Free Just Want Somebody to Love (Bella Warren Book 1) by Keri Ford Page A

little late. He was into the uncomfortable kind of late.
    She rubbed her arms. Something happened. As soon as the idea started filling her head, she shut it down. If someone so much as breathed in too much smoke from burning leaves in a ditch, the news would have already passed through the diner. This place could pass for Grand Central Station.
    She picked her phone up again and flipped to a matching game. The colors flashed as the app loaded. Probably he just lost track of the time. He’d be here any moment now. She tried putting a few matches together and instead found herself looking out the window. Not the way to win on a timed game. She turned it off before screwing with her high score.
    Another check on the phone for the time, though.
    One thirty. She sank.
    One. Thirty.
    Maybe he got lost? There were, like, three streets in town. He could be out there somewhere going around in circles. The bell on the door jingled and she turned. Maybe she missed him pulling in the lot. Instead, her day just got a hell of a lot worse as Maddy Booth walked in.
    Her stupid smile with her lips that all the boys talked about sent her a nasty grin. Yeah, people may think she looked pretty, but she was damn ugly under the surface. Maddy flipped her hair off her shoulder with a turn of her head as she walked across the diner like she owned the place—which she didn’t.
    “Well hi, Whitney.”
    She only smiled to ward off the evil. “Hi, Maddy.”
    “I noticed your car parked out here when I drove by and now here you are, still here.”
    She hadn’t liked Maddy since grade school when the witch stole all the purple glitter off the art table. It went downhill from there and got nastier as they went. “Does your life suck that much that you need to find some adventure in mine?”
    Her hand landed on her hip. “I’m not the one who got stood up, am I?”
    Cold chill chased away all that nervous energy. “Who said I was stood up?”
    “You’ve been sitting here for over an hour, and you look more pathetic than usual.”
    “I guess you more than anyone would recognize pathetic when you saw it, but in this case, you’re wrong.” Because like hell was she admitting the hottest guy to ever pass through town was late. “I’m tired and so was Kara. She wasn’t up for making lunch. I’m just enjoying this pretty afternoon.”
    “I’m sure you are.”
    “ I’m sure you are,” Whitney muttered under her breath as Maddy walked away. Devil woman.
    Whitney turned her phone around. Quarter till two. Screw it. She sent Tasha a text. The ice cream shop was down the road to the bar. Maybe she could do a drive by to see if anyone was there.
    She sat the phone aside and finished her Dr. Pepper before she lost a good drink to melting ice. He was tied up. He wouldn’t stand her up. Why would he? They’d had a good time. He’d said himself he wished he didn’t have to leave. So. Really. No reason for him to not be here.
    Melody eased back by. “You want a refill while you keep waiting?”
    She shook her head and tried hiding the wince. It would be great if Melody didn’t have to yell while she talked. “That’s okay.”
    “You about to give up?”
    Whitney refused to glance across the room to see if Maddy was trying to overhear. If Maddy found out she had been—maybe been—stood up, she’d never hear the end of it. “Checking now to see if something happened.”
    Melody gave her a smile like she knew. With Melody a few steps away from Maddy, everyone in this town would sure as hell know in less than five minutes.
    Come on Justin. Don’t leave her hanging to be humiliated by the whole town. You can’t stand people up in a town like Bella Warren. That kind of thing wasn’t forgotten, especially since it was already around that they were together last night. Nasty comments from the Bella Bitches wasn’t the worst of it.
    Old ladies patted your back. Old men offered to shoot somebody. Friends fed you snacks until you gained