The Year of Living Shamelessly Read Online Free PDF

have the guts to flirt with any of Ryder’s exes.
     
    Katie never felt comfortable around those women, either, but then again, she had nothing in common with them. They were gorgeous blondes with street smarts. They could get any man they wanted, and they could get anything they wanted from those men.
     
    What made her think she could break into that exclusive club? No, transcend it. Why did she think she could have been the exception to the rule? Because she practically grew up with Ryder? They’d drifted so much since their teenage years that that hardly seemed to make a difference anymore. Now they rarely talked about anything meaningful. His work, life, girlfriends, all seemed more important to him than hanging out with Katie.
     
    And here she thought she could get Ryder simply because she wanted him so much. Katie trudged forward, contemplating the depths of her delusions. She knew the world didn’t work that way, but that hadn’t stopped her. She had always thought that eventually Ryder would be hers, ever since that fateful night when she was ten years old. She had climbed a tree to spy on Jake and Ryder while they T.P.-ed a house. Jake had thrown a roll of toilet paper up in the tree to decorate it. It hit Katie and she had fallen out of the tree and broken her ankle. Ryder had carried her all the way home, with Jake at his side lecturing her. Katie hadn’t listened to a word her brother said. All she knew was that Ryder was the man she wanted. Now she had to face the fact that her dream might never become a reality.
     
    “Katie?” Tatum’s little-girl voice broke into Katie’s musings. She looked up and saw she was standing right next to Tatum and Ryder. “What are you doing here?”
     
    Right. Like Katie was the intruder. “I was going to ask you the same thing,” she said with a tight smile. “I work at the college. Why are you here?”
     
    Tatum leaned forward and Katie was immediately enveloped in a spicy, exotic perfume. “I’m here with Ryder,” she divulged with a catty smile.
     
    Oooh. Katie tensed, bracing herself, as that information hit like a sucker punch. She hadn’t expected that. Ryder brought Tatum here? As his date? Terrific. This just proved how far she and Ryder had grown apart—he hadn’t even told her that he and Tatum were a couple again. How was she supposed to seduce the guy when he was with Bimbo Barbie?
     
    She looked at Ryder and their gazes clashed. She paused, waiting to see if he had something to say, like an excuse or an apology. He said nothing.
     
    “Congratulations on the move, Ryder.” There. She said it. It didn’t hurt. Much.
     
    “Thanks.”
     
    “You didn’t know?” Tatum asked with delight. She snuggled a little closer to Ryder, as if staking her territory.
     
    Katie wasn’t going to answer Tatum’s question. She didn’t even trust herself to look at the other woman. If she did, she would ruin her manicure clawing at Tatum’s smile. And why wasn’t Ryder shaking Tatum off?
     
    Katie kept her gaze on Ryder, who was looking back intently, as if trying to predict her next move. Did he think she was going to make a scene? Considering how volatile her emotions were, it was a possibility.
     
    “I guess Crystal Bend got too small for you,” she said, hating the little hitch in her voice.
     
    His expression was unreadable. “Something like that.”
     
    Katie felt Tatum’s smugness and keen interest. It was seriously getting on her nerves. She needed to speak to Ryder privately.
     
    “Ryder, let’s dance.” She reached out for him, and then froze. If he refused, she wouldn’t be able to handle that kind of rejection, especially in front of Tatum.
     
    He hesitated, and she felt the tears burn in the back of her eyes. Her heart pressed against her ribs as she waited. It was only at this moment when she realized Ryder had never directly refused her anything. Was he going to start now?
     
    “Sure,” he said and stood up,