Shallow Read Online Free PDF Page A

“Here’s your deuce.”
    I don’t know why, but it pissed me off that he was lining up an appointment to get laid while he was buying a drink for me. The more I thought about it, the more pissed I got but I didn’t say anything because this guy didn’t owe me monogamy.
    I simply put my straw to my lips and began to suck down my second Long Island.
    I saw Nick watching my glass. “Hey, you might want to take it easy there or some guy might be getting a drunk dial later tonight.”
    I wasn’t sure if it was me or if the alcohol was beginning to talk, but I didn’t have Claire here to be my filter. “Why would you care if I drunk dialed some guy? Jealous?”
    “I mind because you’re mine tonight and I don’t plan to share you with anyone.”

    4 Truly Madly Deeply
    Nick
    There. Let’s see what she thought about that.
    I managed to shock her and I enjoyed her mixed expression of anger, excitement and bewilderment, but my amusement was short lived because she didn’t hesitate in her retaliation.
    “I don’t understand you. Why would you want to waste your time with me because it’s clear that you plan on adding yourself to Miss Black Halter Top’s list of suspects for her next pregnancy scare? Is collecting your debt really that important to you?”
    Miss Black Halter Top? Oh, she was talking about my brother’s girlfriend, Gabbi. I opened my mouth to explain, but didn’t get the opportunity because the two deliriously happy couples returned to our table from the dance floor.
    Jessie looked at Payton and then gave me what I recognized as a warning. “What’s going on here?”
    “Absolutely nothing is going on here,” Payton quickly answered as she watched my eyes for a reaction. She lifted her drink and gave her straw another big suck and I noticed she was over half finished with it. She was definitely drinking to forget something or somebody and I wanted to know which.
    Jessie leaned over to say something to his girlfriend and I took the opportunity to straighten Payton out about Gabbi. “Funny, I sort of thought something was going on here and I don’t mean with my brother’s girlfriend, the girl wearing the black halter top.”
    I watched her eyes and waited for her reaction, but again we were interrupted when Dane Wickam walked up and sat at our table. “Hey, Hawke, I didn’t get a chance to talk to you after the race. Nice job blowing the doors off of my Porsche. Congratulations.”
    I didn’t recall ever being congratulated by an opponent before. “Thanks, Wickam, but you had me for a minute.”
    I turned back to Payton and watched her look in every direction, except for mine, causing her long blonde hair to dance across her shoulders and upper back. I wanted to reach out to touch it just to see if it was as soft as it looked and wondered if she would be surprised if I did.
    “Dane, I feel like dancing,” Payton said as she reached for his hand with one of hers and used the other to bring her drink to her glossy lips so she could finish it off.
    “Break Your Heart” by Taio Cruz and Ludacris was playing and I was glad because I didn’t want Dane holding her close during a slow song. I watched them walk toward the dance floor and Jessie leaned toward me with a warning. “Don’t look at her like that. She’s not your kind of girl.”
    Who was this guy? He couldn’t be the Jessie Boone I knew. “Not my kind of girl, Boone? What’s that supposed to mean?”
    “Payton doesn’t do one night stands like the chicks you’re used to. She’s a different kind of caliber.”
    “Who says I’m looking for a one night stand?”
    Jessie laughed at me. “We’ve been friends for a long time and I know you, Hawke. You’re always looking for a piece but she’s not gonna be it.”
    Things were becoming more and more suspicious of Jessie being the one Payton was trying to forget with the liquor. “Why are you being so protective of her?”
    “Payton has been Claire’s best friend forever.”