One True Thing Read Online Free PDF

too.”
    I laughed breathlessly as he repeated the
    touch, his thumb circling slowly. It wasn’t anything
    like the first time, not even remotely—no sparks,
    no goose bumps—but he was beautiful, and he was
    staring up at me with those remarkable brown
    eyes, and even if it wasn’t a repeat of that moment
    from before, even if it didn’t make my heart and
    body sing, it still felt good. Really good. Enough to
    remind me of exactly how long it had been since
    I’d been touched with anything even resembling
    desire. God, did I miss it.
    “I’d like that.” I forced myself to pull my
    hand away so I could reach into my tote bag and
    withdraw one of my business cards. It’d be simple
    enough to just scribble my cell phone number on
    the back. “What’s your name?”
    “Oh, God, I’m sorry,” he said with a chuckle.
    “Guess I forgot my manners. My name is Archer…
    but you can call me Arch.”
    Asher
    JESUS Christ.
    I sat up in bed, bleary at first, unaware of
    what had woken me. Then I heard it. Laughing.
    There was always laughing. I wondered what
    could be so funny in a life spent barely working a
    retail job and drinking all weekend… but it was
    Wednesday. Damn.
    I dragged my tired ass out of bed to the living
    room, ready to shut down whatever miniparty my
    brother had going on. Our building was mostly
    older people and professional types. The last thing
    I needed was one of them calling the cops or our
    landlord.
    Last minute, I remembered to drag on some
    sweats before I hit the door. I’d been so hot after
    my shower I just passed out on my bed with a
    towel. The momentary thought of walking out into
    the living room stark naked so Archer’s friends
    could laugh at me in that way they did, that laugh
    that said they were so much better than me with
    their expensive clothes and lack of real work,
    made my stomach quake.
    Arch and his friends were out in the living
    room, just as I’d imagined, lying on the couch in
    various states of inebriation, laughing at nothing at
    all. Archer had a joint in his hand, and he was
    about to light it—like that was okay in any reality.
    “What the hell, Arch? It’s the middle of the
    week. And weed? Do you want one of the
    neighbors to call the freaking cops?”
    “Hey, your brother’s hot too,” a boy on the
    couch said. And I thought of him as a boy because
    the kid couldn’t have been much more than legal.
    “Do you two ever hook up with guys together?”
    All right. Party’s over. “Out!” I barked.
    “Ooh, he’s a grumpy one.” One of Archer’s
    friends elbowed the other. “The grumpy ones are
    sooo hot in bed. You take Arch, I’ll take him.
    What’s your name?”
    I stalked toward the couch, hand out. “I’m
    serious, you two need to leave. My brother has
    work tomorrow, and this is a quiet building.”
    “ Fuck , Ash. You are such a buzzkill.” Archer
    peeled himself off the couch and headed to the
    door. “Sorry, guys. You probably should go. I
    wouldn’t want Asher to break something trying to
    yank out his bunched-up panties.”
    I felt a little bad. It’s not like I liked being
    called a buzzkill. Fun was good, friends were
    good, but not all the damn time. And Archer never
    seemed to have time for anything other than parties
    and pretty people. That was his problem. And
    because of proximity, it became mine.
    Friends shuffled out the door, Archer flopped
    onto the couch. “Why did you have to come in here
    acting like a stick-up-the-ass grandpa, Ash?”
    “I don’t want to act like that. You kind of
    force me to when you refuse to be even a little bit
    responsible.”
    “I don’t force you to do a damn thing. I have
    friends, unlike some people in this room, and I
    choose not to spend my entire existence working. I
    don’t see anything wrong with having a social
    life.”
    I didn’t reply. It’s not like I had any sort of
    defense for having to act like an adult… oh, wait.
    We were adults. At least one of us