Free Misplaced Trust (Misjudged) by Sarah Elizabeth Page A

search mine as he tries to read me. “Alex, please? Did someone hurt you?”
    Nodding and feeling my lips beginning to quiver, he pulls me closer, allowing me to take comfort in him, “He used me … You were right, Neil. Brandon never wanted me.”
    M y sobs are hard and heavy from how badly Brandon has hurt me. It was agonizing enough when he left me, but this, this feels a whole lot more excruciating.
    I fell in love with someone who didn’ t give a damn about me. My first love. My first ever lover. I feel like I need to hurl whenever I think about the reality of all of this.
    Rocking me side to side in his arms gently, and placing feather light kisses into my hair until my crying eases and my tears begin to dry up, he stays quiet, giving me time to try and get both my thoughts, and myself back under control.
    Pulling away, I take a few slow and deep breaths, although these are in no way helping me settle the sick feeling that’s taken over my entire lower abdomen, “I should let you sleep, Neil. I’m okay, or at least I will be.”
    Appearing to be deep in thought as he watches me grab the blanket from it s usual place on the back of the couch, he places his hand on my arm, drawing my eyes back onto him.
    “Alex, come on,” he says quietly. Taking my hand, he pulls me onto my feet and leads me over towards his bedroom door. “You’re really going to make yourself sick if you carry on like this. If you won’t sleep in your bed, you can at least sleep in mine. You never know, you might wake up feeling a lot better about everything tomorrow.”
    Being unable to object, because I feel way too tired and weak to be talking or protesting, I follow him as he takes me in to his room, before he closes the door behind us.
     
    ***
     
    At some point during the night, I must have fallen asleep. The sunlight filling the room makes me immediately turn away, the light making my eyes squint a few times as they try to adjust to the brightness of the room.
    Both my head and my eyes feel heavy, but at least I didn’t wake up on that damned couch again. I look down and notice an arm firmly wrapped around my waist when I attempt to turn on to my side, and that’s when I see Neil lying beside me, evidently still sound asleep.
    Trying not to disturb him, I go to move, but hesitate when his gri p becomes slightly tighter as he makes a small sound. Watching him for a moment, before glancing over my shoulder and over to the alarm clock, I see that it isn’t yet six o’clock, so lay myself back down.
    At times like this you need your friends, and I’m fortunate enough to have some for who I truly love, knowing they love me just as much in return.
    Once we came into his room, Neil threw a tee over at me and left the room, allowing me to change before we settled for the rest of the night.
    He told me to rest, and said that we would discuss everything that had happened after a good night’s sleep.
    A vibrating sound from over on the nightstand draws my attention, and when I glance over, I see it’s Neil’s cell phone. Do his friends never check the time before they call anyone?
    Neil stirs, and as I go to grab it before it disturbs him, it stops, with my eyes landing on something that’s sticking out from the top drawer. Sitting myself up and wiping my eyes, I see that it’s a photograph.
    Taking it in my hand and studying it, I see that it’s one of a girl. A blonde and extremely pretty woman, who looks roughly around the same age as us. Does Neil have a girlfriend? If he does then he kept it extremely quiet.
    This would most definitely explain all of his late nights and the secretive phone calls he’s been getting lately. A smile tugs at the corners of my mouth, and when I go to sit up against the headboard, I hadn’t realized he’d woken up and is glaring right at me.
    “Wh at the hell do you think you’re doing?” he snaps, startling me some, before snatching the photograph from my hands. His jaw is tightly clenched and