Free Secret Storm by Amelia James

got
home. Oh God, I left my clothes in his bedroom. Well, she
had an excuse to see him again, but did she want to? Did he want to
see her? Maybe she should just let it go like he'd told her to. Or
had he been talking about himself? It was over now, he'd said. Did
that mean they were over?
    Damn it! Too many questions.
    She tossed her car keys and they landed
somewhere in the kitchen. She had to calm down so she could think
straight.
    Pissed off and out of control. Jack
had been right about that, but no way would she tell him so. She
took off his wet shirt and hung it in the bathroom to drip dry.
That hadn't gone at all as planned; he should've been the one
taking it off her.
    She crawled into bed and listened to the
thunder rumble softly as the storm moved away. The rain stopped and
the apartment turned quiet. In the silence she heard someone—either
Austin or Jane—get up and walk into the bathroom. Then she heard an
amused masculine chuckle. Austin.
    Oh God. Jack's shirt was hanging over
the tub. That'll be fun to explain.
    Sara stayed in bed and watched the room
lighten as sunlight crept across her wall, highlighting the many
photos she'd collected over the years. The one of her and Jane and
Austin and Jack had been taken last fall after a football game. The
guys wore their sweaty, dirty uniforms, big grins on their faces.
They must have won that game. Jane and Austin had their arms around
each other, and while Jack stood next to Austin, his eyes were
locked on Sara.
    She got out of bed and took a closer look at
the photo, studying Jack's expression. His eyes touched her with
gentle affection and a hint of longing. She knew that look
well.
    Tonight—last night—should have ended
differently. They should have been wrestling around in bed instead
of wrestling each other for control of their relationship—or
whatever was getting in the way of a relationship. Outside
conflicts used to keep them apart, but something deeper wedged
between them now. She took the picture off the wall and crawled
back into bed, slipping the frame under her pillow, and hiding
under the covers until the lovebirds left.
    She decided to skip her morning class. Jack
would be there, and she couldn't deal with him yet. She wanted to
see him look at her like he had in the picture, but last night his
face had been hard and cold. She never wanted to see that
again.
    The clock showed nearly noon when she finally
got out of bed. She took a quick shower and gathered her books,
focusing on what she needed to do to get through the day. She had
nestled into the couch, trying to study, when the front door
opened.
    Jane walked in. "Did you just get up?"
    "I've been awake for hours, but yeah, I just
got out of bed."
    "Wow." Jane lowered herself into the
overstuffed chair next to the couch, her eyes hooded with concern.
"Was that Jack's shirt in the bathroom?"
    "Yes." She flipped through her notes,
avoiding her friend's eyes.
    Jane waited, but not for long. "Are you going
to make me ask?"
    "Yes."
    "Did Jack tell you?"
    "Tell me what?" She finally looked up. Does she know something? Maybe she could get it out of Jane
if she asked the right questions.
    "Did he tell you... what happened... when
he...?" Her friend wrung her hands as if she couldn't decide which
was worse: keeping the secret to herself, or making Sara miserable
by telling her.
    "He told me...." Not a damn thing. She
couldn't even think of a lie to convince Jane she already knew.
"Nothing."
    "Oh." Jane stuck her hands between her
knees.
    "What do you know?"
    She sighed and chewed her lip. "Everything.
Austin told me last night."
    "And?"
    "And I think you should hear it from Jack."
She twisted her hands again.
    "Yeah, you'd think so, but he's not
talking."
    Jane shook her head. "Austin made me promise
not to tell you."
    She slammed her book shut. "Why is everyone
keeping secrets from me?"
    Her friend reached for her, but Sara
recoiled. "We're not...."
    "Are you trying to protect me, too?"
She threw her