Free unForgivable (An inCapable World Novel Book 2) by Sara Hubbard Page A

way, I guess. She gave pieces of her to the people who needed it. Always holding back…for what, I never could figure out. Maybe, like you, she was afraid of showing her hand. Giving away too much and leaving herself vulnerable.”
    I chew on that for a moment, running a finger across my bottom lip. I worry he sees through the same façade I put up, and for the exact same reasons she did. Both of us hurt by people we cared for and unwilling to trust others completely. But, more importantly, his insight hurts me. Makes me feel a pang of jealousy. How could I have lived with her for years and not known about Damien? About someone who obviously meant a great deal to her? Did I rank on her list of people she couldn’t trust? How foolish I’d been to think I might have been the only one she could have been completely open with. She was that person for me.
    “What about Carrie?” I say, before swallowing hard. “Another pen pal?” Part of me wants confirmation that he’s not into her, though I don’t know why. The furthest thing from my mind right now should be a man. There’s no way I can see myself through everything going on if I get hung up on someone.
    “Our fathers are brothers.”
    “She’s your cousin?” I shake my head and count to ten. “Is everyone keeping shit from me?”
    “You’re angry she didn’t tell you she has a cousin? Did you expect her to offer up her family tree when you decided to become besties?”
    Besties? He says it like we’re two kids on a playground.
    I jump as his warm hand reaches for mine. He’s back in my personal space, making me uncomfortable all over again. “I lied to you,” he says.
    “Of course you did,” I say, angrily. “But about what in particular?”
    “I asked your aunt to introduce us.”
    “What?”
    “She talked about you so much when I was away I couldn’t help but feel like I knew you too. When I came back to town, she helped me find this apartment and when I dropped her off at the pub last week, you were just getting there. It was raining…your hair was wet against your face and neck. She told me to stop staring and I didn’t even know that I was.” He pauses, takes a step even closer so I can feel his breath on my face. “I asked her to introduce me to you and she laughed. She told me I couldn’t handle you.”
    He wanted me? Wants me? So he was playing a game with me in the pub. Is he playing with me now? This is just further confirmation that he can’t be trusted, and it stings. I expected it, and yet I hoped he might actually be the person to prove me wrong. “One man,” Mona said. “One man to prove me wrong.” But not this guy. His soft voice and his intense stare and kindness…it’s an act. Of course it is.
    He inches closer, his head tilting down so his lips are close enough to brush against mine.
    “Is this what you want?” I ask, moving my lips across his. I can play just as well as he can.
    He smiles as I try to pull back, but he grabs a hold of me and spins me around so my back is against the wall. I struggle against him, grunting as I try to break free from his grasp. He’s too strong, his thick muscles stretched taut as he grips my wrists. I want to hit him for restraining me and for lying and for making me consider he might be trustworthy. It seems the more fight I give him the stronger he becomes and after a strangled scream I give up. My whole body relaxes and my arms go limp. He releases me but stays in my space.
    “Feel better?”
    “No!” I snap.
    “Not everyone is out to hurt you, Beth.”
    “You lied to me. Why?”
    “Because I didn’t think a girl like you would look twice at a guy like me.”
    “Why would you even care?”
    He closes his eyes and sighs, pushing away from the wall. He looks like he wants to say something, but instead of speaking his head tips forward, as if in surrender.
    I repeat my question. “Why? Because of the way I look?” I say, frowning.
    “Maybe. Or maybe because I see something