The Moment We Began (A Fairhope New Adult Romance) Read Online Free PDF Page B

guy on the face of the
earth.
    The thought of never being with Mason again makes
me want to forget this whole night and crawl back under the covers.
    Instead, I pull the black dress over my body. It’s
snug and there’s no zipper, but the soft fabric has a little
stretch to it. Leigh Anne rushes over to help me pull it into place.
    “Wow,” she says, her eyes wide.
    I turn to look in the mirror and have to agree.
It’s gorgeous. It fits me perfectly.
    Turns out not binging on chocolate might have
actually been worth it for a change. Maybe.
    “Braxton is going to flip out,” Leigh
Anne says.
    I groan. “How will I know if he’s
really flipping out over me, or if he’s just flipping out over
the thought of my parents’ money?”
    Leigh Anne sits down on the bed. “Is that
really what you think about every guy you go out with?”
    “What? That he’s probably after my
money?”
    “No,” she says. “That he’ll
like your money more than he likes you?”
    I bite my lower lip and turn to the mirror again.
I lift up on tiptoes, trying to picture which shoes will look best
with this dress and trying to ignore what she’s saying.
    “Even if you were poor, you’d still be
just as beautiful,” she says.
    “Would I?” I pull the tag off the
dress and hand it to her. “If I were poor, I wouldn’t be
wearing a $1200 dress that’s been sitting in my closet for four
years.”
    I don’t mention how much the underwear cost.
    Leigh Anne crumples the tag. “The dress is
great, but it’s the girl wearing the dress that’s
special. You need to learn to see that for yourself or you’re
never going to be happy.”
    I shake my head. There’s no use arguing with
her. She just doesn’t understand. No one knows what it feels
like to be Tripp Wright’s only daughter. I can’t really
complain to anyone about it, because all they see is the money and
how fortunate I am to have all these things. If I complain, I look
like an ungrateful bitch who doesn’t realize there are starving
children in Africa or something.
    Still, I know better than anyone that a lot of my
relationships are based on money. If I lost everything tomorrow, I
bet there are a lot of people I’d never hear from again.
    I come to sit down beside her on the bed. “Enough
about me, I can’t believe I haven’t had a chance to talk
to you about the trial. I didn’t want to bring it up at the
restaurant with everyone standing around. What’s been going on?
How was your trip to Boston?”
    I couldn’t believe it when I first found out
about what happened to her in Boston. At first, it really hurt my
feelings that she hadn’t told me earlier, but I was so proud of
her when she stepped forward and told the truth. Life has been tough
for her since then, but I have seen so much more of my old friend
again lately, and I think that means she’s healing. I don’t
think it’s ever the kind of thing you get over completely, but
it’s good to see her laughing again.
    Knox is a big part of that. Who knew he was such a
sweet guy? I always thought he was just a loner, or a loser. Goes to
show you really can’t judge someone until you’ve walked
in their shoes.
    “It’s been really hard,” Leigh
Anne says. “I was really happy so many other girls stepped
forward to tell the truth, but just going through the whole
re-telling of it so many times has been exhausting. I think I’ve
told the story at least twenty different times now to different
lawyers. I just want to be able to move on.”
    I put my hand on hers. I have no idea what to say
to her. I know nothing will take it all away or make it any easier.
“It won’t last forever,” I say, but I know I sound
stupid. “And once it’s over, he won’t be able to
hurt anyone like that again.”
    She gives me a small smile and squeezes my hand.
“I know. It’s just going to be a while before it’s
all over,” she says. “At least the media never really
covered Knox’s past like we thought they would.