Free Don't Let Go by Michelle Lynn Page B

be here with them, so I decide I will change to go work-out. Placing my messenger bag on the floor by my bed, I swap it with my gym bag.
    “Where you going, Sadie?” Jessa calls over when I get to the door.
    “Over to the rec center,” I tell her.
    “See you, Gucci,” Rob calls out, not taking his eyes off the television.
    I open the door and roll my eyes. Jessa mouths sorry at me before I shut the door. I don’t understand why she is with him and it hurts a little that she never says anything to him when he makes those comments.
     
    I get to the rec center with only five minutes before the kickboxing class is going to start. Scrambling in the locker room, I switch my shoes and shove my bag into a locker. I jog out to the room the class is being held in and am happy to see it isn’t as crowded as the night classes I usually attend. I sneak to the back row and recognize some of the girls from other classes, but am startled to see Brady’s friend, Kara, two rows in front of me. She is wearing a tight tank top and short black shorts. A tattoo peeks out on her right shoulder blade but I can’t tell what it says, just that it’s written in italic print.
    Sweat drips from my body and my shirt clings to me by the time the class finishes. I grab my towel and water bottle to head back to the women’s locker room when I spot Brady leaning against the wall. Athletic shorts hang from his hips and a gray t-shirt with a ring of sweat around the collar covers his chest.
    Being preoccupied with how stunning he looks, I didn’t notice Kara standing in front of him. She touches his forearm while he smiles down to her. I automatically see red. Friend, my ass . I knew he was lying that night at Aces, but after last night, I wouldn’t have thought he was playing me. I guess I was wrong.
    I turn the opposite way. I need to work off some of this anger by running on the treadmill, but it’s completely packed by the time I get to the room. Every treadmill and elliptical is taken. Change of plans. I’ll do some weights but that room is full of guys that could bench press me and Jessa together. So I make my way down the hall, hoping to sneak into the girl’s locker room without notice from Brady and Kara.
    Thankfully, when I walk by the same spot, they are gone. I get my bag and switch my shoes out, rushing to get out and back to the dorm.
    “I thought I saw you.” Kara comes around the corner.
    “Oh, hey,” I say and give her a small wave of my hand.
    “You were at Aces the other night, right?” she asks.
    “Yes, I was. Sadie Miller,” I introduce myself.
    “Kara Billings,” she shares and limply shakes my hand.
    “It’s nice to meet you.” I smile.
    “Just so you know, he’s mine.” Her lips go straight and her eyes bore into me.
    “I’m sorry, what?” I ask, dumbfounded.
    “You heard me. Stay away from Brady Carsen. He’s mine,” she repeats herself.
    “Are you two dating? Are you in some sort of relationship?” I question her, praying she says no.
    “No, but we will be. We would have already if it wasn’t for you,” she admits, her eyes narrowing, and she places her hands on her hips.
    “I’m sorry, Kara, but Brady is a grown man and he will make the decision as to whom he dates.” I walk by her.
    She grabs my wrist and holds it tight. “Listen. Don’t think you can come here and take something I have been working on for two years. He was ready to be mine this summer, but then you prance into town and he pushes me aside,” she spews, her grip getting tighter with every word.
    I yank my wrist free, holding it with my other hand. “Obviously, if it has taken two years, Brady isn’t interested,” I curtly respond and try to get out the door. She rushes by me and I can finally see that tattoo. On her left shoulder blade it reads The Invisibles in a calligraphy script with black hearts for dots on top of the I’s. Oh, this girl has it bad, which makes me want to know exactly what her and Brady’s