful girl in the world.
    Kendra hadn't intended to eaves-drop, but when she tried to move back around the corner, not wanting to be seen by them, the mention of her name had caused her to stop and listen.
    They'd been teasing him about kissing a girl with braces. She’d waited, listening for Ryan to defend her to him, but he hadn’t said anything. They’d gone on to call her some rather unpleasant names, continuing to make fun of her braces and her height.  If that had been all that she'd overheard, she could have handled it. But it wasn’t. Not by a long shot!
    When Ryan had finally spoken up, he outright denied ever having kissed her; even going a step further to say that he'd never think of kissing a girl with a mouth full of metal. He’d denied liking her, never once standing up for her amidst his friends’ name-calling.
    She had been so hurt. Angry, but more sad than anything else. She’d believed he really liked her. Just the way she was.
    When Kendra finally convinced her feet to move, she'd cried all the way home, locking herself in her bedroom and giving free reign to her battered emotions. If it was for her, she'd never gone back to school. Of course her parents wouldn't allow that.
    The next day she tried to avoid him as good as possible, but he caught her after school and asked her to go with him to the prom. 24 hours earlier, she'd have been in heaven, but now all she could hear was his denial of ever having kissed her.
    Her hurt and pride stepped in and before she could even think, her mouth had already answered the question.  “No.” A decision she had regretted every day of her life.
    Kendra had often dreamt of what things would have been like if she had accepted his invitation. But now that she had seen him again, she realized that the hurt he’d caused her couldn’t just be swept under the carpet. Even today she could still feel the stabbing pain in her heart. So much time had passed, but the feelings had only been magnified. It wasn't true that time heals all wounds. Not this one!
    Kendra quickly pushed those thoughts away and immersed herself into work. When her co-workers stopped by and bid her a good evening, she barely raised her head and went back to work. When the security guard came by to tell her he was headed down to the main foyer, she waved at him and then went back to work. Work was all she could do to numb the emotions she felt.
    She worked until almost midnight, just to forget about him. But working didn’t help. She found herself constantly fantasizing about him. His rippled abs and back muscles. His gorgeous smile. His dark blue eyes. The way his aftershave combined with his natural smell – she inhaled and remembered the slightly spicy aroma that mixed with a hint of shampoo and deodorant. It was a unique smell she would always associate with Ryan. God, I am so doomed!
    On her way home, she almost broke into tears. Sad, that instead of being out with friends, enjoying a Friday night and the end of a rather long work week, she'd worked through the evening, caught up daydreaming about a man that was no good for her.
    Saturday morning, she woke up, groaning as she realized Ryan had starred in her