Free Breathe With Me (The Breathe Series Book 3) by Wendy L. Wilson Page A

the bed shifts beside me as I remain frozen in shock.
    Barely glancing over my shoulder as the blankets tug and shuffle around me, I make out Trent’s shadow settling at the edge of the bed. His head hangs down as quiet sniffles fill the air.
    “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean…” his voice trembles, matching the vibrations of my own.
    My eyes glaze over, blurring his already barely recognizable silhouette lit only by the presence of a full moon shining through the window in the kitchen. I suck in a strangled breath and drop my head back to the pillow, slowly pulling my knees to my chest. My bikini bottom slides further down on my left hip and the untied strings tickle at my skin. Quickly lowering one hand to pull it up, I grip the fabric in my fist as another stream of tears dampen the pillow.
    Trent gasps as the bed shifts again, making my heart plummet and my breathing go into an overactive frenzy. My head whirls, but I am completely frozen once again except for the rapid motion of my chest, trying to keep up with my quick intakes of air. Is he going to do it again? Fear grips every inch of my body and a strange drowsiness engulfs me. In the already barely lit room, blurred black dots bleed into my vision and a dizziness that feels as if I stood up too fast swarms in my head. My chest sinks in on a breath and another and another, making it impossible to exhale.
    “Piper…”
    Slowly tugging my eyes open, the cool, clammy touch of a hand on my shoulder along with Trent’s whispers, once again way too close for comfort, resigns my efforts of being calm and gentle as a rush of adrenaline kicks in and catapults me to my feet. My tee shirt falls around my body automatically as I spin around to face him. He’s crouched at the edge of the bed again and for the life of me, I cannot place when he moved back beside me. A throbbing sensation drums at the back of my head as I take a huge intake of air.
    “Are you ok?”
    He reaches his hand out towards me and my heart jumps into my throat as I jolt backwards, wrapping my arms around my waist as if they can make me invisible. I wish they could.
    “Oh God, I’m so sorry. Are you…” he whispers with an unusual tone to his voice; compassion or sadness maybe.
    The strings of my swimsuit bottom dangle loose, grazing my thigh and nearly making me jump again. I glance down and quickly grip the hem of my shirt to ensure that I am covered. My suit slides at the other hip, but still stays held up. I lay one hand along that hip to keep it in place, but am too scared to pull the other side up; too afraid that my shirt will rise with the action and force his attention to my body. I look up quickly, panicked that he could grab me, tug me back to the bed or touch me again, but as my eyes land back on him I see that he hasn’t moved. His hand has dropped to the bed along with his gaze.
    My brows knit and my heart grips as I watch him, still unable to speak, unable to piece together anything that has happened, unable and absolutely unwilling to believe any of it. Why? I want to say it; I want to, but my lips have cemented closed and I have no doubt if they could open that I would no longer recognize my own voice.
    “You…” his voice startles me and I grasp my suit and step back as a strangled sob fills the air.
    I look down quickly, tugging the hem of my shirt down more as if I can make it longer, but I soon realize the cry did not come from me. In fact, no tears fall; I’m in shock, stunned and silent.
    Trent moves and I snap my head up to see him looking right at my face. Shadows from the outside trees dance across his face, and it’s then that I can make out the pain in his expression. The soft playful happiness he usually carries around is gone. It’s replaced with torment and grief, possibly even shame or remorse. I hate him.
    “You passed out I think or fell asleep…”
    This confuses me. My brows dip lower and I snarl my lip, a tightness forming over the bridge of my nose