Read Inked for Free Online

I just couldn’t.”
    “That’s not an answer,” he scoffed, choosing to ignore the visible tension that was mounting in her shoulders. “That’s not even a lame excuse.”
    Avery lowered her head and averted her gaze as a wave of remorse crashed over her. “Please don’t make this harder than it has to be.”
    “Fine, give me a straight answer and I’ll leave. You’ll never have to see me again.”
    Tell him something, anything, to get him the hell out of here before he wakes up the entire building and causes a scene . Avery sighed and shifted nervously from one foot to the other. Deep down she knew that she should tell him the truth, but the truth wasn’t something she was ready to deal with, so instead, she shut her eyes and sent up a silent prayer, hoping that Brody would accept her answer and leave well enough alone.
    “I wasn’t lying when I told you that I was busy with school. It was the end of the semester and I was swamped with work. I figured that the faster I got through it, the more time I’d have to spend with you over the break. I wanted to make plans with you for the following weekend, but I was called away on a family emergency.” Avery sent up another silent prayer. Please God, don’t let him push this any further . But before she could finish her thought, Brody snapped.
    “Un-fucking believable!” he hollered. “I never hear from you again because you had to go out of town? Since when does going out of town impede someone’s ability to make a God dammed phone call, Avery?”
    “I told you already, my life was complicated back then. Besides, I’m not the one who ran off and got married to the first person that came along,” she shot back. “And I’ve already asked you to keep your voice down. If it happens again, I’m going to ask you to leave.” Avery glanced anxiously over her shoulder at the door to her apartment and quietly pulled it shut the remainder of the way.
    “What’s the matter, have you got a boyfriend in there that you don’t want to wake up?” Brody smirked, but the thought of her having another man in her apartment ripped his heart in two.
    “What does it matter to you?” Avery replied, solemnly. “Don’t you have a wife to get home to?”
    “Yes, I do have a wife,” Brody conceded , “but Veronica and I haven’t lived together in months.” He leaned back against the wall trying to gauge Avery’s reaction. If Brody didn’t know better, he was almost certain that a hint of a smile played on the corners of her mouth.
    “So you’re divorced then?”
    “Not exactly, I was meeting Veronica today to finalize the details of out divorce. Things were moving forward until she saw us together today, but I have a feeling that it might get ugly now.” Brody exhaled the breath he’d been unknowingly holding and ran his hands through his hair in frustration.
    “Why would her seeing us together have anything to do with your divorce?”
    “You still don’t get it, do you?” Brody took two steps forward and joined Avery at the door. His hand, as if having a mind of his own, began stroking the soft curve of her cheek. For years he’d longed to touch her again, to feel the softness of her skin against his. And now here he was, standing inches away from the woman he’d pined for, and he knew that this one stolen caress would be all he would get, because hidden behind her apartment door was some asshole boyfriend who probably treated her like shit. But this was his one and only chance to make a plea to the woman who stole his heart on a hot summer’s night so many years ago, and she deserved his honesty.
    Taking a deep breath, Brody began to explain. “For months I waited and prayed that you’d call, but you never did. What I felt for you after spending only one night with you was more than I’d felt for any other woman, ever. After four months without a single phone call or email, I gave up all hope that I’d ever see you again, and that’s when Veronica