Other Side of Beautiful (A Beautifully Disturbed #1) Read Online Free PDF

“Okay, so how’s Kelly?”
    “It’s New Year’s.”
    “So that good, eh? You’re her roommate, not her babysitter, you know. It’s not fair you have to always give up the party because of her issues.”
    His lips moved. Fully formed words left his mouth, but that ridiculously adorable dimple shows up to taunt me again. And any coherent thought escapes me. Snappy comebacks travel from my brain to my mouth on a five second delay, which turns into a whole mess of awkward for the three of us, because we all know I’m staring at him.
    Benton takes another drink from his coffee, which appears to be my trigger to snap out of these trances his smirk or dimple or breathing tend to cause . Humph . I breathe out a dramatic breath. “I’ve shamed our profession.” I shrug. “What would Papa think?”
    It must have been my delivery. The Oscar usually goes to Kelly for best performance by a lead actress in life, but the three of us start cracking up, loudly. Too loudly for the hung over masses at the tables around us shooting death glares in our direction.
    As we try to settle ourselves down, Benton says, “Yes, well, good old Papa Hemmingway could’ve stood to be a bit more like you.” He looks right at me as he says it, sucking all the levity from the room by never breaking the intensity of his stare, almost daring me to challenge the sincerity of his statement, which makes me crush even harder. He’s a good friend, no doubt. Like he can just tell I need that reassurance.
    Collin, who I’ve forgotten is sitting here, surprises us both. “You two should quit eye-fucking and just do it for real already.”
    “Yeah, well…” Benton clears his throat. “My manhood is chasing after the professor, remember? Guess I better go track it down. Nice chatting with you both.” He sweeps his coffee cup from the table and bows to us before turning to leave.
    “Elly, darlin’,” Collin says after sipping from his cup. “I love you, but you are so clueless.”
    “About what?”
    “Life.”
    No truer words could have been spoken. My life for the most part has been a hot, stunted mess. You know how people have dreams for their future, goals they’ve set, a life path? Right here is as far as I’ve gotten. Grand Harbor University. Why? Because it’s in Michigan, and Michigan would be the last place I ever felt happy. And if I’m here, that means I’m not in California, anywhere near Cricket or Dinah or the old Elly I’ve been trying so hard to put behind me. I locked that Elly away the moment the now boarding sign flashed in the terminal at LAX.
    Even my friends don’t know how lucky they have it. Not that life gets taken for granted or anything, well, not by all of them. But none of them have been on my end, seen and lived the world the way I have.

 
    Chapter 5
     

Ben
     
    What did I expect from seeing her today? I don’t know. Not that. Dr. Branagh couldn’t have come at a worse time. We were laughing, joking. We were the “us” that makes me crazy for her.
    I should probably sit down and write, but it’s not in me right now. I need to get rid of the antsyness and head for the gym instead of home.
    After six laps around the track, it’s not enough. I need to hit something, hard and repeatedly. I head over to the bags, and I don’t even bother with gloves this morning. Gloves won’t give me the satisfaction or release I’m looking for. I punch and kick until my mind goes blissfully numb, until my T-shirt is soaked with sweat, until someone grips the bag.
    “Whoa. Did the bag sleep with your sister?” Errol, always good for a laugh, doesn’t let me down today.
    “I don’t have a sister.”
    “Then he stole your woman?”
    Okay, that’s hitting too close to home. He knows I don’t have a woman. And he knows I want one. The exact one. “Where’s Bri? Shouldn’t you be servicing her or something?”
    “Giving her a rest. She needs to recoup from all the debaucherous things I did to her last night.