Always Only You by Chloe Liese (z-lib.org).epub

Willa slaps the counter and laughs. “You didn’t.”
“Oh, I did.” I slide my hand along Ren’s back and rub gently between his
shoulders, meeting his eyes.
See? You’re not alone. So long as I’m here.
I wish he could read my mind, could hear what I want him to know.
And, the funniest thing happens. It’s as if he does just that. Because he leans
in, with a soft kiss to that tender place behind my ear, and whispers, “Thank
you.”
No sooner does Ren make for the sliding glass door leading out to their deck,
but a tall blonde throws it open and bumps into him. Tugging the door shut
behind her, she greets everyone happily. Golden hair cut blunt to her shoulders.
Sparkly eyes that dance between green and blue, land and sea.
She is sunshine incarnate.
And when she looks up at Ren, I want to summon lightning and smite her.
He gives her a hug hello and quickly steps back. Standing next to each other,
they could not be more perfect looking. A very odd, terrible feeling settles in my
stomach.
That’s the kind of person I used to picture Ren with. An effortless social
butterfly—emotionally nimble, expertly gregarious, who passes out smiles like a
pageant queen at the parade.
She even looks like him somehow. Statuesque and tall. Strong features, wide
smile, alluring body.
“Well?” She elbows him in the ribs. “Can I finally meet her?”
Willa clears her throat. “Since you were my friend first, Rooster, I’d like to
do the honors. Rooney, this is Frankie. Ren’s lady love.”
So this is Rooney, Willa’s best friend from college.
Rooney walks away from Ren, leans in and gives me a gentle hug. “So good
to finally meet you.”
When she straightens and winks at me, it’s as blindingly unnerving as staring
into the sun. But maybe I’m just that unused to people as pathologically cheery
as Rooney. She puts Ren’s temperament to shame.
“You too,” I manage.
Freya stirs whatever alcohol is in the pitcher. I watch it swirl obediently in
the wake of a long wooden spoon. Fruit. Booze.
Sangria.
Oh thank God. I need a vat of it. This is so many people in one place,
including a woman who in this moment of insecure weakness only reminds me
of all the ways I feel inadequate.
“Get out of here, Ren,” Freya says on a wave, as she takes an experimental