Read From the Inside Out: The Compilation (Scorned, Jealousy, Dylan, Austin) Online
Authors: S. L. Scott
Tags: #Contemporary
From the Inside Out—Omnibus Edition
First Edition
Copyright © S. L. Scott 2014
The right of S.L. Scott to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her under the
Copyright Amendment (Moral Rights) Act 2000
This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced, copied, scanned, stored in a retrieval system, recorded or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either a product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual people living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
ISBN:
978-1-940071-23-7
Cover design: Melissa Ringuette
Cover Image: Coka
Interior Design: Angela McLaurin, Fictional Formats
From the Inside Out—
Scorned
Copyright © S. L. Scott 2014
Cover design: Melissa Ringuette
Cover Image: Coka
Interior Design: Angela McLaurin, Fictional Formats
From the Inside Out—
Jealousy
Copyright © S. L. Scott 2014
Cover design: Melissa Ringuette
Cover Image: Coka
Interior Design: Angela McLaurin, Fictional Formats
From the Inside Out—
Dylan
Copyright © S. L. Scott 2014
Cover design: Melissa Ringuette
Cover image: rilueda
Interior Design: Angela McLaurin, Fictional Formats
From the Inside Out—
Austin
Copyright © S. L. Scott 2014
Cover design: Melissa Ringuette
Cover image: Valua Vitaly Photographer
Interior Design: Angela McLaurin, Fictional Formats
To My Family, With Love
I HATE HIM
with all my soul and every fiber, muscle, and nerve of my being. Dylan Somers broke me and my heart simultaneously, destroying everything I knew my life to be. Over the course of the next year, my friend Brandon had to put me back together. Piece by piece, he glued me back into a semblance of what I used to be before I knew Dylan, or so I thought. What I didn’t realize was he was also bonding himself to me in the process. One night, my friend became my lover. Brandon never should have played that role, especially since I was still too broken to be good for anyone else. So we went back to being friends because I needed a friend more than a lover.
Dylan hasn’t seen me since he walked in and sat down in the same restaurant as me. When my hand twitches, I realize I’ve pulled my phone from my purse, subconsciously to help diffuse the panic attack before it has a chance to hit. I refuse to let his presence overwhelm me or call Brandon every time I start freaking out.
This isn’t a restaurant I frequent and being in the same place after all these years is completely coincidental. I’ve lost my appetite, so I push the plate of food away from me.
I glance over at him and
her
—red hair, red nails, red lips, red shoes, too tight red dress, red clutch perched on the table next to her glass of red wine. Everything about her is cliché and predictable to attract men. I roll my eyes, but then mine meet hers again and I look away. In that glimpse, I caught that her eyes are light colored, maybe blue,
probably
blue.