Sidelined
Sidelined
Kyra Lennon
Sidelined © Kyra Lennon 2014
E-edition published worldwide 2014 © Kyra Lennon
All rights reserved in all media. This book may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form, in whole or in part, without written permission from the author.
All characters and events featured in this book are entirely fictional and any resemblance to any person, organisation, place or thing is purely coincidental and completely unintentional.
Other books by Kyra Lennon
Praise for Game On
"Loved this book! Radleigh might be loathsome, but he's magnetic! Kyra has a witty style and excellent character development."
- Elizabeth Seckman, Author of
Past Due
"Game On is a moving, emotional, very real contemporary romance filled with fun, friendship, laughter, and a look on the human condition"
- Clare Dugmore, Writer
Blindsided (Game On Book 2)
Praise for Blindsided
“Once again, Kyra Lennon has brought some fantastic characters to life, and as with Taylor in Game On she hasn't shied away from a love-to-hate character Mischa.”
- Annalisa Crawford, Author of
Cat and The Dreamer
and
That Sadie Thing
“I absolutely loved this book! It was such an easy read, had it done in two sittings, and the love story was so cute and sweet. I think it was a perfect fit for Jesse, because he deserves this kind of love story.”
- Becca Ann, Author of
Reasons I Fell For The Funny Fat Friend
“Blindsided is another first-rate romance from Lennon. It's quite cute at first glance - with attractive teen characters and a snowy, festive setting.”
- Nick Wilford, Writer
Praise for If I Let You Go
This is an amazing contemporary romance novella that makes you giggle, cry, and swoon. It has powerful cast of characters and a clean modern style. I highly recommend If I Let You Go to anyone who loves a good love story.
– Christine Rains, Author of Fearless
“With a fast-paced plot and relatable characters, Kyra Lennon's IF I LET YOU GO is a must read.”
- Cherie Reich, Author of the Gravity series
Acknowledgements
To Annalisa Crawford, Clare Dugmore, and Alex Tanner – thank you for the super fast edits and beta reads. You guys helped in so many ways, and restored my confidence in myself!
Table of Contents
Chapter 1 – Rodeo Drive, Make-Up Tips and Zumba
Chapter 2 – A Real Life Cinderella
Chapter 3 – I Was More On Track With The Pet Hamster
Chapter 4 – The Day That Changed My Life
Chapter 5 – The Age Of Curiousness
Chapter 6 – She Sounds Absolutely Tedious, Darling
Chapter 8 – My Mind Was Like A Jigsaw Puzzle
Chapter 10 – I Just Want To Feel Something Real
Chapter 11 – That Girl Really Loved To Write
Chapter 12 – Stupid, Selfish, Not Worth It
Chapter 13 – He’ll Never Really Be Gone
Chapter 14 – I’ll Remember The Daisies
Chapter
1 - Rodeo Drive, Make-Up Tips and Zumba
“Stop calling me!”
“Bree, I just-”
“I don’t want to hear it, Taylor. Leave me alone!”
I flung my cell onto the bed and threw myself backwards against my soft, fluffy pillows. So over having the same conversation. I should have stopped answering the phone to her but Taylor’s calls didn’t always come from the same number, and what if it was someone important? I hated missing calls from friends – any excuse for a good chat, right?
Taylor was no longer a friend. Not since she broke Jesse Shaw’s heart, broke my trust, and called me a gold-digging tramp. Who needs that kind of negativity in their life? Not me for sure. I’d run out of patience with her endless calls. She’d tried to apologise for the things she said and the crappy things she did, but she hurt so many of my friends. She hurt
me
.
“Bree, honey?”
My husband, Jude, appeared in the doorway looking all soccer-player-sexy in his Westberg Warriors training gear. Okay, blue wasn’t
really
his colour but he still looked hot as he stood in the entrance to our bedroom. His sandy blond hair needed a trim, even though the way it swept across his forehead, slightly covering his brown eyes was sorta cute.
Mmm.
“Bree?”
“Huh?” I said, shaking my head. You’d think after three years together I wouldn’t have been quite so mesmerised by him. Thankfully, Jude adored my ditziness.
He smiled fondly. “I gotta go to work now. You’re going out soon, right?”
I hopped up from the bed to give him a goodbye kiss and bounced up and down on the balls of my feet, grinning. “Yes! I’m going to Jesse’s first then I’ll meet Freya and Leah for lunch!”
There was no point in trying to hide my excitement. Leah moved back to L.A from England a few days before to
finally
be with Radleigh McCoy.
That
was a drama. I always knew their love/hate thing swayed more towards love than hate. Well, sometimes. Whatever, Leah had been gone for several months while they worked things out and I’d missed her like crazy. I couldn’t wait for shopping and girly lunches, and spa treatments and talking for hours.
“Right.” Jude gave a slightly forced laugh. “Well, have a good time.”
Leah wasn’t Jude’s favourite person in the world since she cheated on his best friend a year ago and he hadn’t gotten over the incident as quickly as Miguel had. Jude had this weird idea me being friends with her would mean I’d be influenced by her actions and start screwing one of his team mates. That wasn’t me and Jude knew it, yet he still battled with my closeness to her. I hated that he’d gotten such a bad impression of her. She’d made a horrible mistake but who lives their life without stuffing things up now and again?
“We will have fun,” I told him. “It’ll be so good for us to all be back together! I mean, except for Jesse. I’m still totally bummed out he can’t leave the house for a while.”
“Not as bummed out as we are that he’s gonna be out of action this season. Poor kid.”
Jesse hated being called a kid and I knew because I hated when people thought of me that way, too. Since I’d turned twenty-one the label started to come unstuck, but for the whole time I’d been with Jude some of his friends treated me like a greedy child looking for a sugar daddy to take care of me. Pfft. I’d dealt with more crap in the first eighteen years of my life than most people deal with in a lifetime; I didn’t need to be taken care of.
“He’ll be okay, though, right?” I asked. “His knee operation will make him better?”
“No way to tell yet. Let’s hope so.” Jude pressed his lips to mine again. “Gotta go, beautiful. I love you.”
I smiled up at him. “I love you too.”
With Jude gone, I went back into our bedroom and finished getting ready. A day spent with my friends was my favourite kind of day. I couldn’t wait.
**
“Thank God you’re here,” Jesse said as I walked into his room carrying two mugs of coffee his mom had made for us. He lay on top of his bed, his leg plastered up after his op. While he was on vacation in London he’d had a scary ordeal which led to him ripping the main muscles in his knee. In spite of what he’d been through, he looked pretty good, just a little tired. I figured it must have been hard to sleep with a huge cast wrapped around his leg. I mean, does anyone really sleep lying flat on their back without moving all night? Staying in one position for eight hours is unnatural.
“I was only here a few days ago,” I said with a laugh, placing the drinks down on his bedside table before perching on the edge of his bed.
“Bree, a few days is an eternity when you can’t get up. My mom’s driving me crazy.”
“Your mom’s adorable!”
“She is, but I’m used to having my own space. Living with my parents again is weird, and now I have to rely on them for everything.”
“Don’t take them for granted. They want what’s best for you, Jesse.”
He groaned. “Come on, help me out! Let me bitch and moan.”
“Uh-uh. I’m here to take your mind
off
the bitching and moaning.”
Jesse grinned. “Well, you are my ray of sunshine right now so I’ll take it. What’s new?”
A smile spread across my face. “You know Leah’s back, right?”
“Yeah, she came over yesterday with Radleigh. She said you’re meeting for lunch later.”
I did another small bounce of joy. “Yes, it’s going to be so awesome! I’m super excited.”
“She’s excited, too.” Jesse shuffled towards me a little to pick up his mug. “She can’t wait to see you and Freya now the jet lag’s wearing off.”
“Good because there is
so
much to catch up on, and…”
I barely remembered any of the following words that left my mouth. It pretty much amounted to a long string of excited chit-chat... or pointless drivel, depending on who you asked. Jesse was one of the only people whose eyes didn’t glaze over when I started wittering
“I’m sorry,” I said, after I eventually ran out of steam. “Like you care about Rodeo Drive, make-up tips and Zumba.”
Jesse laughed. “Hey, I wanna hear about everything that has happened and will happen outside of these walls. Okay, the girly stuff isn’t my thing, but I need to live vicariously through someone until I’m allowed to leave the house again. It may as well be someone who loves everything instead of someone who basically wakes up every day and goes through the motions.”
Positivity was built into my genes. As a kid I was always the first one up, ready to start the day. If I were a child in current times, I’d probably have some kind of attention disorder slapped on me. I had no problem concentrating, I just… got carried away sometimes.
“Glad to be of service,” I told him. “But with all my babbling you haven’t had chance to tell me what’s happening with your girl.”
His eyes lit up at the mention of her, and butterflies flapped in my stomach at seeing him so happy. The story of how he met her was too cute! A never-ending holiday romance. That was one of my childhood dreams; to be swept off my feet by a man from a different country. Maybe Italy. Italian men are hot!
“Not much to tell,” Jesse said. “She might visit over Spring break, and by then I should be able to walk again.”
“Do I get to meet her?”
Jesse tilted his head to one side in mock thoughtfulness, and broke into a laugh when I smacked his arm. “Of course you can! I want her to meet everyone eventually. She’s shy, though. I don’t want to overwhelm her.”
“Does she like to shop?”
Jesse laughed harder. “Oh God, Bree. She’s a student so she probably won’t be able to keep up with you.”
“But I can help her pick out cute outfits!”
“She’s not a dress-up doll. Her sister treats her that way sometimes and she hates it.”
“Okay. I’ll think of a different way to welcome her to Los Angeles.” I glanced down at my watch. “Crap! I need to get going or I’ll be late.”
I picked up my purse and quickly checked I had everything. Weird habit. I hadn’t taken anything out, and Jesse was unlikely to have robbed me. Some habits are hard to break.
“Say hey to the girls for me,” Jesse said as I leaned over to give him a hug.
“I will. You take care of yourself and I’ll see you soon, okay?”
“Okay. Bye, sunshine.”
I poked my tongue out, and laughed at my new nickname. “Bye!”