Game of Love Read Online Free PDF

mirror. Her eyes were glassy, her cheeks rosy. Damn it . She never drank. Why did she have to drink tonight of all nights? Fucking Bruce, that’s why. Asshole. She’d had a great job in Maryland and she’d loved her roommates. Sure, they were a little messy and a little loud when she was grading papers, but she’d liked them, and they’d liked her. Then he fucked up her life. She could no sooner have stayed in Maryland than she could have pretended they’d never dated. Her gaze shifted to the door. And then there was Dex. The other reason she drank tonight. He was so unexpected, and everything about him was comforting and safe. She didn’t need safe. Safe is never really safe .

    CHRIST. WHAT AM I doing? He hadn’t thought of Ellie in…a day. Maybe. Shit . Who was he kidding? Ellie lingered in the back of his mind like a wave. Memories of her came and went, some more powerful than others, but always making an appearance. He wondered what had become of her and where she was living. But mostly, he wondered whose window she was crawling into at night. She was just as tough as she’d always been, but something dark lingered in her eyes, and Dex wasn’t going to sleep well until he found out what it was. She came out of the ladies’ room and he rose from the bottom step, where he’d been sitting.
    “Where did you say you were staying tonight?” he pushed.
    Ellie’s smile faded. She dug in her purse for her phone. “Um. A friend’s.”
    Shit. Everyone knew friend was code for boyfriend, or hookup. Tough Ellie wasn’t the hookup type. Or at least she didn’t used to be. “Well, don’t you think you should call him?”
    She typed a text and lifted her eyes to his. “Her. Dina. I know her from college. Or at least I thought I knew her. She left earlier with some guy, but I can’t remember her address. I can call information.”
    “Ellie, your friend bolted the first night you arrived?” Dex leaned against the wall.
    Ellie shrugged. “It’s okay. She said she’d be at her apartment.”
    “What kind of friend does that?” He crossed his arms, and when Ellie tried to walk past him, he touched her arm. He felt her muscles tense beneath his touch. “Hey. You sure you’re okay?”
    She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. She clenched her jaw shut. “Mm-hmm.”
    “Ellie, it’s me. I know that look, remember?” He stepped closer. Ellie didn’t like to be held in public, but in private she’d nearly crawled beneath his skin. The stairwell counted as private, and hell, he needed to hold her. Dex wrapped his arms around her and held her until she stopped her halfhearted struggling. He held her until the rigidity in her back and arms eased; then he rested his cheek on the top of her head and rubbed her back until her heartbeat calmed. Finally satisfied that her demons were at least a little further at bay, he drew back. Her beautiful blue eyes were open wide—staring past him. She pushed away.
    “Anyway, it was good to see you, too.” She stormed up the stairs and past Regina.
    “Ellie!”
    “Meeting, remember?” Regina said as he flew past.
    “Right. Gimme an hour?” He took the steps two at a time and caught up with Ellie outside of the bar. She was dragging her suitcase down the sidewalk, her boots clomping purposefully away.
    “Ellie, wait. Did your friend text back?”
    “No.” She picked up her pace.
    “El. Where are you going? It’s after midnight.” She was so freaking stubborn that it was beginning to piss him off. He grabbed her arm. “Talk to me.”
    She spun around and faced him. “What do you want, Dex? I’m in your life for a few hours and I already made an enemy. I’m chaos. Walking, living, breathing chaos. You don’t need me in your life, and I don’t need saving.”
    “Saving?” His muscles were on fire. People moved past them on the sidewalk, arcing out around the angry girl with the suitcase and the guy who must have looked like he was ready to punch a