Free Perfectly Shattered by Emily Jane Trent

innocent, but she knew he was anything but. Cami tried to shove images of him naked with the woman he’d been kissing from her mind.
    “We talked, okay? I know, just friends. I got it.”
    “Then why are you mad?”
    Cami exploded. “Mad? Why am I mad? I’ll tell you why I’m mad. Every time I see you it’s with a different woman. I can’t even go to dinner with my friend without running into you. And there you were, leaning on some gorgeous woman outside, kissing her for all you’re worth. It’s disgusting.”
    Bradan smiled.
    “It’s not funny.”
    He shook his head. “No, it’s not. You saw me?”
    “Yes, I saw you. You were in public, you know.”
    “I’m sorry, Cami.”
    “Don’t be sorry. I have no hold on you. We’re just friends, remember? So, is woman number three the one ?”
    “She was nothing, Cami, really.”
    “Are any of them?”
    Bradan’s eyes darkened. “Not so far.”
    “Well, at least that’s honest.”
    “I’ve been honest with you, Cami. I have. Come on, let’s talk. I need some coffee. It looks like it’s going to snow out here.”
    Cami shook her head. The last thing she should do is have coffee with Bradan, but she couldn’t refuse him. She wanted to be with him more than anything. And she wasn’t as mad anymore. “Okay. Just coffee.”
    The cozy shop was warm and welcoming. Cami ordered a hot latte, and Bradan a double espresso. They sat at the back, the most privacy they were going to get. No one was listening anyway. Everyone was engaged in conversation already, and the noise level was high.
    Bradan sipped his drink. “Can I tell you something?”
    “What?”
    “I’m not trying to lead you on. I’m just trying to get to know you.”
    “I don’t see why. Don’t you have enough women already?”
    Bradan laughed, but there was no humor in it. “It’s just…how I live, I guess. I was doing that long before I met you. But that doesn’t mean I don’t like you.”
    Cami glared at her latte, floundering for answers.
    Bradan stretched a leg out into the aisle. “I do, you know.”
    “What?” Cami refused to look up.
    “Like you.”
    Unable to resist him, Cami looked into his blue eyes. “That doesn’t make it easier.”
    “You mean seeing me with women all the time?”
    Cami nodded.
    “I was with someone once.” Darkness came over Bradan’s features. “It didn’t work out.”
    “Who was she?” If she had him talking, Cami intended to keep him talking. Maybe she’d be able to understand him.
    “Amber Hawkins. We went to high school together. I’d known her most of my life, our families even got together, and I saw her at church. I really fell for her.”
    “What happened?”
    “We dated a lot in our junior and senior years. I thought she felt like I did. She’d dated a few others before we hooked up, but we were really a thing, you know.”
    Cami waited, seeing the hurt in his eyes.
    “Since I moved to Seattle, I haven’t talked about this. I don’t know why I’m telling you. But anyway, we broke up. I was just about to ask her to move in with me. I’d even thought of marriage, if you can believe that.”
    Bradan paused, glancing at Cami then looking off into the distance. “I found out she was fucking her chemistry lab partner. Extra-curricular activities, I guess. Can you believe that? I trusted her. I thought we had something. And all the while, behind my back, she was betraying me.”
    “What did you do?”
    “What could I? That was over. I felt like an idiot. I was furious. I should have beat the crap out of him, but I knew she wanted him. Amber told me that she and Robert were in love. She was sorry.” He shook his head. “Sorry. What a joke.”
    “That sucks, Bradan. It really does.” Seeing him that way for the first time, Cami felt like he wasn’t just out to screw women. In fact, he’d been screwed. Maybe that was part of the problem.
    “Anyway, that was years ago. It’s over. I moved to Seattle right