“Can you believe we’re seniors, babe?” Kyle shouted, drawing the attention of some of the other patrons in the restaurant. He couldn’t control his enthusiasm as he gazed adoringly at his lovely girlfriend sitting across from him. He leaned over the table, gave Abby a sweet kiss on the temple and held her hand.
“Just one more year and we’ll get everything we’ve ever wanted, Abs.” Abs was his nickname for her. “No more counting pennies. No more Ramen Noodle dinners. No more working like dogs for minimum wage just to pay the bills. We’ll be able to see each other and be with each other more. We’ll be able to afford nice things. We’ll be able to eat at nice restaurants like this one all the time without worrying about the cost. We will be able to go on vacations. I will finally be able to give you all the things you deserve, sweetheart,” a euphoric Kyle rambled on as he stared into Abby’s hazel eyes. He brought Abby’s hand to his lips and kissed the back of her fingers.
Abby listened to Kyle’s exuberant ramblings and could only giggle nervously. Her lips struggled to curl into a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. Abby hadn’t had a chance to talk to Kyle all day. Kyle had spent that whole day at the Brooklyn campus studying and taking the last of his final exams.
After he got home that evening, he was too strung out on caffeine. He wouldn’t stop moving or talking on the phone. He was so happy he was done with his final exams, he called everyone he knew.
He ignored Abby every time she tried to talk to him and insisted they go out for dinner. Abby didn’t have the heart to ruin his happiness, so she decided to wait until after dinner to talk to him. She donned a beautiful black cocktail dress and let Kyle take her to one of the most expensive Italian restaurants in The Village.
As she sat across from her deliriously happy boyfriend, Abby felt like the absolute worst person on earth. There he was making plans for a future that was not going to materialize. She couldn’t go on with the charade. It was not fair to him. She was going to come clean right there at that restaurant. It would have been cruel of her to let him continue daydreaming about a future with her.
“Kyle, I…” Abby started talking, but Kyle cut her off.
“I love you Abigail Slone. I love you with all my heart. Every day I wake up and can’t believe that I get to be with you. I can’t believe I get to kiss you, touch you, talk to you, laugh with you, and make love to you. Every day I look at you and can’t get over how beautiful and sexy you are, and I can’t believe you are all mine. You are the best, most wonderful thing that ever happened to me, and I promise you that I will spend every day that you allow me to be around you telling you and showing you just how much I love you.”
Kyle paused to catch his breath. His heart was pounding in his ears. He was about to blow it and propose to Abby right there in that restaurant. Marry me, Abby, the words were in the back of his throat. Kyle had to purse his lips to keep himself from hurling those three words all over the table and spoiling the surprise.
Yes, he was going to propose to Abby, but not yet, and certainly not there. Getting on one knee and proposing at a fancy restaurant would have been cheesy, even for Kyle. Kyle felt Abby deserved better than the cliché restaurant proposal.
He had a whole production planned. He had been planning it for months. He was even going to sing to her even though he is a terrible singer. He had been secretly taking guitar lessons with a friend so he could play and sing one of Abby’s favorite songs: The Beatles’ “And I Love Her.” There were going to be video montages and choreographed dances. Relatives and childhood friends were flying in from Montana and Michigan for the big event. It was a lot of work and money, but Kyle felt Abby was worth it.
Back at the apartment, Kyle had a suitcase full of clothes sitting by the door. He was flying to Montana the next morning to see his family and attend a family reunion. Abby knew Kyle was going home to visit family before starting his summer internship.
What she did not know was that Kyle was taking a little detour to Michigan to ask Abby’s father for her hand in marriage. After getting her father’s blessing, Kyle was going to drive to Montana, and after the family reunion, he was going to ask his mother for his grandmother’s engagement ring to give to Abby. Kyle was going to make an honest woman out of that beautiful girl he met three years earlier and could hardly contain his excitement.
Kyle’s words felt like daggers slicing Abby’s heart into small pieces. Abby could no longer control the tears that were building behind her eyes. She began to openly sob in the middle of that restaurant, not caring that people were staring. Copious tears flowed down her made up cheeks, and her face contorted with soul crushing pain. She felt she was not worthy of Kyle or the love he had just professed. She mentally cursed Brianna’s name as tears continued to dribble down her cheeks.
“Oh sweetie. It’s okay. Don’t cry gorgeous. Come here,” Kyle whispered after dragging his chair closer to Abby’s and pulling her into his arms. Kyle thought she was getting emotional over the things he had just said. Little did he know smothering guilt was the reason behind those tears.
As Abby sobbed with her chin on Kyle’s shoulder, she knew she could not tell him about her betrayal. She did not have the courage nor the heart to do it, especially after all the beautiful, heartfelt things he had just said to her. She decided to wait until after he got back from Montana to tell him, even if it meant more sleepless nights and days full of dread, guilt and self-loathing.
Chapter III
Early the next morning, Abby opened the bookstore and began to get it ready for business. She had come straight from the airport where she had dropped Kyle who was taking a very early flight out to Montana. When Kyle first told Abby about the family reunion two months earlier, Abby found it odd that Kyle did not ask her to go with him, but she did not invite herself on the trip. She needed to work and felt family reunions were for families. She was not family, at least not yet.
It worked out well because she needed some time away from Kyle to clear her head and think about how she was going to confess to him. She also needed time to figure out what she was going to do after she came clean. She felt those ten days away from Kyle were exactly what she needed to get her thoughts in order and plan the next phase of her life, post-Kyle.
Within one hour of opening its doors, the bookstore was buzzing with customers. It was a beautiful Saturday morning in New York City, and Abby was busy in the backroom unpacking boxes full of new arrivals. She had her back to the doorway when the red curtain that separated the backroom from the rest of the store drew open.
“Good. You’re back from your break. I need you to help me shelve these books after I’m done pricing and inventorying them,” Abby instructed the person who had drawn the curtain but without turning around to look at him or her. She thought she was speaking to Victoria, the girl who was working the register that day.
“Hi, Abby.” The smooth, breathy female voice reverberated through Abby’s body, making her stomach flip. She knew that voice too well. That voice had been haunting her dreams every single day for the last week. She dropped the inventory scanner she was holding on the table in front of her and slowly turned around. As she turned, she prayed it was someone else standing in the doorway or just her mind playing cruel tricks on her.
Unfortunately for Abby, her mind was not playing tricks on her. Abby’s breath caught at the sight of Brianna standing in the doorway, wearing cut-off shorts, a worn out t-shirt and sneakers without socks. Her luscious blonde hair had been pulled into a long braid that rested over her shoulder. She had a colorful handbag slung across her body and was holding a white box in her hands. Even though she looked tired and was not wearing a single drop of makeup, she looked as stunning as ever.
“What are you doing here, Brianna?” Abby barked, the harshness in her tone matching the coldness in her eyes. “You’re not supposed to be back here. I told you to stay away from me. Please get out and don’t come back ever again.”
“I came to give you this,” Brianna br
eathed, stepping forward and handing Abby the box containing the iPhone Abby had left in Brianna’s hotel suite a week earlier.
“I don’t want it. I don’t want anything from you. Take it back. Please leave,” Abby pleaded, holding up her hand and shaking her head. She staggered backwards with every step Brianna took to get closer to her, but there really wasn’t any place for Abby to go. The bookstore’s backroom was tiny with boxes and other things scattered all over the floor.
Brianna placed the iPhone box on the table next to a stack of books before turning her attention back to Abby. She had Abby trapped between the table and a stack of boxes. Brianna sighed as she hovered over Abby and studied her face.
She stared at Abby’s plump glossy lips and fought the urge to run her thumb over them and take them into hers. Those lips were all Brianna had been able to think about ever since Abby stormed out of her hotel suite. Every time she closed her eyes, she could still feel their softness and taste their sweetness.
“How’ve you been, Abby?” Brianna exhaled, her words heavy with longing, her ocean blue eyes clouded with sadness.
Abby scoffed while she shot daggers with her eyes at Brianna. “How do you think I am? I’m about to lose the love of my life, the man of my dreams, the best thing that ever happened to me because of you.”
The bitterness of Abby’s words sliced through Brianna’s heart like a just-sharpened blade. Abby could see in Brianna’s eyes how much her words had hurt her, but she didn’t care. She used her elbow to push Brianna off her path and walked to the other side of the small room.
“You’re going to tell Kyle about us?” Brianna asked, wide eyed and holding her hand over her chest.
“Of course I’m going to tell him,” Abby snarled, crossing her arms over her chest. “He would have known by now if I weren’t such a fucking coward.”
“I’m so sorry, Abby. I didn’t mean for any of this to happen.” Brianna walked over to where Abby was standing and tried to place her hand on one of Abby’s forearms.
Abby jerked her arm away. “You’re sorry? Yeah, right. You planned all of this. You are angry at your brother and used me to hurt him. You don’t give a shit about him or me.”
“That’s not true, Abby,” Brianna countered, slowly shaking her head while tears began to well in her eyes.
Abby rolled her eyes. “Enough with the tears. You’re not fooling me anymore, Brianna. You planned all of this. You didn’t care who you hurt or whose life you destroyed as long as you got your revenge. Well, congratulations. You’ve succeeded. In less than two weeks, Kyle will be here, and I’m going to break his heart into a million pieces. What I’m going to say to him is going to destroy him just like you planned. You’ve destroyed his life and mine. But I’m just collateral damage to you. You don’t give a shit about me.”
“You’re wrong, Abby. I didn’t plan any of this. I swear. And I do care about you.” She tried to touch Abby’s shoulder, but Abby jerked her body away from Brianna’s grip and stepped back.
“You didn’t plan any of this?” Abby scoffed. “I’ve been replaying everything that has happened since we met in my head, and I’m convinced you were just using me to get back at Kyle. You admitted to stalking my Facebook page where I have classical music and Yo-Yo Ma listed as my interests. Then you show up with your tearful apology and just happen to have tickets to The Philharmonic in your purse?”
Abby brought a hand up to cover her mouth. Tears began to dribble down her cheeks. “You manipulated me. You’re nothing but a heartless, conniving woman, Brianna. That whole speech you gave me in your hotel suite about dreaming about me and wanting to be with me was nothing but lines from a script being delivered by a very talented actress.”
Abby dropped her gaze to the floor and let out a frustrated scream. Wiping tears off her cheeks with the back of her hands, she raised her gaze to meet Brianna’s. “How could I have been so stupid? I should have listened to Kyle when he told me you were capable of doing disturbing things and should not be trusted.”
Abby wanted to smack her head against the wall behind her. She always thought of herself as a smart girl, but that day, in the backroom of the bookstore, she realized she was nothing but a stupid little girl. She felt a smart girl would have been able to see through Brianna’s scheme.
Brianna rushed to get closer to Abby and gripped her shoulders. “Listen to me, Abby,” Brianna pleaded as Abby tried to swat Brianna’s hands away from her shoulders.
“I did not deceive you. The kiss at that party…yes, I planned that. I was angry at Kyle and was feeling petty. I used you to get back at him. I’m guilty of that, one hundred percent. However, you are wrong about everything else. My apology to you the next day at the café was genuine. Everything I said to you since then has been true. The Philharmonic tickets in my purse are just a coincidence, I swear. When I read your Facebook page, I didn’t even see your list of interests.”
Brianna continued while Abby listened intently. “My feelings for you are all real, Abby. Every kiss, every touch, the love we made that night in my hotel suite was all real. I swear on my life. May God strike me dead this very moment if I’m lying to you.”
Brianna paused for a second to catch her breath. “I’m falling in love with you, Abby. This past week has been a nightmare for me. I haven’t had a single goodnight sleep. I almost blew my chances of getting the part in that musical because I was so heartbroken over not being able to have you. But I was more distraught about turning your world upside down. I’m truly sorry for that, and I hope you can forgive me one day. That’s my truth, Abby.”
Abby gazed into the sad blue eyes staring down at her and felt Brianna was telling her the truth. She wrapped her arms around Brianna’s waist and buried her face in her chest. Brianna wrapped her arms tightly around Abby while cupping the back of her head with her palms. Both girls sobbed as tears flooded their eyes and streamed down their faces.
Brianna broke the hug so she could cup Abby’s face. “I’m sorry for all the trouble and pain I’ve caused you, Abby.” She leaned in and pressed her lips against Abby’s. She breathed sharply, relieving all of her pent up longing into Abby’s tender lips. Shivers ran through her body. She felt like a drug addict getting her fix after being forced to quit cold turkey for an entire week. When she broke the kiss, she saw Abby’s glassy eyes gazing up and her.
The torture and anguish behind those pretty hazel eyes broke Brianna’s heart. She wiped Abby’s tears with her thumbs while her eyes darted from Abby’s sad eyes to her quivering lips. Brianna wished she had the willpower to walk away and leave that poor girl alone. She wished she had the good sense to disappear and stop causing her so much heartache.
But she couldn’t stay away. She couldn’t walk away from her. Abby was her drug, a wonderful, kind-hearted, beautiful drug, and Brianna was powerless against her effects. Without giving it a second thought, she leaned in once more and crushed Abby’s beautiful, pouty lips with hers. She had feared Abby would push her away and tell her to get lost, but she didn’t. Instead, Abby parted her lips letting Brianna’s tongue slip between them.
Abby too was powerless against Brianna’s powers of seduction. She too wished she could walk away from Brianna and forget she existed, but she couldn’t. She was just a girl, a flawed, stupid girl in love with a wonderful man but also falling head over heels for that man’s sister. Or at least she thought it was love. Maybe it was just lust. She wasn’t sure.
The only thing Abby knew for sure was that she wanted those lips on her. She liked how they felt on her. She liked how they tasted and couldn’t get enough of them. Brianna’s beautiful lips were the reason her world was spinning out of control, but that morning, in that backroom, those lips were like a balm to Abby’s battered spirit. She realized she couldn’t fight her feelings anymore and gave into the mind blowing kiss.
With their kiss growing more and more frantic and their hands sliding up and down the curves of each other’s body, Abby and Brianna began to move towar
ds the table. Without breaking the kiss, Brianna and Abby spun around, switching positions, and continued to move until Abby’s butt was pressed against the edge of the table.
“Sit on the table,” Brianna whispered against Abby’s lips. Her breath was ragged. Her pulse was racing. She was about to do something she shouldn’t. Something that was as inappropriate as it was dangerous. What she had in mind could get Abby and herself in a lot of trouble, but the pent up lust blazing through her veins was clouding her judgment.
Abby, who was wearing a gorgeous strappy summer dress that morning, complied without questions to Brianna’s request that she sit on the table. She had no idea what Brianna had in mind. She just closed her eyes and let herself get lost in another yummy kiss. Brianna assisted Abby by curling her hands behind Abby’s knees and pushing her up until Abby’s butt was firmly resting on top of the wooden table.
Stacks of books and office supplies that cluttered most of the table began to tumble to the ground when Abby scooted back on the table and Brianna nestled her hips between Abby’s thighs.
With Brianna holding her lips hostage, Abby began to panic. Her eyes shot open, and she stared past Brianna at the red curtain covering the door directly across from them. The books falling to the floor made a pretty loud noise. Abby was afraid Jeremy or someone else would come into the room to check on her. Fortunately for her, the bookstore was very busy that morning, and no one seemed to have heard the noise. No one came in to see what was going on.
Brianna, oblivious to Abby’s worries, lunged forward, intensifying the kiss and pushing the few books and office supplies that remained on the table to the ground so Abby could scoot further back on top of the table. Abby slid her butt back, still not realizing what Brianna had in mind.
Betrayal: Brianna's Secret (The Betrayal Series) Page 2