AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter One
Astrid
Healing isn’t easy.You must first accept you need it before you can begin your path to become a stronger, more whole person.
This fake philosophical statement was just one of many my mind decided to concoct while I made breakfast.
Bacon sizzled and popped in the cast iron pan on the stove. The warm, caramelized, almost nutty scent of brewing coffee filled the spacious kitchen. Birds chirped and bees buzzed around some hanging plants beyond the open windows of the breakfast nook overlooking the deck, a refreshing summer mountain breeze drifting in.
I cracked another egg into the almost-full bowl, and grabbed my fork to whisk. My mind wandered, thinking of things I needed to do around the retreat today, which wasn’t as much as I was used to.
We had the lowest number of residents living here than I could remember since my father and I arrived when I was seven. Even when my best friend Diego and I went off to college, this place was insanely busy with activity and people needing counseling. But today, it was just me and Diego and three residents. Even my dad had gone off on a guys’ hunting and fishing trip with Diego’s dad.
Of course, they deserved it. They’d worked so hard to keep this place running over the years, I wanted them to get out there and worry about just themselves for once.
And I didn’t mind the lull. It allowed me to really focus on those who were left here, and even on myself. I’d come a long way since my traumatic past that brought my dad and me here, but I still needed to work on a few things.
I gasped when something cold and wet poked my arm. I whirled, and my heart rate kicked up when I came face-to-face with a black and brown furry face with light brown eyes. Closing my eyes, I sucked in a deep breath. I exhaled and looked at the sable German shepherd wagging her tail at my feet. “Angel…”
She whined and nudged my arm again. I stroked her head, noting the slight shake in my hands. I couldn’t ignore the prickle of disappointment in myself. I’d worked so hard to face this fear. I’d gotten to the point where I could raise Angel myself, and I had for the last two years, ever since she was a puppy. And yet, I still had these reactions with her too often.
“Do you want to go outside?” I asked her in a cute voice.
Angel cocked her head and then spun around excitedly. I chuckled, the tension in my shoulders lessening.
When I opened the front door, she bolted out and ran into the yard, toward the surrounding forest. I went back to scrambling my eggs.
My vigorous hand motions paused when a large presence loomed over me. “Yes, Diego?”
“Damn, almost had you that time,” he said, his voice smooth and warm. The sound wrapped around me like a comforting embrace, while also sending a prickle down my spine.
He pulled away, including his hands, which had hovered dangerously close to tickling my sides. “What’s for breakfast?”
“I’m having eggs and bacon. Not sure what you’re having.”
He snagged the tongs from the counter to handle the bacon. “Seeing as it looks like you’ve prepared enough for an army, I’d say you’re feeding post-workout me.”
I turned to face him and was hit with a six-foot tall wall of hotness. Fit, with tousled dark brown hair, a strong profile accentuated by a delicious amount of stubble, and beige skin, his exotic looks turned heads everywhere he went. He had a charming personality that won most over to boot, and I swore I was the only one who didn’t ogle him, or the ripped abs he was showing off in his current shirtless state.
“You know the rules. You need to wear clothes outside your room.”
He turned warm brown eyes on me and I had to stifle a sharp inhale. “I’m only missing a shirt, Astrid.”
Okay, so maybe my lack of attraction to him was a lie. I did ogle when he wasn’t looking. But only when he wasn’t looking, because he was my best friend and life wasn’t a romance book. You didn’t fuck your best friend, no matter how hot, and magically everything turned out perfect and you two lived happily-ever-after.
“Yeah, and do you remember the last time you did that around a bunch of hormonal teenage girls?”
He laughed and gestured to the empty house. “We’re alone. So, unless you’ve got a personal issue with me half-naked…”
Diego added a smirk to his implication, and I had to fight my insides from melting. “Why would I have any personal issue with it?”
He turned to face me, providing a tantalizing view of his physique. His low-slung pants accentuated cuts of muscle, especially the deep V where his hips and torso met and disappeared into his sweats, tempting me to appreciate lower.Don’t look, Astrid. Don’t you dare look at what those gray sweats try to tease.“Hmm, maybe because you’re one of the few who seem so unaffected by me, that it’s almost like you’re trying too hard.”
I rolled my eyes. “Ah, yes, says the guy who, upon meeting me when we were seven, declared openly we were going to be best friends forever right then and there. It’s almost like I took that declaration to heart or something.”
And yet, when we hit our teen years, things changed for me. I saw him differently. The way he made me laugh was different. The way he treated me made me feel things I shouldn’t. And my desire to be with him all the time like some clingy, horny—
I cursed my hormones ever since then as I fought attraction for the guy who clearly only saw me as his best friend, regardless of all the teasing between us. It was always just friendly banter—like now.
