Betrayal: Brianna's Secret (The Betrayal Series) by Sofia Velardi Page B

barely left her mouth when Brianna gripped the side of Abby’s face and crushed Abby’s lips with hers. With a kiss that was as passionate as it was short, Brianna claimed Abby as hers. She was certain she had changed Abby’s mind about them not being able to be together. Abby was going to be hers forever, and there was nothing Kyle or anyone else could do about it.
    Brianna broke the kiss and took a step back, leaving Abby breathless and hungry for more.
    “Let’s stop fighting this, Abby,” Brianna urged, still cradling Abby’s face and staring deeply into her hazel eyes. “What we feel for each other is stronger than both of us. It is stronger than any guilt we may feel.”
    The word “guilt” felt like a savage punch to Abby’s stomach. The word conjured images of Kyle’s soulful gray eyes and crooked smile telling her ‘I love you.’ Her eyes began to well with tears, and she whimpered silently.
    “We can’t control what we feel for each other,” Brianna continued. “We can’t fight it. Neither one of us meant for any of this to happen, but it did. It would not be fair to either one of us if we walked away from one another. We deserve to be happy. What do you say, Abby? Let me love you. Let me make you happy. Allow yourself to be happy…with me. So what’s it going to be?”
    Brianna released Abby’s face, dropped her arms to her sides, and took a few steps back. She held her breath, anxiety and fear smothering her heart as she waited for Abby’s reply.
    Abby dropped her gaze to the floor and pulled her bathrobe up until it was covering her naked body. With her gaze still cast downward, Abby wiped tears from the corners of her eyes with the pads of her fingers before wrapping the bathrobe around her body and tying it up. Without uttering a single word or looking up, she staggered past Brianna.
    Brianna watched Abby walk past her but did not make any attempt to stop her or talk to her. She didn’t even turn around to see where she was going. She was too stunned by the realization that her attempt to change Abby’s mind had failed.
    Hunched over and clutching her chest with both hands, Abby walked out of the open kitchen and past the dining room area on her way to the bedroom.
    Brianna had never felt more crushing disappointment than she did that Saturday morning. She felt like such an idiot. She had poured her heart out to that girl. She tried her damnedest to make her see they belonged together, but it didn’t work. Abby was on her way to the bedroom to get dressed and go home. Brianna was convinced she wasn’t going to see her ever again.
    Brianna was not angry at Abby. She was angry at herself for being too stubborn. She wanted to kick herself because she had blown the chance of having Abby in her life even if only as a friend.
    Is this what it feels like to have your heart broken? Brianna asked herself. She had spent her entire adult life afraid of getting too close to anyone because she feared getting her heart broken. She had grown up with a mother and a father who made her feel she wasn’t worthy of love, so she pushed people away. Every time one of her relationships started to get too serious, Brianna always found a way to sabotage it.
    Then Abby came along. Brianna felt a connection with her she hadn’t felt with anyone else before. She thought it was safe to take a chance and give in to her feelings, but she was wrong. The one time she dared to dream and fall for someone, she gets her heart handed back to her shattered into a million tiny pieces.
    That was it for Brianna. She wasn’t going to try anymore. She was coming to terms with the painful fact that she was destined to be alone forever.
    Still standing in the middle of the open kitchen, Brianna remained motionless. She still wouldn’t look behind her. She was fighting as hard as she could to keep the sobs in the back of her throat from coming out. She wasn’t going to let Abby see her cry. She was too proud for that. She was