Everything for Us (A Bad Boys Novel) Read Free

a bowl and three skillets of varying sizes from the cabinet and set them on the stove. Looking proudly at my progress thus far, I push up my sleeves, ready to dig in and make a great breakfast for everyone. I jump, startled, when I hear a throat clear behind me.
    I turn around, a big smile in place, fully expecting to see Olivia standing in the doorway. The voltage of the gesture, as well as the sincerity, dims considerably when I see Cash poised there instead.
    “What are you doing?”
    “Making breakfast,” I respond, trying hard to rid my tone of sarcasm as I turn back to the food. “What’s it look like?”
    “You don’t cook,” Cash says flatly.
    “It’s never too late to start.” I don’t bother to look at him; I keep my attention focused on the eggs I’m cracking into a mixing bowl.
    “You can drop the act, Marissa. It’s just us. You don’t have to pretend for me. You forget, I
know
you.”
    “Maybe you
used to
know me, as much as two people like us could’ve known each other, but that’s in the past. Things are different now.”
    “Oh really?” There’s no doubt he feels that’s completely impossible. And that makes me angry.
    I whirl to face him, pointing my whisk like an accusing weapon. “Don’t act like you were any better than me. You lied to everyone in your life, everyone you called a friend or coworker. You used me for my position, to get close to my father, to keep your job at the firm. You were more than happy to do whatever you had to do to achieve your goals. Don’t you dare get all pious and spit your righteous indignation at me. Don’t
you
forget that I know
you
, too.”
    It only makes me angrier that he looks completely unflustered. “True. But that wasn’t the real me. You never knew the real me. Only the person I let you see, the act I put on for everyone else’s benefit.”
    “Judge all you want. Justify your actions all you want. I don’t really care what you think, and I don’t have to prove anything to you. I owe Olivia. As long as I can prove myself to her, I don’t give a damn what you think.”
    With that, I turn back to my bowl full of raw eggs, diving in with my whisk and beating the crap out of them.
    The thing that makes me angriest is that Cash is right. I don’t deserve a second chance. I don’t deserve anybody’s trust or confidence. They’ve all seen what I was like. I’ve made an impression that I may well never be able to live down.
    But that doesn’t mean I’ll stop trying. At this point, there are few opinions I actually care about. I’ll just have to focus on those and put the rest out of my mind.
    I hear the shuffle of Cash’s bare feet as he leaves the kitchen. They stop at the last minute, so I stop whisking to listen.
    “I’m sorry for what happened, Marissa. Not even someone like you deserved to be dragged into the shitstorm of my life.”
    I say nothing, just listen to the quiet as he waits for a response, gets none, and then walks away. I try to ignore how his obvious distaste for me stings. I don’t really care what he thinks, but it’s disturbing to think anyone feels that way about me. Was I really that bad?
    Before I can start down the horrible road of self-loathing, I hear another voice.
    “Ignore him, Marissa.” This time it
is
Olivia standing in the doorway when I turn. She looks tousled and sleepy and sweet, as always. I’m a little embarrassed that she heard what he said. “He’s like a bear with a thorn in his paw this morning. I don’t know what his problem is.” Her grin is kind. I know she’s trying to excuse his behavior, but somehow that just makes me feel worse. Has she always come to my defense this way? And have I always been this undeserving of it?
    My stomach curls into a sick knot. I know the answer to that question.
    Yes.
    “You don’t have to cover for him, Liv. I can only imagine how hard it would be to believe someone can have a change of heart overnight.”
    She eases on into the kitchen and