Show Me How to Love (Caldwell Family Book 1) Read Free Page A

away for a weekend with Ryan Caldwell. Just moments ago she’d thought her life was perfect. That she’d arrived. Instead, she was once again the outcast who didn’t belong with the cool kids.
    Andre dropped her hand as soon as they reached the car. The loss of his warmth seemed like another fist to her gut on a crappy afternoon.
    Ryan burst through the front door. His concerned gaze darted first to her then Andre. He hobbled toward them. “Mikayla!”
    She ignored Ryan and stared at Andre, “Let’s go.”
    Andre cracked his knuckles. She expected him to cross the distance and beat the crap out of Ryan. Instead, he clenched his jaw and entered the car. She followed and slammed the door. Closing her eyes, she blocked Ryan’s calls while Andre speed out of the driveway.

CHAPTER 2
     
    Andre whipped his car around a sharp curve. Anger pushed his foot on the pedal every time he remembered Angelica landing on the floor in Ryan’s arms. He’d thought he and Ryan were past this. Past the childish games and petty rivalry their father’s started. What the fuck was he thinking? No matter how much he tried to pull away this infighting would never end.
    He swung around another curve, hit a patch of ice, and jerked the wheel quickly to straighten the vehicle. His companion gasped. One of her hands gripped the door, the other balled into a fist between their seats. Easing off the gas, Andre maneuvered the next curve at a slower speed. The snow and ice from the night before made the roads worse than they were when he drove up yesterday. Killing both of them in the mountains would be an imperfect ending to the weekend from hell. His fingers released their death grip on the wheel, and he tried to control his angry foot.
    He couldn’t believe he’d agreed to let her come with him. In their brief conversation the night before, he could tell she was starry-eyed for Ryan. The desperation on her face when she’d asked him to leave pushed past any preconceived notions from the night before. She may not have had the good sense to stay away from Ryan, but she didn’t deserve spending the rest of the weekend up there.
    Spotting a bar on the main road, he quickly pulled his car into the parking lot. He needed to calm down. He was too angry to drive rationally. Neon beer signs flashed in the windows of the wood building, old gas station signs hung on the exterior walls. It wasn’t his ideal place to stop, but the lack of a Confederate flag was enough to make it suitable.
    “Why are we stopping?”
    He turned to…damn, he’d forgotten her name already. “You want a drink?”
    She scanned the building, nose crinkled, she drummed the fingers of her right hand against the door. After a few seconds of consideration, she turned to him and shrugged. “No stars and bars. Why not?”
    The corner of his mouth lifted in an appreciative smile that she’d looked for the same flag he had as she opened the car door and stepped out. Whatever her name was, she wasn’t stuck up, something not usually found in Ryan’s girlfriends.
    They entered the dim interior of the bar. Country music played softly in the background and a thin haze of cigarette smoke clouded the view of the few people at the bar. The friendly smile of the bartender eased his tension.
    “Sit wherever y’all want.” The bartender yelled. “I’ll be over in a second.”
    His companion nodded at the bartender before sliding into one of the worn wooden booths near the front window.
    “His greeting is comforting,” she said.
    “I agree.”
    She looked out the window and he checked out the inside of the bar. No need for false conversation. There weren’t many pleasant things to say after finding your significant others having sex in a closet.
    She ran her fingers through her hair. He’d noticed her hair the night before. It was cut chin length and framed her face in a sleek even style. He loved when a woman’s hairstyle accented her features. The smoke filtered sunlight