Wildflower (Colors #4) Read Online Free PDF Page A

a job soon I was going to lose my mind.
    The problem was, Pembrooke—or Jackson Hole for that matter—wasn’t necessarily the epicenter of the fashion world. Back in New York, I’d worked as an executive assistant for a clothing franchise. It had been a world away from what I wanted to be when I started college. I’d had dreams of becoming a fashion photographer when I was younger. I was going to be the next Annie Leibovits. Unfortunately, photographers were a dime-a-dozen in the city, and dreams and wishes didn’t pay bills.
    I hated being an assistant, and I certainly didn’t miss anything about my job. But at least it was something . And with that being the only job on my resume, I was embarrassingly underqualified for the only available assistant positions in the surrounding area.
    Who’d have thought a law firm or doctor’s office wouldn’t consider being able to sort blouses by season and making the quickest coffee runs to be marketable skills?
    “And I thought you were supposed to be the mature one.”
    “I am mature. I’m just sick of being stuck in this house with nothing to do. I need a job. And don’t piss me off. I’m still mad at you.”
    “Me?” Ethan asked in confusion. “What’d I do?”
    “I can’t believe you never told me Noah was your coach.”
    Ethan laughed as he made his way to the coffee maker, a sarcastic grunt emanating from his chest. “Why’s that so hard to believe? It’s not like we ever talked about anything serious the few times you’ve come home over the years. And I always got the sense talking about him was off limits anyway.”
    I could hear the hurt in his voice, even though he tried to mask it with sarcasm. God, I was a shitty sister. I never stopped to think that Ethan would notice that I hardly ever came home. I was so wrapped up in my own life that I ignored what was left behind.
    “I’m sorry, Ethan,” I whispered, my eyes trained on the ground.
    “For what?”
    “For letting you down.”
    I felt his arm loop around my shoulder and I lifted my eyes to him. “You didn’t let me down, Low-Low. I got it. Yeah, it sucked you weren’t here and I missed you like crazy, but you’re here now, right?”
    “Right.” I grinned as he dropped his arm and moved back to the coffee maker, filling his mug before dumping a heaping spoonful of sugar into the dark liquid. I scrunched my nose in distaste at his blatant disregard for the beloved coffee bean. He just ruined a perfectly good cup of coffee. “Wait… aren’t you too young to be drinking coffee?”
    “Need it to stay awake.” He shrugged casually, taking a large gulp. “Coach wants us at the gym every morning during break. He said we have to keep our endurance up, even during off-season or he’ll kick our asses next year if he catches us slacking.”
    “You’re only fourteen, Ethan. You’re too young to be putting all your focus on just one thing.” The idea that Noah could be pushing the kids—especially my brother—too hard didn’t sit right with me. Weren’t teenagers supposed to spend their breaks sleeping until noon and eating crap food? So far, all I’d seen Ethan do was work out, run, and hang with his football friends. Even though the season was over, Ethan still ate, breathed, and slept all things football. I remembered Noah being the same way in high school and the thought of my brother even turning into one tenth of what Noah Murphy had been back then, twisted my stomach into knots.
    “Yeah, but I’m the only freshman on the varsity team, too. I have more to prove than the other guys.”
    “Noah shouldn’t be putting so much pressure on you,” I remarked, bitterness coating my words. “Just because he was a football God back in high school doesn’t mean he has the right to push those same expectations onto other kids,” I ranted, losing myself in my anger that Noah could possibly be trying to turn Ethan into a version of what he was. “If I have to kick his ass to prove my