Free SwitchBack: A Paranormal Werewolf Romance (Knightsbridge Canyon Series Book 1) by David VanDyke, Drew VanDyke Page B

Amber. I’m talking about you. You’ve got layers, Ash. You’ve always had them. Only before the…” He stuttered off.
    “Before the
incident
.”
    “Before the
incident
, you were willing to talk to me about them.”
    “Yeah, well. I’ve got trust issues.”
    “We’ve all got trust issues, Ash,” he said. “I keep wondering if it’s me you don’t trust, or if you just don’t trust yourself.”
    My ego defenses went up. “What are you, my shrink?” I put Spanky down on the ground and got up to pace.
He’s getting too close
, a voice in my head started singing. I began walking the edge of the pool, circling it and coming back again.
    Will stood and stopped me. “Ashlee. What are you afraid of?” He held my shoulders and bent his knees to look square into my eyes.
    Trapped.
    “I’d never knowingly do anything to hurt you,” he said.
    I shrugged him off and collected the trash from the table. “Yes, well, it’s the unknowingly hurting that I’m worried about.”
    “Life is a risk, Ashlee. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.”
    “No pain, no gain, right, Will?”
    “Not the same. Like I said, I won’t hurt you Ash. At least not intentionally. I love you.”
    “I wish I could say the same thing,” I muttered, not sure whether I was talking about loving myself or him.
    “Ashlee. Stop it.” He took the bag of garbage from my hands. “Just tell me, whatever you need to say. I can take it.”
    My palms began to itch. “God, Will! I’m a bitch. I’m sarcastic, obnoxious, rude and opinionated. I don’t look at the bright side and clouds don’t have a silver lining. I walk into a room full of people and can’t help but wonder what their angles are. That’s why I’m a writer. That way I can put everything that I’m thinking into a palatable form, and when I don’t get it right, I have an editor who does it for me.”
    “And…” He put his hands on my shoulders again, and looked me in the eyes.
    “You can’t love me!” I pushed him away.
    “Why not?” Whipping me back around to face him, his voice rose, not caring if the neighbors heard.
    “Because, I don’t even love myself!” I cried and collapsed into his arms.
    “Then that’s where we’ll start.” Will held me and rocked me and let me cry it all out.

Chapter 10
    For the next few days, Will treated me like a queen. I was still pretty wiped, so it was kind of nice being waited on hand and foot, much to Amber’s dismay. I found that out when I overheard her talking to our father on the phone one day when she thought I was asleep.
    “But Dad,” I heard her say. “She needs to get over herself and make a move.
Do
something,” she said. “I know we’re twins, but where does my responsibility end and hers begin? Well. Yes, she’s contributing to the household. She wrote me a check just the other day, but I haven’t cashed it…I don’t know. It just doesn’t feel right. Fine. I’ll cash it. But I don’t know how much more of this I can take. I mean, Ashlee is one thing, but having Will over here all the time is seriously putting a damper on my own relationship. I mean, I haven’t had a guy in the house this much besides J.R., since I lived with his father. I know. I don’t mean to dump this on you, but can’t you take her for awhile? Either that or Elle and I are going to have to go away for the weekend just to get some time to ourselves. And that’s not fair, is it?”
    I decided that I felt guilty enough as it was without adding eavesdropping to the list of my sins, so I slipped out to the back yard to have a smoke and think. That was where Will found me, lost in thought when he stuck his head over the fence.
    “Hey Spongebob.”
    “Hey Patrick,” I popped right back at him, just like we were back in grade school.
    “Whatcha thinkin’?”
    “Thinkin’ about blowin’ this popsicle shop.”
    “Yeah? Where to?”
    “Home.”
    “Home?” he said. “Like Frisco?”
    “Yeah,” I said. “Home, like San