Read Healed for Free Online Page B

There was no clock in his room. “What time is it?”
    “A little after four.”
    “Wow. I slept that long.”
    His hand came up to caress my cheek. “I think you needed the rest.”
    “I guess I did. How did I get up here? I don’t remember waking up to walk up the stairs.”
    He laughed. “You didn’t. You were dead to the world, so I carried you up.”
    The muscles in my shoulders and back were so tense. Reaching above my head with both arms, I did the best I could to stretch them out. When my arms dropped, Andrew’s hands landed on my shoulders, rubbing relaxing the muscles.
    “Mmm . . .” I sighed. It felt wonderful.
    Leaning down, he pressed a small kiss to my cheek. “Just so you know, a few people stopped over to hang out.”
    This was news. “Who?”
    “Caleb, Angie, and Josh. Morgan and Nick went to go grab pizzas.”
    “Josh is here?”
    “Yeah, apparently Lauren is with her mom for the next two days. Caleb and Angie thought he needed to get out of the apartment.”
    “We can hang out with them if you like, or we can hide in here for the rest of the night? It’s up to you.”
    Did I really want to hang out with everyone tonight? I was still pretty tired, but it would be good for me to spend some time with my friends. It would be fun and a chance to relax, just like brunch .
    “Let me just change real fast. I think it will do Josh good to be out and about for a few hours."
    “Okay, I’ll be in the living room.”
    Placing a soft, sweet kiss on my mouth, he turned and left the room. The feeling of peace always surrounded me when Andrew was nearby.
    I didn’t let many people in. Andrew was one of the few exceptions. It wasn’t like I had issues at home that made me pull into myself—quite the opposite. My family and I were close and, next to Angie, my sister was my best friend. As for my parents, there were no secrets between us. In high school, I was completely insecure, always worried about what people would think of me, so when I left for college I promised myself I wasn’t going to be that way. I wasn’t like that at home with my parents. In fact, most of the time my temper was out of control. There was no reason that I couldn’t be like that in college . . . perhaps with just a little less bitchiness.
    The idea partly worked. I was no longer the girl who avoided things out of fear, and I earned a reputation for speaking my mind. It was an okay trade. My friends knew me well enough to understand that when I flipped my lid, it was just my temper talking.
    Then there was Andrew. He was the one person I let in, and the person who saw all of me. For the first time in a long time it didn’t matter that I had a temper or that I got in trouble for speaking my mind, because Andrew loved me for me.
    Sighing, I sat down on the edge of the bed, trying to regroup my thoughts quickly, knowing if I wasn’t out there soon, Andrew would get worried and come looking for me.
    It didn’t take me long to change into a pair of jeans and a long sleeve top. The days were getting warmer the further we got into spring, but the nights were still very cool. The minute I opened the door, the smell greeted my nose. Chinese food—one of my favorites. When I walked into the living room, everyone was sitting around, white containers and chopsticks in their hands.
    “That smells so good,” I said when I reached the end of the hallway.
    “Hey, sweetie. Did you have a good nap?” Angie asked from her seat across the room, a big smile on her face.
    “Yeah. Not enough sleep lately. Too much studying,” I answered, knowing Angie was probably just as tired as I was, since Lauren was staying with them.
    “Yeah. Me too. School sucks sometimes.”
    Because my attention had been on Angie, I was surprised when a white container and a pair of chopsticks appeared in front of me. At the same time, a set of lips touched right behind my ear, sending shivers through my body.
    “I got your favorite,” Andrew whispered in my