Shelter Me: A Shelter Novel Read Online Free PDF Page B

included Lucas speeding along the city streets.
    A light rain had started to fall. I heard the wipers swish, the patter against the expensive sports car I was in, but beyond that, there was only silence. Before the recriminations in my brain could begin, we pulled into a private garage attached to a brownstone. Lucas turned off the car and came around to my side and began to gather me, despite my protests. He carried me inside and put me down on a couch inside a calm, masculine-looking room. I sank into the buttery leather and he put a blanket over me and poured me a good stiff drink.
    "Did I ruin everything?" I asked after a few moments, and a few sips of the whiskey.
    His answer was indirect. "She came at you first, Ryn." He stared at me, swirling the liquid in his glass as he stood by the window.
    "I saw her talking to you." I followed his lead, refusing to use Meghan's name out loud.
    "I talked to a lot of people tonight." He was evading. I let it pass because I didn't really care—I was here with him and Meghan wasn't. "Where'd you learn to fight like that?"
    "Like what?"
    "Like a street kid."
    I shrugged, took another sip and rolled it around before letting the burn slide down my throat.
    A street kid.
    This wasn't the first time I'd fought. Meghan had gotten off easy. There was a time when I'd been walking home from a shift at the coffeehouse, in broad daylight on a sunny Saturday afternoon. A couple of college guys who'd no doubt been drinking all day, based on the way they walked, talked and smelled, approached me. My gut had tightened.
    "We only want a kiss, baby," one of them had said as they surrounded me. They'd gotten a lot more. I'd left them bloodied and dazed on the ground and I'd gone home and iced my hands as I tried to recreate the moves I'd used on them.
    I'd also been brandishing a weapon and thankfully,Brayden talked me out of carrying that same knife tonight, because I typically kept it on me at all times. If I'd pulled that out in front of Ann Maslow…
    I didn't even want to think about that.
    I'd never used it. It had become, over the years, my crutch. My link to the past. It had been found by my body, unused. No fingerprints. It was the single link to my past that wasn't a physical part of me.
    But I didn't tell Lucas any of that, and he didn't push. Instead, I reached for my bag. "I should call Brayden."
    "He knows you came with me," Lucas said, but he did walk out of the room to give me some privacy anyway.
    Brayden answered on the fifth ring. It sounded noisy in the background when he said, "Show's still going on, babe."
    "Seriously?"
    "Yeah, seriously."
    "I can't believe it."
    "I told you, scandal's a good thing. There's no putting Ryn back in the box now."
    I rubbed my neck, which ached with tension. "I went home with Lucas."
    "I know—he called me." Brayden sounded almost angry at that, but when he spoke again, his voice was gentler. "Are you okay?"
    I gave myself a quick once-over. My head hurt, my pride was wounded but otherwise… "Getting there."
    "I can pick you up when I'm done here, or send a car now," he offered.
    "I'm okay."
    "Just be careful," he said.
    I'd already failed at that in so many ways tonight and it was a pattern he knew I planned on continuing. "Thanks, Bray."
    "You deserve every minute of this success. Fuck anyone who says differently."
    I slid the phone back into my bag, shaking my head at the turn of events.
    "Is he coming to rescue you?" Lucas asked, a laugh in his voice as he came back into the room.
    "He offered."
    "I'm sure he did." As he passed by the couch, he downed his drink but didn't pour another. Instead, he went back to his spot by the window, like he was purposely staying just far enough away from me.
    I wanted to move closer.
    He was a challenge and danger rolled into one, an explosive combination with the potential to break all my self-imposed rules, tear my heart to pieces and leave me wrung out but satiated.
    Really, was there any other way when it