Fresh Tracks Read Online Free PDF Page B

cared.
    Taking a deep breath, she shook the thoughts from her head. She could ponder the
    situation all night long; she had done so in the past. Molly was like a little sister to her and she wanted nothing more than to help her. Jo's words of wisdom from a few months ago
    echoed in Amy's head. Molly's a big girl. She's going to have to stand on her own two feet
    sooner or later. It was true and Amy knew it. Still...
    She got out of the bath, dried herself quickly, and smoothed on some lotion, all the while
    intensely aware that she had a naked woman
    waiting for her in bed. As she clicked off the light, the sight before her stopped her in her tracks. Jo was curled up on her side under the comforter sound asleep, facing the
    bathroom. Moonlight shone through the open curtains and across her smooth face, relaxed
    in repose, her tousled curls dark against the white of the pillowcase. Amy just stared, her
    heart swelling with love. Dropping the towel, she scooted under the covers naked and
    backed gently against Jo's front. Jo's arm immediately draped across her waist and she
    was drawn closer. Without ever waking fully, Jo buried her face in Amy's hair, her
    breathing barely changing. Amy breathed in deeply, contentedly, and then let it out.
    Thoughts of her dear friend gradually left her alone as she relaxed completely, reveling in
    the warmth that was her life and finally surrendering to sleep spooned tightly in Jo's arms.
    Tuesday, December 27
    DARBY
    I
    t's very simple, Julie. As far as you're concerned, you haven't seen me. That's it. End of
    discussion. Okay? Just...tel her I usually go away to my family's cabin over break and
    you're not sure when I'll be back. She's got to head back down to Pennsylvania next week
    to go back to work anyway. I just have to disappear until then."
    Darby Cooper eased her ten-year-old Toyota to a halt at a four-way stop and looked both
    ways, rolling her eyes as her best friend scolded her from the other end of the cel phone
    illegally pressed to her ear. "I know. I know," she said when Julie paused for breath. "But by then her classes will be starting up again at Penn State and she'll forget all about me."
    Lowering her voice to the barest of whispers, she added, "I hope."
    "God, you're acting like a guy," Julie admonished. "No, you're worse. Worse than a guy.
    You're being a pig."
    "I know. You're absolutely right. But I couldn't help myself. Did you see her, Jules? Did you look at her at all? Those eyes? That ass? Come on. You can't blame me."
    "What, you're trying to tel me you have zero control over your hormones? Take some
    responsibility. You're twenty-five, not fifteen."
    "Okay. Fine. You're right. I'm like a guy. I'm worse than a guy. I'm a pig. Happy now?"
    Darby listened to some more stern and sensible Julie-isms, telling herself she deserved
    the lecture, after all, and the least she could do was take it like a dyke. As her friend
    wound down, she inquired, "Feel better?"
    "A little." Julie's voice softened. She always came around in the end.
    "Good." Darby finally got through the intersection. "I'll have the cell with me, but I'm going to go dark for a few days, just in case. Leave a voicemail if you need me, okay?"
    "Stay out of trouble," Julie said by way of a good-bye.
    With a grin, Darby flipped the phone shut and tossed it onto the passenger seat where it
    became lost in a sea of loose CDs. She turned the volume up on the Gwen Stefani song that
    was playing and slapped out a beat on the steering wheel, singing along with Gwen in a
    surprisingly on-key voice as she chugged down the country road.
    She thought of the object of her avoidance. Rebecca. Aqua blue eyes, aerobics instructor
    body, firm, tight ass, and talent in the sack that Darby had never seen before. It was the
    whole propensity-to-cling issue that had become a problem. An immediate problem. Darby
    had seen her—and had mind-blowing sex with her—for five nights in a row before she
    realized that Rebecca viewed