If You're Gone Read Online Free PDF Page B

day, no such apology had been made.
    “Lillian, come on.” His voice interrupted my thoughts. “It’s freezing.”
    “Just help me find my key, I dropped it,” I replied, shooting him the coldest look I could muster. I patted the snow around where I fell.
    “Lil, it’s gone. You won’t find that key until spring. I can get you in. Come on.” He wrapped one arm around my back and held the other on my hand. I looked into his eyes with intentions to resist, but I let myself give in. His embrace was unfamiliar, yet something told me to trust him.
    “Fine, thanks,” I mumbled, breaking away from his gaze.
    He lifted me from the snowy ground and helped me hobble to the house and up the three front porch steps. He propped me up against the brick wall as he dug through his pockets.
    “You okay?” He pulled a plastic card from his back pocket as he spoke.
    “I’m fine.” I leaned against the cold brick, keeping my ankle elevated.
    “All right. Wait here.”
    Brad fled down the steps, rushing through the banks of snow, and disappeared from view. I listened as I waited, considering that he may have brought me this far and ditched me. But suddenly the front door swung open and snow spilled onto the hardwood floors in the entryway.
    “Home at last!” Brad said with a smile, standing in the doorway. He motioned me inside and placed his arm around my waist for support as I took the step up into the foyer. He pressed the door closed against the wind and helped me into the house.
    “How did you get in?” I asked as I pointed towards the living room and let him help me to the couch.
    He sat me in the corner seat against a pillow before removing his jacket where he stood. “The back door was open.”
    I shook my head. “Liar.”
    “Okay, okay. You’re right,” he said as he knelt in front of me. He untied the boot on my sprained ankle as he spoke. “I’m sorry.”
    An apology! I listened as he continued, wincing in pain when he pulled the shoe from my swollen foot.
    “There’s always a loose window or a worn out lock.”
    I raised my eyebrows. “So you’ve progressed from playground bully to common criminal?”
    “Yeah, well, I wouldn't go that far,” he told me, grinning. “I know we did some pretty dumb stuff when we were kids. Me and Lizard and Jones... we broke into a few houses.” Before I could interrupt he continued. “But we never hurt anybody, and we never stole anything… well, not anything valuable. We would just throw little parties and eat people’s food if we knew they were out of town. Stuff like that. It’s stupid, I know. And it was a long time ago.”
    “Well, that’s interesting,” I replied with a sly grin, watching as he fiddled with my second boot.
    “Wasn’t it just last month that the Grant’s came home from vacation to find an empty fridge and a trashed kitchen?”
    Brad looked up at me, surprised. “You sure find it impossible to trust me, don’t you?” He didn’t wait for me to answer. “And yes, it happened. But Thomas Grant is a pompous jock anyway, so he deserved it.” My mouth dropped. “I’m kidding, Lil. I wasn’t there. Lizard and Jones still do their thing, but I don’t hang around them that much anymore. Since Lizard dropped out of school I really only see him if I’m working on my truck at his shop. Things have changed, you know.”
    “Yeah,” I said with a nod. “Things have changed.” I didn’t know what else to say. I realized I wanted to believe him, but that meant tearing down the walls between us I had spent over five years building up.
    “You don’t have to believe me,” Brad told me, as if he had read my mind. “I’ll prove it to you. Maybe not today or tomorrow, but I will. You’ll see.”
    “So now what?” I asked, shrugging my shoulders. My walls started to crumble as I gave in to the smile that had been creeping up the sides of my mouth. After all, it wasn’t every day I was alone in my living room with the hottest guy in