RECKLESS - Part 4 (The RECKLESS Series) Read Online Free PDF

cry or at least beg him to give me another chance, but I felt like I couldn’t breathe. I could only sit and wait for the axe to drop. Wait for him to break the news. Listen as he cleared his throat and watch as he set his untouched plate aside.
    “Andrea, I’m—I’m sorry to spring this on you at a time like this,” he said, glancing at me quickly before turning his eyes to the wall. “But I have to tell you.”
    Tense seconds that felt like minutes passed. I was fighting to get air into my lungs, and he just kept staring at the wall. Then, finally, he opened his mouth to speak.
    “Becca and Zane ran off and got married.”
    My mouth flopped open and closed a few times and I’m pretty sure my heart stopped as it all started to sink in. “M—m-married?!” I screeched, finally finding my voice, although I wasn’t sure how. “What in the hell did they go and do a thing like that for?”
    Still refusing to make eye contact, he shrugged. “I guess when you know, you know.”
    “What kind of answer is that? And she didn’t call me? What the hell!” I started patting the blankets around me, searching for my phone. “I’m going to give her a piece of my fucking mind. Running off, getting married to a guy she just met, not even calling me.”
    “Whoa, whoa. See?” He grabbed my hands and pulled them to his chest. “This is why she didn’t call you.”
    “What’s that supposed to mean?” I knew exactly what it meant. I was fuming, boiling, ready to strangle her. She was my best friend and I didn’t even get to see her in her wedding dress. And I was the one that had been planning to get married, not her. How could she do that to me when I was dealing with a brother that might not ever wake up...
    “She knew you’d react this way. That’s why she didn’t tell you.”
    Daggers flew from my eyes as I glared at Jace. “So you knew?” I seethed through clenched teeth. “You knew and you didn’t tell me?”
    “I didn’t,” he said, shaking his head and throwing his hands up in innocent surrender. “Not until after the fact.”
    “When? How? And more importantly, why?”
    “Her phone call woke me up. They went to the justice of the peace. And they say they love each other.”
    I let out a huff big enough to blow down a straw house. “Love? How do you love someone in just a week of meeting them?”
    The look that come across Jace’s face, you’d think I’d slapped him. And that’s when I knew; this was more than just some crazy proposition. How much more, I couldn’t say, but he was definitely more invested than I’d ever even considered. It made sense, him chasing after me all the way to Seattle, just to be by my side, him staying to help out my family when we really needed it.
    Only, I didn’t know what to say. I knew how I felt around him, but that wasn’t enough, not when you compared it to his reaction to my insensitive words. “Jace—“
    “Andrea, it’s okay,” he said, shaking his head. But his eyes told a different story. So did the pained expression on his face.
    “No, no it’s not okay. I—I’m sorry.” Tears pricked at the corners of my eyes. All this time, I’d been so selfish, so blind, so wrapped up in my own head that I never even noticed. I could try to blame it on Cole being in the hospital, but the truth was, I should have seen it even sooner, the way he looked at me, touched me, had been there every single time I’d needed him—especially those times that I thought I didn’t.
    He’d loved me, right from the start.
    “Please, don’t be. You’re not ready, and that’s okay,” he said, taking my hands inside of his again. “I’m a patient man, and I can wait, for however long it takes.”
    “But... that’s not fair,” I said, shaking my head, trying to keep the tears at bay. “You didn’t ask for this—this—my ridiculous mess.”
    “Yes, I did.” He took my face in his hands and brought his forehead to rest against mine. “I knew what I was