Not the Friend with Benefits: A BBW New Adult Serial Romance (Not the Hot Chick series Book 3) Read Online Free PDF Page A

medicine cabinet opening and closing. Waited for the numbness to leave.
    Drew returned and slumped into the armchair. The scratch on his face was now free of blood. He hadn't bothered with a bandage.
    He folded his hands on his knees, stared down at the floor. "She knocked on the door a few minutes after I got here."
    Layla swallowed. The boulder in her throat had descended to sit heavily on her chest.
    "I was surprised," he went on. "But she said she was here to see you. She felt bad the two of you hadn't had much time to catch up this morning. I told her you weren't home and I wasn't sure when to expect you."
    "Uh-huh." The numbness was wearing off and she was sorry, because she knew the pinprick of pain she now felt would only grow larger and larger. "Did you ask her in?"
    "Well, yeah." He sounded a bit annoyed, as though he didn't understand why she asked the question. "I mean, I figured you'd get back soon enough. Seemed stupid to ask her to come back later."
    And you wanted to spend time with her, Layla thought. A pretty girl like Jessi. A hot chick.
    After all, what red-blooded heterosexual male wouldn't?
    "When I let her in, I never dreamed we'd—"
    "Hook up?" Layla asked brightly, snidely. "Screw? Fuck?" The circle of pain was expanding, just as she knew it would.
    He winced at her choice of words. "It wasn't planned, believe me."
    Oh, but it was. Jessi planned it the moment she saw us together. That's how much she hates me. Not because she cared about Cam, but just because she couldn't stand the thought of "losing" anything to Layla.
    "It just happened," she said, providing the ever-ready excuse all cheaters used.
    He didn't pick up on the irony. "Yeah."
    Just a few minutes ago, she'd been so happy, imagining being with Drew. Thinking they had a future together. But now it was all spoiled. Spoiled before it even started.
    "I'm sorry," he murmured.
    She believed him. His flushed face, his red-rimmed eyes, reflected the misery he felt.
    She could even understand, in a way. An incredibly sexy woman had thrown herself at him, and he didn't have the strength to resist. Oh, he could have said no. Jessi wasn't a Circe who could bewitch a man into acting against his will.
    But he must have been awed by the fact that she wanted him. Must have wondered if he'd ever have a chance like that again. Wondered if he'd be haunted by regret the rest of his life if he turned her down.
    After all, hadn't she, Layla, felt that way about Cam?
    But there was a difference. She hadn't been seeing anyone when they hooked up. If there had been someone in her life, she'd have resisted Cam, no matter what. No matter how much she was tempted, she would not have cheated.
    She'd believed she and Drew were so much alike. That they were perfectly in synch. She couldn't have been more wrong.
    "Okay," she heard herself say.
    His mouth fell open. "What?"
    "You said you're sorry. I said okay."
    His eyes lit with hope. "You mean—"
    "I mean I heard you. Now go."
    "Go?" His jaw clenched stubbornly and a look of resentment wrinkled his brow. "That's it? What about you?"
    "What do you mean?"
    "I'm not the only bad actor here. What about you and that bartender?"
    "Cam and I are friends ." She spat the last word at him. "That's it."
    "Jessi said—"
    "Jessi hates me. She just wanted to cause trouble."
    Drew's eyes went wide with confusion, then narrowed in suspicion. "You mean you're not sleeping with him?"
    "No. If I was, I wouldn't be with you."
    "But you did hook up. Before."
    Layla got to her feet. "That's none of your business."
    His mouth flattened, then curled into a gotcha grin. "So you did."
    Like a dam bursting, her numbness collapsed and she welcomed the swell of anger that spilled over. "What I didn't do is fuck some rando in your apartment! In your own fucking bed! You hear me? Now get your shit and get the hell out of my place!" She glared at his bare feet. "Your shoes. Where are they?"
    He gestured to the bedroom. "In there."
    Of course. She