Laying it Bare with a Friend Request (Laying it Bare Series Book 1)

By L.E. Martin

Harley Minnow has traveled through five states to attend college to escape her troubling family but too bad she can’t escape the abusive ex-boyfriend who attends the same one. Scorched by the effects of that relationship she vows to never give someone that power over her again. So when her best friend’s “accidental” acceptance of a friend request from a mysterious guy on her account leads to an unexpected encounter, Harley has her reservations.

Shade Michaels has always been the shy awkward type on the dating front. He can’t seem to string two coherent sentences together in the presence of the opposite sex. Frustrated with all of the disappointments, he hasn’t been on a date in a long time. So when a friend’s suggestion to use social media connects him with Harley he sees it as a step in the right direction but now what? Accepting his request and swapping a few online comments is one thing. Hanging out in person is completely different. Why should he expect this time to turn out any differently?

However, when the two of them meet, he discovers with Harley his unease is nonexistent and an intense attraction between the two of them ensues. He believes he has found the one but she’s not ready to trust again and a relationship is the farthest thing from her mind. But as he slowly breaks down her walls and the sex between them heats up, can he find a way to make her his own or will his insecurities and her past destroy any chance they have?

• Language: English
• Publisher: L.E. Martin
• Release date: Apr 12, 2019
• ISBN: 9780463319611

L.E. Martin

L.E. Martin is currently working on adding more books to her Laying it Bare Series. She has a couple biker stories in the works and also a rock star one. Her next release is book one of a paranormal romance duet, which is releasing Oct. 15, 2022. There will also be another paranormal story following a side character from the Blood Covenant world releasing after book two of the duet.

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Laying it Bare with a Friend Request

Copyright © 2019 L.E. Martin

Cover Designed by Emily Rose

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, including electronic or mechanical, without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embedded in reviews. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

For my mom

I can’t believe it’s been two years already,

but I still miss you terribly.

One

~Harley~

As I walked toward my apartment building in the warm Florida sun after my final class for the day, I couldn’t stop the smile spreading across my face. It was Friday and my roommate and I had plans to go see our favorite band tonight. Nothing could ruin my mood. Melody and I had seen Rhythm and Tonic every time they played at one of the local bars near the University of Florida where we were both currently starting our senior year. I had no doubt it was going to be a great night.

Harley, wait up. Until an unwelcomed command shattered my growing excitement.

I didn’t need to glance over my shoulder to see who had shouted that order. I shifted from my leisure pace to almost a full out run. Sprinting across the newly trimmed grass that decorated the front of my apartment building complex, I narrowly missed crushing a patch of tulips that hadn’t been there yesterday.

Hoping for a smooth getaway, I shoved my ID at the building censor, waited a split second for the buzzer to sound, and then darted inside.

However, my escape was short lived. In a matter of seconds, my ex had me pinned against the inside wall, his scowling face a breath away from mine, sandy blond hair falling across his forehead.

I told you to wait. His blue eyes that I had once found irresistible glared at me in frustration.

And it’s my choice to ignore assholes like you. My green eyes held his stare.

You don’t have a choice when it comes to me. When I want to talk to you, He shoved me violently against the unyielding stone causing my head to connect roughly with the hard surface. You wait.

Get your hands off of me. I have nothing more to say to you, Eddie. I don’t want anything to do with you. My petite body was engulfed by his six foot frame but that didn’t mean I took his shit. I pushed back at him and kicked him in the shin.

His answering slap made me momentarily see stars.

I want us to get back together. A bunch of –

That will never happen. I dug my fingernails into his forearms, hoping for just a minor distraction so I could break free and bolt.

He grabbed both of my hands in one of his and trapped them above my head. So you want to play rough, huh? Gripping a section of my reddish blonde hair, he gave it a tug.

No. I just want you to leave me alone. As tears burned the backs of my eyes, my saving diversion came in the form of Alan Wilderman, a huge guy who should be a defensive back for the Florida Gators but instead played intramural football here at the college.

Hey Harley, Eddie. Are you guys going out tonight? Alan mentioned nothing about the altercation we were in but drew Eddie’s attention for a brief second so I was able to slip out of his grasp. Once I was free, I didn’t waste a second but scurried to the steps that would take me to my second floor apartment.

Have a lot to do. See you around, Alan. I yelled over my shoulder as I hit the bottom of the staircase at full throttle and then climbed the steps two at a time.

When I finally made it to my door, my breaths were sawing in and out of my lungs at an inhuman rate and I fumbled for my keys – panic setting in that my brief hesitation would give my asshole ex a chance to catch up to me.

Thankfully, my door opened and I all but fell into my roommate.

What the hell is wrong with you? Your face is flushed and you look as if the hounds of hell are chasing you.

I pushed her inside, slammed the door, and engaged the lock and dead bolt before twisting to shoot her a look.

Seriously? She stared at me in disbelief.

Yeah, seriously. I marched down the hall to drop my bag onto the small dining table that sat in our mini kitchen before heading to the refrigerator to grab a bottle of water. Fighting with a delusional psycho takes a lot out of a girl. After unscrewing the cap, I took a huge swallow of water before continuing. He slammed me against the wall downstairs and demanded we get back together. Then I dragged my sorry ass the short ten feet to our living room and plopped down onto the worn maroon couch, propping my feet up onto the coffee table. Leaning back against the cushions, I closed my eyes and rubbed the back of my head. A small pounding had erupted there from the two blows my lovely ex had delivered. Most boyfriends had flowers or chocolates delivered to the girl they cared about. Mine had fists. Not that he was my boyfriend anymore.

You didn’t agree to that, did you? Melody sat down beside me.

Opening my eyes, I turned my head to face her, shoving my long locks out of the way.

Melody Winters was a complete blessing from the day I had crashed into her life. Literally. The day I had met her, I had been running from my ex for probably the hundredth time and had slammed right into her body outside her apartment complex. She had threatened to remove his balls if he ever hit me again and the two of us instantly became best friends. I had moved into her apartment that night. That was the middle of my sophomore year and the best thing that had ever happened to me. I didn’t have any siblings and didn’t get along with my parents so she became my family.

No. I can only take so much. He’s had plenty of chances to change his asshole ways. When we broke up last year, I meant that I was completely done. I promise.

Good. I don’t want you to ever get back with him. I can’t stand to see you taking his shit. There are tons of way better guys out there for you.

Sure there are.

She narrowed her brown eyes at me. There are tons. And I won’t hesitate to make good on my threat to remove his balls.

Pounding on our door startled the two of us and I almost bolted from my perch on the couch.

Open up, Harley! I want to talk. Now! Eddie’s angry voice boomed from the other side of our door.

Do you want me to call the police? Melody whispered.

No. Don’t make a sound. He’ll go away.

More pounding ensued with such tremendous force behind the blows that for a moment I expected the door to come crashing down.

I’m not leaving until we talk. And the longer you make me wait the more pissed I’ll be.

Doesn’t he realize he’s threatening you with at least one witness within listening distance? Are you sure you don’t want me to call the police? She tugged her hands agitatedly through her dark hair. Someone needs to put him in his place.

I shook my head. He’ll go away or someone else will call. I don’t want to have to deal with anything else regarding him. That’s part of the reason I’ve never filed charges against him. While I pressed my fingers to my temples – as the ache from the back of my head crept around to the front – I waited for my psycho ex to decide he’d just attack me at another time.

Melody and I sat on the couch staring at one another as my crazy ex pounded on the door screaming insults and threats at me.

Knock off the noise out there or I’m calling the police. Thankfully, one of my neighbors had grown tired of Eddie’s juvenile behavior.

Fuck you and mind your own business. Eddie shouted back.

When I call the police, I’ll make it my business. My furious neighbor retorted.

I’m fucking leaving, Asshole. Harley, I’ll be seeing you later. He threatened.

I rolled my eyes. Who all is going out with us tonight? I snatched my phone from my pocket and glared at the black screen. Figures. His assholeness must have sucked the life out of my phone battery too. I set it on the coffee table.

Melody laughed. I don’t know how you can make a joke about that. He’s certifiable. And here you are thinking about our plans tonight and not even giving his threats a second thought.

If I let him get to me every time he caused me aggravation, my life would be even more miserable than it is usually. I want to think about having fun tonight. And if he approaches me tonight, I’ll have a group with me so it shouldn’t be bad, physically anyway. Besides, I’m starting to let his verbal shit bounce right off of me.

I hopped up off of the couch. I’m going to grab some wine, glasses, and my laptop. Actually, first I need to charge my phone for tonight. I swiped my phone from the coffee table and headed in the direction of the kitchen.

Skip the glasses. I think we can finish off a bottle. It will save on time and water not to have to wash the glasses then. We can just toss the empty bottle or two into the garbage. Melody smirked at me.

I’m liking that plan.

After rummaging through our junk drawer by the sink, I pulled out my charger and plugged my phone in at the counter. Then I retrieved a bottle of our favorite Merlot and grabbed my laptop before walking back to the living room and plopping back down onto the couch. I unscrewed the cap before taking a long swallow of wine. Yum. Nothing like a fine wine to unwind with after a tantalizing discussion with the ex.

Give me that bottle. You should probably be shut off before you even begin. Melody guzzled down her own taste.

I shook my head before powering on my laptop and then scrolling through my Facebook wall to see if any of our friends had posted anything about tonight’s outing.

I spent the next ten minutes commenting on my friends’ posts, wishing happy birthdays, and finding out which of our friends were heading out with us tonight and which ones were heading home for the weekend.

Melody gazed over my shoulder to my page. Hey you have some friend requests. Wonder if one of those could be a better guy for you than the one who is currently up your ass.

I clicked on the friend request icon.

Hey, a Shade Michaels wants to friend you. No picture though. Ooohh a mystery. Melody pressed herself up against my side.

I’m not friending someone I don’t know. No picture, he’s probably a stalker. I don’t need another one of those.

Or he could be a billionaire hottie looking for a wife. Let me see. Melody grabbed my laptop from me.

Yeah, like that would ever happen to me. You know the kind of guys I attract. I tried to snatch my laptop back. Give me my computer.

Come on. Let’s just see what we can find out about him.

Nothing. Unless you are someone’s friend you can’t see their information. When I brushed Melody’s hand away to grab my computer, her finger tapped the accept button.

Oh my God. Melody! Look what you did. You made me friend him.

It was an accident. Sorry. But it’s no big deal. It’s not like he knows where you live or your number.

No. He can just see everything I post. And something told me her slip wasn’t an innocent accident. I snatched the bottle of wine and downed a few more swallows before setting it back on the coffee table.

And you can see everything he posts. And get information on him. She placed my computer back onto her lap. Let’s see who this mysterious guy is. I like his name, Shade. She said his name like she was trying out a new brand of chocolate.

Yeah, she definitely hit that key on purpose.

I rolled my eyes again, causing me to wince. I probably should have taken some Advil and water instead of a half a bottle of wine. At this rate, I was going to have a throbbing headache before I even hit the bar tonight. I need to get something for this headache. You can finish the wine.

I headed back into the kitchen to rummage through our junk drawer again. After I found the blessed Advil, I chased two down with the rest of my water before rejoining Melody on the couch.

Look. She twisted the screen so I could see what she had been gazing at. He’s an artist. Check out this drawing. He’s really good.

He had posted an immaculate charcoal sketch of a woman sitting on a blanket watching her baby crawl. And I had to admit, he was incredibly talented.

What the hell did you just do? I squawked at my friend. I was going to have to kill her. Plain and simple.

I posted that his drawing was gorgeous and that he was very talented. Melody looked at me as if she couldn’t believe I was flipping out on her.

"No. I posted it. Because you’re on my account." I ripped my computer from her.

She shrugged. So. It’s not like you said you thought he was so talented you wanted him to meet you to draw you naked or something. But you could suggest that. She waggled her eyebrows at me.

I slugged her in the shoulder. Really? I have one psycho who won’t leave me alone. I don’t need another.

You haven’t met him. Nor do you ever have to. And we don’t know he’s psycho.

And we don’t know he’s not. I didn’t think Eddie was psycho and look how great that turned out for me.

Yeah, well, I knew he was a psycho right from the start. And I told you so but you didn’t listen because he had gorgeous blue eyes and –

I slugged her in the shoulder again, only this time with much more force. Don’t remind me. Although in all fairness I only got back together with him one more time after I moved in with you. But he had me fooled and that will never happen again.

Then there is no harm in your comment on Shade’s picture. You probably made his day because he’s some shy quiet artist.

I hope you’re right. I have enough problems right now with one guy. I don’t need or want anymore. I desperately needed a change in topic. How about we go raid our closets for outfits for tonight?

That should leave us with just enough time to grab showers and pretty ourselves up. Melody quipped.

I really need to go shopping, don’t I? Is my closet really that bad?

Yes, it’s a disgrace to college girls everywhere. But you can borrow something of mine if we can’t find something sexy hot for you. You need to be on the prowl tonight.

"Why don’t you go on the prowl? I’ll just dance my night away."

Melody grabbed my arm and tugged me up off of the couch. I’m always on the prowl but you need someone in your life so Eddie will finally get the picture and move on.

I followed her down the hallway to our rooms. I doubt he’ll ever get a clue. He has no common sense. I don’t know how he ever got accepted into mechanical engineering. I turned to enter my room but Melody grabbed my arm.

Let’s save us some time and raid my closet first. I want to have time to grab something to eat too before we head out. Otherwise I’ll be drunk before the night gets interesting.

Okay, but nothing too slutty.

You can trust me. She gave me a smirk.

I groaned and trailed her into her room. Yep, I was going to be dressing like a slut tonight.

Two

~Shade~

With my only Friday class cancelled, I took advantage of the time to finish my drawing of a dragon swooping in on an attacking army. While I loved to draw pictures of people and animals, my favorite thing to sketch was fictional creatures. I could always add my own style, ideas, and designs because they weren’t real. They were what I imagined them to be.

Sitting at the desk in our living room, I was just putting on the finishing touches of his metallic scales when my roommate Toby Matthews barged through the door.

You lucky son of a bitch didn’t have to go to class today. I swear the professors were just as pissed to have to be there as us. He dropped his bag on the floor right at the entrance. I can’t wait to go out tonight and have a few beers.

Walking around the island that separated our kitchen from the living room, he reached into the refrigerator and pulled out the leftover Chinese from last night and began wolfing it down. Hey, you didn’t want any of this did you? He asked around a mouthful of noodles.

I chuckled. No, I’m good but thanks go ahead and knock yourself out. Then I grabbed my phone to see if my brother had posted any more pictures of my nephew on Facebook. Hayes was born almost three months ago and I had only gotten to see him once when I drove back home to Georgia for a long weekend to visit the day after he was born.

After clicking around, I commented on a few of the new pictures that I couldn’t believe how big he was getting. He was going to take after my brother, a monster. Then I clicked on my notifications and discovered Harley Minnow had accepted my friend request. I sat there with my mouth agape for a moment before clicking on her. I couldn’t believe she had accepted and that quickly too. I had just gotten up the nerve to send the request yesterday. I was completely stunned.

I hadn’t even realized Toby had joined me in the living room.

What’s with the look, dude?

I turned my phone to show him a picture of the hot girl who had just accepted my friend request. Tucker’s girlfriend told me to send her a friend request. She knows her from one of her Psychology classes. She thought maybe we could talk through social media to help me get more comfortable with talking to girls. I can’t believe she accepted my request. She doesn’t know me; maybe Heidi said something to her.

Still shoveling in cold Chinese, Toby walked over to where I sat and leaned down to take a really good look at my phone. She’s definitely hot. I’d bang her.

I slugged him in the shoulder. Don’t be such a douche.

He plopped down on the couch and snatched my phone. I’m sort of kidding. But she is definitely hot and I would not turn her away. Wiping his hand through his unruly mop of blond hair, he scrolled down her wall. Did you check out any of her posts?

No. You took my phone, jackass. Out of all of the guys I hung out with, Toby was the easiest to be around. He never pushed me. He just accepted that I wasn’t smooth with the girls. I got really nervous around them so usually just went out of my way to avoid the interactions. The few dates I had gone on either ended badly or never progressed to a second one. My unease seemed to be quite the turn off for college girls.

She posted a picture of her participating in a reading program for underprivileged children. Hey, she’s sweet and hot. You should comment. Start some sort of conversation. He handed me back my phone.

How about ‘helping underprivileged children is a great way to give back to the community?’ Or does that sound uncool? I glanced over at my roommate.

He clapped me on my shoulder. Sounds good, man. I think you’re on your way to impressing her with your charm. Which might lead to more interesting things. He waggled his eyebrows at me.

I punched him in the shoulder, again. "I would have to be able