Crushed (Crystal Brook Billionaires) Read Free Page B

Meeting Jason had helped her break free from that chain.
    “I, uh…” I struggled to think of something else to add to the excuse.
    “It’s all right.” Gwen smiled. “I’ll be down here if you need me.”
    My heart cracked down the middle — this time out of gratitude and not from pain. “Thanks,” I rasped, emotion clogging my throat.
    Desperate to not spend any more time conscious than was necessary, I turned and fled back up the stairs.

C HAPTER T WO
    Claire
    T he rain came in waves, falling on the rooftop and street outside like there was a brigade of Gods tossing down buckets of water. I closed my eyes and listened to its heavy drumming combined with the other sounds around me. The softly playing jazz in the other room. A car going down the street, water flying up from underneath its wheels. Peter’s breath, rising and falling next to me.
    His inhale and exhale came out evenly, slipping into an odd rhythm with the noises outside. The bed creaked, and before I even knew he was moving, I felt his hand on my waist. His fingers trailed along the bare space between my shirt and pants, lightly sweeping across my warm skin.
    His lips brushed across the nape of my neck, so gentle that his breath was the harsher touch. They moved along my jaw and across my cheek, coming to rest on my lips.
    Our mouths hovered together there, not kissing, just being. Existing in the same space. Breathing the same air. Having the same experience in every way possible.
    A lightness washed over my body, and it felt like I was being lifted up by my heart. I became less and less solid, more and more gaseous. No. Not that… I became more like light.
    I was the light shining down from the sky, and I was the light beaming out of everything. I was the up and the down of it all, the awesome and the insane. For the first time, I saw things clearly. I saw the miraculous in each and every moment, each blade of grass, and each supposed catastrophe. I saw the blessings cloaked beneath it all, saw how everything — whether it happens or doesn’t happen — as a gift.
    I became one with God… and I knew that no matter what happened, I would never lose that knowing.
    *
    Voices woke me up. It was Mom and Dad, but they were far enough away that their voices were muffled. I let out a whimper of pain and sat up, rubbing my head. Apparently sleeping too much can be just as bad for you as sleeping too little. My temples pulsed, pounding out an aching rhythm. I’d drawn the curtains in the hopes of being able to fall back asleep, so the exact time was impossible to know. It could have been twenty minutes since I’d escaped back to bed and it could have been the next day.
    The thin hum and the refreshing crispness in the room said the air conditioner had been fixed. Presumably not by Cat Boy — although maybe someone looking for a missing dog had come by and gotten it taken care of.
    I swung out of bed and grabbed the jeans I’d dropped on the floor.
    Mom and Dad’s voices were coming from behind their cracked bedroom door. I peered at it as I grabbed the banister and hit the first step towards the downstairs. Secret conversations taking place in my parents’ bedroom were never a good thing — unless it was Christmas time. My family was about as open as it went, and Mom and Dad had brought us kids up to not keep secrets from each other. If they had locked themselves away in order to have a conversation, it meant the matter was serious.
    Were they talking about me?
    If so, I didn’t want to know.
    “Hi!”
    I nearly tripped over the next step.
    Gwen grimaced. “I’m sorry. I thought you heard me.”
    “No,” I gasped. “What time is it?”
    “Um, I think it’s almost, uh… five.”
    “Jesus.” I rubbed the side of my face. “My head is killing me.”
    “You need some coffee.”
    “That’s your answer to everything.”
    Her eyebrows wiggled “And sometimes it’s true.”
    I smirked. “Right now it is.” I went past her and down the