Sacrifice Read Free

sadly and shook my head, dropping my gaze to the table we sat around. Someone had spilled sugar across the surface and I had the overwhelming urge to draw patterns in it. But I didn’t. That was something my mother used to do. I wasn’t her. I would never be like her… Could never be like her…
    “Well how do you know? He might be at the gig tonight?” She brightened visibly as she mentioned the gig. And even I had to admit that when I thought about going to see my favourite band play a quiver of excitement raced through me…
    I swallowed down the last of my drink and stood. There was no point in hanging around the campus, not when I had to get ready. Rachel stood with me and we made our way to the door. I could practically feel the excitement rolling off her and it made me smile.
    “I’ll meet you outside the club at eight?” She gripped my arm tightly and turned me to face her as she spoke. “Promise me you’ll come? That you will be there?”
    I grinned at her and gestured to her pocket where I knew she had shoved the tickets. “You know I have a weakness where my band is concerned. There is no way I could resist… And who knows, maybe I’ll actually get to meet the band?”
    Rachel squealed as she spun away from me and started to jog in the opposite direction. All I could do was shake my head and smile. She had a way of making life better. Of making tough times so much easier and for that I was eternally grateful to have her in my life.
    Turning I began to walk back towards my own apartment. Only one thought occupied my mind, who the hell had that guy been? And would I ever see him again?

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    CHAPTER TWO
     
    Sam
     
    He propped himself up against the wall and watched as she left the coffee shop. Her honey coloured hair drifted around her face and part of him wondered if it was naturally that colour or had she found it in a bottle? Most of the girls he knew were fake. Fake hair, fake boobs, fake smile… But with her, from what he’d seen of her there didn’t seem to be anything fake about her.
    The look on her face as she’d watched him… He’d seen that look before, but on her it was different. Some deep sadness seemed to lurk just beneath the surface of her eyes. She was an uncertainty. It wasn’t something he had ever dealt with before. Normally he was sure of what was happening. But with her, he had this sinking feeling in his gut that with her he would be thrown off balance.
    It’s a challenge… That’s all, nothing more than a challenge. And maybe you won’t need to do it… Maybe it’ll all work out.
    He raked his hand back through his dark hair and shut his eyes for a moment. An image flashed before him and he felt sick. It was an effort not to turn where he stood and lose the cup of coffee he had just drank all over the sidewalk.
    Get a grip! The little voice in his head spoke sternly and he knew it was right. He had to get a grip. There was nothing he could do. He was here for a reason, and one reason only. Maybe things would work out and he would leave here with no issues… Maybe…
    He pushed away from the wall and continued to watch her progress across the campus. He couldn’t shake the look in her eyes. The way she had stared at him. Something stirred inside him, something he had sworn was dead, buried. He couldn’t afford to allow feelings to get in his way. If it had been any of the other guys they would have already made contact. They would be sure it was her…
    But he didn’t need to ask her to know, and it wasn’t just because of the crappy description he had sketched into his notepad either. He knew the second he saw her who she was. Natasha Masterton. But it was better to follow protocol. Better to be sure. 
    He shook his head as she disappeared out of sight. What the hell was wrong with him? Here he was beginning to sound like one of them. It wasn’t what he wanted. It wasn’t what he had planned. But what else