Free Baller's Baby - A Bad Boy Romance by Saylor Bliss

tries to calm me, but she can't. I’m not upset.
I’m devastated.
    “How,
Lisa? How is it going to be ok? The man is dead.” My words are louder than I
intend, but I need her to explain to me how she thinks it's going to be ok.
    “I know
that, but you had already let him go. You’ve already moved on. I don’t get why
you’re so upset. Did you love him?” she asks, and now I understand. She thinks
I’m hurting over Amryn . . . Camryn.
    “It's
not him, Lisa. No, I didn’t love him.” I let out a harsh laugh. “I didn’t even know him.”
    “Then
what’s wrong, babe?”
    “It’s
Kiptyn. I . . . I can't explain it. My heart hurts for him. It was his brother,
Lisa. I can't imagine. What if I lost Devan or Jax? I’d die, right then and
there.”
    “Are you
falling in love with him?”
    The
knowing look on her face mocks me. She’s always looking for love in someone’s
actions. The poor girl sits around reading romance novels by the truckload,
hoping one of the imaginary book boyfriends will magically come to life and
sweep her off her feet.
    Normally,
I pity her. Normally, I laugh and joke back with her, telling her she reads too
much or that true love doesn’t exist. Not today. Today, I sit silently on the
couch a foot away from her, my head tucked into the crease of my elbow against
the side arm, trying and failing to choke my sobs back down. I don’t have to
say a word today, because she already knows.
    I’m
crazy about a man that I can't have. Even if I was willing to try to date the
brother of my deceased ex . . . boyfriend ?
There is no way he would. I saw it in the look he gave me when he realized who
I was. He would never touch me again. It’s over.
    My
stomach rolls with nausea. Clamping a hand over my mouth, I race to the bathroom,
puking up everything I have inside of me. How on earth has my life become this?
Maybe it’s time for me to admit defeat and move back to Atlanta.
    No,
screw that. I can do this. I'll find a way to make it work here in LA. First
thing tomorrow, I'll start looking for a new job. There’s no way Mr. Ames is
going to let me keep mine, especially if I didn’t produce that exclusive
interview I had promised him, but I’m one hell of a reporter and I can land
another job. It probably won’t be with a paper as large as the Los Angeles Daily Home , but as long as
it pays the bills, I’m happy.
    With
some semblance of a game plan, I crawl in between the silky soft sheets
covering my bed and beg the Sandman to come visit me soon. I need all the help
I can get to forget tonight. If only his magical sand could make me forget
Kiptyn Price, then I'd be in heaven.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
    Chapter
Fifteen
    Kiptyn

 
    I should
have never let her leave. I should have demanded she sit there on the couch and
talk all this shit out. Fuck. Now what do I do? I’m on edge. My whole body is
swarming with nerves. How it is possible that the one fucking woman I want is
already taken by my fucking dead brother? Fate is playing some fucked up joke
on me. It has to be. I picture him, her, them—what the fuck ever—rolling in the
floor, laughing their ass off at me right now. Well, I’ve got news for you,
bastard.
    I.
    Don’t.
    Lose.
    I’ll
play your sick, twisted game, and I'll kick your ass at it.
    Running
my hands through my hair, I stomp up the drive. I need a fucking drink and a
cold shower. I had her in my fucking arms, my lips on her delicate chocolate
skin, and I fucking let her get away. Well, technically, she ran away. Again.
    When I
pass my slick, blue Audi R8, I hear a ringing noise. I stop, listening. There
is definitely something ringing inside my car. Opening the driver’s door, I
spot Skila’s heels and handbag. I smile. She’ll have to see me now. Her phone
is ringing again. I open her handbag and pull it out. Lisa is calling. Swiping
left on the screen, I answer.
    “Hello,”
she says.
    “Hey.
Sky left her bag here.”
    I don’t
say anything else. I don’t