Nobody's Fool Read Free Page B

want to do this, tell me now.”
    His face was flushed. A sheen of perspiration covered his forehead. She shook her head. “Don’t stop.”
    “You’re sure?”
    “Yes.”
    He sat up and scrambled on the floor for his pants. Withdrew his wallet and from the wallet a foil packet. In seconds he was back, gathering her to him, picking up where they’d left off.
    Jolie knew Courtney had woken up before dawn, but he’d slid as quietly as he could out of the bed. Pretending to sleep, Jolie sighed and clutched a fistful of covers closer. He bent and kissed her temple, gathered his things and quietly let himself out.
    She opened her eyes the moment he closed her bedroom door. The emptiness of her room crowded in on her as she looked at her familiar things. She wished he was still here. That he’d cuddle her and hold her without getting all complicated.
    What happened last night had seemed right but her feelings for him were jumbled enough already. On the one hand, he was her childhood friend. He’d stood up for her, taken care of her, been there for her in a million little ways all of her life. But he wanted more than friendship and Jolie wanted…what? That was the thing she could never define. Somehow moving beyond the way things were seemed too big, too scary, too something . She wanted him, but on her terms.
    He wanted way more. She knew it on some level even if she hadn’t caught him sneaking longing looks at her when he thought she wouldn’t notice. Even if he wasn’t at her beck and call, even when they both knew she was using him. She hated herself for treating him this way, but she couldn’t seem to stop it.
    Before last night she couldn’t picture herself with him that way. Not him, not anybody. Chip had been after her forever to go all the way. He’d never admit to anyone that they hadn’t. Jolie let everyone think what they wanted to think, pretending to know more than she did about sex. She pretended a lot. She didn’t like that about herself, either. It was almost like she believed the version of herself she’d created: the pretty popular cheerleader with the hunky jock boyfriend. How could she give that up to become the insecure girl who fell in love with the awkward boy next door?
    After she left Oak Ridge she hadn’t thought much about the way she’d treated Court until after the airbag in Jeff’s Mustang GT blew up in her face. Until she woke up in the hospital with a concussion and a few minor injuries only to learn that Jeff hadn’t survived the collision with the pick-up truck. Until she’d been forced to look in the mirror and ask herself who was staring back. She wondered why it had taken her so long.
    She’d broken Court’s heart and dashed his devotion in the dust. Was it too late to make amends?

Chapter Three
    The doorbell woke Jolie on Friday morning. Bright September sunlight shone through the window of her bedroom. She tried to remember the last time she’d slept in so late.
    After the Harrisons left yesterday afternoon, taking Court with them, she’d unpacked and gone out to dinner with her parents. Not quite realizing how exhausted she was after the flight and the drive from the airport, she drank too much wine with dinner, fell into bed afterward and…here she was.
    She blinked at the alarm clock and groaned. It was nearly nine. Her mouth had that fuzzy, cottony feeling and she had a dull, buzzing headache behind her eyes. The doorbell rang again.
    She listened, but the house was quiet. Evidently her mother had no intention of answering the door.
    Jolie found a thin cotton robe, shoved her hair out of her face with one hand and fumbled her way down the stairs as the doorbell rang a third time.
    She yanked the door open. “Would you just—oh!”
    The shout died on her lips. Court, looking fantastic, stood there bearing a box of donuts from Barney’s Bakery.
    Her stomach growled.
    “Since our mothers have abandoned us for the Hospital Auxiliary breakfast meeting, I thought