With Every Breath Read Online Free PDF

from her stint at rehab.
     
     

CHAPTER THREE
     
     
    Trey was still at the shop when Cole returned. He sat on a blue cooler beside his GTO, his ball cap perched sideways on his head as though he’d lifted it to cool his hair line. A bottle of beer was pressed to his lips.
    When he finished swallowing, Trey said, “No black eye. That’s good.”
    “No black eye.” But she’d made it clear she wasn’t interested; a huge disappointment.
    Trey stood and lifted the lid of the cooler. He took out a beer and handed it to Cole. Ice water dripped down the bottle and onto the cement floor. “So, how does she look?”
    Cole pictured Jaden, and his pulse picked up. “The same. Better. I don’t know. Good.”
    “The one who got away.” Trey shook his head. “Made a mistake with that one. Should mean she’s fair game, right?”
    “Forget it, man.” He sounded like a jealous ex, and supposed he was, in a way. There was so much regret when it came to Jaden—a past he couldn’t change; decisions he couldn’t come back from. And in the end, would he have made a different choice? Probably not. His dad had taught him that being a man meant accepting responsibility for your actions. Trying with Kensie had been the right thing to do.
    He remembered the moment Micky was born; he cried as he held his baby in his arms. He was perfect, with his tiny pink fingers and button nose. He proposed to Kensie before they left the hospital. Being there for Micky had been the only option, and something he’d never regret. He hadn’t stopped trying, not until Kensie left town.
    “Joking, man, you know that.” Trey cut into Cole’s thoughts. His friend was right—he was a moody fucker these days.
    “Doesn’t matter. She’s not interested.” Despite that truth, he smiled. “She’s something else.”
    Trey cocked his head and rolled the beer bottle between his hands. “You two have a thing, always have. If I were you, I wouldn’t let that go.” He raised his brows in critical regard. “Again.”
    “She’s not staying long. A week or two.”
    “Life’s a bitch, bro.” Trey knocked back another drink of beer. He lowered the bottle then said, “Speaking of bitches, your ex called while you were gone.”
    Cole raised his brows, but didn’t argue. Kensie wasn’t the easiest person to get along with, especially the last couple of months. He knew why he’d dated her—rockin’ body, big breasts, and a pretty face. And she’d liked to party. Back then, so had he. They met after his dad died, and booze had been a big part of his life. Turned out he didn’t make the best judgment calls when he was drunker than piss, and having unprotected sex was on that list.
    “What’d she want?” Cole swallowed half the bottle’s contents in one drink.
    “What doesn’t she want is the question,” Trey quipped, and Cole threw his ball cap at him. Laughing, Trey caught the hat to his chest. “Serious. She’s trying to take you for everything you have. Woman’s crazy.”
    “Can’t squeeze blood out of a turnip.” Cole sighed and pulled his cellphone out of his pocket. It was on silent and he’d missed her call.
    “Don’t let her manipulate you just because she’s the mother of your kid,” Trey warned, but it was too late for that. Cole made every effort to keep Kensie happy—he didn’t want to give her any excuse to have one of her tantrums and not show for one of his visitations with Micky. She’d tried that shit after she left the first time, afraid Cole would take Micky and not give him back. Like what she’d done to Cole. It’d been almost six months since she left. He missed his son, but he didn’t miss Kensie at all.
    “Only one more month and she won’t have a right to demand anything again.”
    “And we’re throwing one hell of a party afterward.” Trey raised his bottle in cheers.
    Grinning, Cole stood and headed across the shop to the recycle bin. “You make a celebration out of anything. But I think