Free Scarred (Book 1, #1) by Kylie Walker

call him up. She wanted to see him again...but she didn’t. She wanted another kiss, more than that...but she didn’t. The bottom line was she knew better. All she had to do was look past the fact that he’d been a perfect gentleman and that he’d kept every one of his promises...even the one to not show back up at the club and remember Jesse. On the third day after their dinner, she took out her journal and wrote:
    June 8, 2011
    Okay, I let myself have it...three days of agonizing over how badly I want him, three nights of dreaming about taking that sweet kiss to the next level...and now I’m finished. Today is the day that I remind myself how sweet Jesse’s kisses used to be. Today I remember the first day I saw him on campus...it was like an ethereal vision and I knew in my heart that he was the one. Today I remember our first fight and how he’d left me feeling so small and insignificant as he went out with his friends and got drunk...and then I’ll remember how he’d come home that night and pawed all over me and I had let him, calling it “making love” in my heart, but knowing it was something dark and twisted inside my head.
    Today I remember the first time he hit me and the first time he brought me flowers to say he was sorry. Jesse wasn’t a perfect gentleman...he was a perfect actor who gradually morphed into a thing that nightmares are made of. I am nowhere near ready to trust that isn’t who and what Derek is as well. I threw the card away...I’m not going to call him. I’ve worked too hard and come too far to risk it all for a pair of crystal blue eyes.
    She put the journal away, slipped on her robe and went out to make the coffee. She was surprised to find Lexi up already until her “tax guy” suddenly came into view. He had the decency to at least be wearing pants and look embarrassed about being in her kitchen without a shirt on.
    “Good morning,” Lexi almost sang out. Chloe couldn’t help but smile at her. She seemed almost giddy.
    “Good morning,” she said to her roommate. Then she looked at the man who Lexi had introduced her to last week and said, “Good morning Brett.”
    “Good morning, Chloe,” he said as she went over to pour her coffee. She heard him rise behind her and when she turned back around, he’d left the room. She looked questioningly at Lexi and her friend said, “He went to put on his shirt. Do you mind if he comes with us today?”
    “To the playground?”
    “Yeah, I told him this was our weekend to help and he said he’d love to lend a hand. We never have enough men to do the heavy lifting and he has tools...”
    “He can come,” Chloe laughed, “I’m not going to be responsible for turning down help. This playground has been closed down for almost a year. It’s a mess. Did you tell him that?”
    Lexi shrugged, “He’ll be fine with it. Are you working tonight?”
    “No, Roxi gave me this weekend off since I worked the last three. Are you?”
    “Yeah, but I don’t have to go in until seven. I’m just covering for Callie for a few hours.”
    Brett came back in then, dressed in a Hawaiian print shirt and a pair of jeans. He looked like a tax guy...on vacation. Chloe excused herself and went to take her shower. She dressed in a pair of faded cut-off jean shorts and a pink t-shirt and tennis shoes. Today was her day of the month that she volunteered for Hannah’s hearts. She was looking forward to it more than usual. They’d be working on cleaning up a playground on the west end of Providence that needed a lot of work and TLC. It would give her mind a much needed break from dwelling on Derek. She pulled her long brown hair back into a ponytail at the nape of her neck before slipping the blue contact lenses she’d taken off before her shower back on to cover her own brown irises. She grabbed her back pack that she’d filled with odds and ends she buys for the project when she has a little bit of extra money and went out to let Lexi and Brett know