Free Lila's Thunder: The Almeida Brothers, Book One by Trevion Burns Page B

dropped every last shield and she’d have to be a complete monster to take a swing at him now.  All she could say was what was true. “I’m no angel, Jack.”
    The knowledge behind his eyes when he looked at her left her feeling a little too exposed, so she turned to look out of the window. “I’ve tried the whole ‘talking about it’ thing.   Doesn’t work. People get uncomfortable, and I don’t want to make anyone uncomfortable.”
    Jack understood what she was saying so completely that all he could do was remind himself to breathe, watching her so heavily that he only knew the light had turned green when the car behind him began to honk. As he accelerated he continued to glance over at her.
    He wanted to tell her that she could never make him uncomfortable because he understood. He wanted her to know that he would never judge her , and if she wanted to fuck the pain away he’d be happy to be of service.
    Instead he rode the r est of the way in silence. As he was pulled his car up onto the curb next to The Dalton School he was wishing he could circle the corner one more time, ask her to meet him for lunch.  Something.  Anything.  But he couldn’t.  Nothing seemed right or worthy.
    “Thanks for the ride, Harvard.” She opened the door and began gathering her things.
    He clutched the steering wheel in a death grip as she jumped out of the truck and slammed the door.  It had all gone by so damn quickly, and now she was sauntering away from him, her sexy hips swinging as she took the steps to the open doors of the school. He could see kids gathered in the halls, many of them waving to her as she walked in.
    She made it to the doors and looked back to see if he was still there.    Their eyes met just as Chase came up next to her and took her arm in his.
    Jack’s heart stopped.
     
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    Lila turned to Chase, her mouth dropping open in shock at the sight of him. She hadn’t seen him since the moment they’d had in the closet the day before , and had expected him to be very angry, but he was actually smiling at her.  She returned the gesture, feeling extremely relieved that there wasn’t going to be any bad blood between them.
    “ Hey,” he said, releasing her arm and placing his hands in his pockets.
    “ Hi,”  Lila said, looking out onto the street and feeling strangely disappointed when she saw that Jack’s truck was gone.  Had he seen Chase?  Closing her eyes, she told herself to focus.  “What are you doing here so early?”
    He motioned around him. “There are tons of kids here, why wouldn't I be?”
    “Because the only kids who get here an hour early are the ones who have to take the bus from the Bronx,” she said, breezing past him, knowing he would follow.
    “Are you implying that the Bronx kids make bigger sacrifices than I do just because they have to take a bus?”
    Lila thought long and hard. “Yes.”
    “Well,” Chase began, taking her arm, again until she stopped walking and looked at him.   “I just wanted to tell you that I’m not going to be at the group sessions anymore.”
    Lila’s eyes widened. “But—“
    “I have a uh…”  He smiled down at her. “I can’t really afford to miss another second of Calculus.  I’m already drowning as it is…”
    Lila almost told him to come by her place later so she could help him could catch up but realization hit her before she could.  Her eyes fell to her feet.  “Okay…” she said softly.
    “Okay.”   Chase’s smile widened.  “I’ll see you later.”  He touched her shoulder and walked away from her, making sure that he was completely out of eyesight before the smile disappeared from his face. His chest heaved as he took the breath he felt like he’d been holding since the moment she’d walked in the door. Even as he took a much needed deep breath, he did not feel releif when he exhaled.  All he could feel was pain.
     
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    “And I’m just absolutely devastated.”  Ashley, a pretty