Free Betrayal: Abby's Guilt (The Betrayal Series) by Sofia Velardi

in my head, and I get chills every time. I can’t even concentrate on my auditions because I can’t get you or that kiss out of my mind. I even have dreams about it. All I want to do when I’m around you is pull you into my arms and devour those pouty lips of yours. And I don’t just want to kiss you. I daydream about doing other things to you… things that would probably gross you out and scare you and make you want to run screaming from the room if I told you.”
    Abby let out a sharp breath she didn’t know she was holding. She just stared into Brianna’s glassy blue eyes while she spilled her guts to her. That’s all she could do…stare. All blood circulation had abandoned her face, and she could no longer feel her hands or legs.
    “And I know it is selfish of me to even be telling you this,” Brianna continued, drawing a deep breath, her face contorting as she tried to fight back tears. “You are a straight girl in a relationship with my own brother. I know there is zero chance of anything ever happening between us, but I needed to get this off my chest because it’s been eating me inside. I hope that now that I’ve told you, I’ll be able to sleep at night and get on with my life.” She stopped talking. She wet her lips and sucked in a breath waiting for Abby’s reaction to her stream of consciousness.
    Abby drew in a deep breath as her gaze bounced around the room. Her brain was trying to put together some coherent thoughts she could convey to the tormented woman who had just poured her heart out to her. “I have to go.” Those were the four words that fell out of Abby’s mouth after the world’s longest pause. Those were the only words her brain could string together. Clutching the iPhone box to her chest, she slowly got off the sofa. She avoided Brianna’s gaze as she dragged her barely functioning feet towards the front door.  
    Already regretting her selfish confession, Brianna shot to her feet, grabbed Abby’s clutch off the sofa, and followed Abby to the door. Abby placed her hand on the front door’s handle and began to turn it. Halfway through the turn, she stopped and turned around to face Brianna. Brianna handed Abby her clutch which Abby awkwardly snatched and clutched to her chest along with the iPhone box. Brianna searched Abby’s face and held her breath, waiting for the visibly shaken girl to say something, anything to her.
    “Goodbye, Brianna. Take care of yourself,” Abby whispered, her eyes looking everywhere but Brianna’s face. Brianna wrapped her arms around Abby, and Abby rested her chin on Brianna’s shoulder. With the iPhone box and Abby’s clutch standing between them, Abby and Brianna held each other for a bit. They both understood that was going to be the last hug they would probably ever share. Brianna was wishing she could take back what she had just said to Abby because all that did was confuse and terrify the poor girl. Abby wished she could tell Brianna that she felt exactly the same way about her, but she knew that information would not have done either one of them any good and would have only made their goodbye more painful than it already was.
    With Brianna’s arms still wrapped around her, Abby leaned back a bit so she could stare into Brianna’s sad blue eyes one last time. Brianna brought her hands up to cup both sides of Abby’s face. She stared into the glassy hazel eyes, thinking how much she was going to miss looking at them. “Goodbye, Abigail,” she sniffled before leaning in and placing a tender, lingering kiss on Abby’s lips. She sighed into Abby’s mouth. Those lips felt as soft as she remembered and tasted just as sweet.
    “I’m sorry. I need to stop doing that,” Brianna said sheepishly as she pulled away from Abby’s warm lips.
    With the heat of that kiss still burning on her lips, Abby’s eyes darted from Brianna’s eyes to her lips and back to her eyes. She was trying to summon up the courage to do something she knew she