Read Every Breath You Take (Oasis Book 1) for Free Online Page A

flinch.
    Glancing over, I saw his eyes widen just slightly and my neck grew hot. “Let’s work. We should–”
    “Please. Hold on.” He held his hands out, palms forward, like he was trying to get me to calm down. Or keep me from running.
    “I can’t.” I shook my head. “Can we work? We need to work.”
    “What did he do to you?”
    My heart stopped. The entire world froze for a moment before I found my voice. “I don’t–I don’t know what you mean.”
    Finn stepped closer. I shook my head. He reached for me. “Charlotte.”
    “Don’t touch me. Finn,” I said, more a plea than a warning. “No…”
    But then he was there in front of me, slow and steady. His arms folded around me. I tensed for a long moment, drowning in memories I’d blocked out for so long. Finn’s smell, his strength, his confidence.
    It chipped away at my defenses, allowed me to be vulnerable. Just for a moment.
    Finn’s arms tightened when he felt me relax. “You can talk to me, you know.” His breath was warm near my ear. “I’m here for you.”
    “Finn,” I breathed.
    “Tell me.”
    I straightened. “No.”
    He tried to keep hold, but I pressed against his chest. “Please. You need to let me go.”
    He released a long breath, and then lowered his arms, saying, “For now.”
    Forever. That’s what I wanted to say. We were both so different now. Maybe we should never have been together in the first place, even though we’d had so much fun together. But we’d had nothing in common then, and even less now. Except for Oasis. And it was best to keep it like that.
    I took a step back, putting space between us.
    Finn ran a hand through his hair and turned to the window, his shoulders tight. “I need to tell you how sorry I am.”
    “You don’t have to.”
    “Yes, I do. I should have…” He sighed. “I don’t know. I should have done things differently. I should have thought about things before I did them.”
    He should have told me he wasn’t interested in a long-term relationship. I told him I loved him and he broke up with me. And the next night he was out with another girl at a bar. Smiling the same smile he used to aim at me. Touching her back, her arm, her cheek. Sharing intimate moments I thought he only wanted with me.
    I thought I didn’t need an explanation, but apparently I did.
    Leaning my shoulder against the wide pane of glass, I waited while he struggled through the rest of what he wanted to say.
    Finn glanced over, eyes piercing. “I didn’t know what to do with how I felt. It’s not a good excuse, I know, but I–it was all so much and so fast–like I had jumped forward in time ten years and I was living my future. The one that was supposed to wait until I was ready.”
    I opened my mouth to speak, but he straightened and shook his head. “Let me get it all out, please. You’re here and this isn’t the first time I’ve tried to do this. I don’t want to miss my chance again.”
    I blinked, and then remembered. He’d called me before. More than once. But after I found out about Oasis, I’d assumed it had something to do with the place. After all, we’d talked all the time about projects and what our plans were for the future. As long as they had nothing to do with love. Finn’s rule, not mine.
    “I wasn’t ready for everything we had then,” Finn said quietly. “I was thinking too big–worrying about work and school and getting to where I envisioned I should be. Which didn’t include a relationship at that point in my life. And when you”–he glanced away–“when you told me you loved me.” He swallowed. “I got scared.”
    I walked back to my desk, feeling unsteady. Scared. I understood scared. I just didn’t understand why he’d dealt with scared in a way that meant breaking my heart.
    Finn returned to his seat across from me, his eyes full on mine. “Not an excuse, I know, but there it is. I’m sorry.”
    I held his gaze for a long moment. “Apology