Alek clears his throat. How long has he been standing in the doorway?
Victor straightens. “I’ll bring your other stuff,” he says and walks to the door.
“No need. I brought everything,” Alek says through a clenched jaw.
My brother stands at the door, blocking Victor’s exit. He has a large frame and the hard muscle of a football player, but by no means is he a match for the Bull. I can only see my brother’s eyes, which are sending warnings to Victor. Finally, he steps back to let Victor pass, but bumps his shoulder into Victor’s as the Bull walks past him. A growl comes from Victor’s chest, and I bet it takes all he has not to punch Alek.
My brother picks up a few plastic bags and my other suitcase and drops them near the bed without a word, without sending me a glance, without approval. He walks out.
Not only have I ruined his relationship with Abi, but I also managed to get two best friends to hate each other. Because that’s what I saw in Alek’s eyes.
The tears pour out—no warning, no sobbing. I sit at the edge of the bed and put my hands on my face.
I ruin everything.
It’s been a minute or maybe five. I don’t really know. The tears stop the same way they started. I stand and head to the bathroom in my room. I clean my face. I need to talk to Abi. I don’t want her to dislike me even more for messing up her plans. I dry my hands and walk out of the bathroom but halt. Abi is sitting on my bed, staring at my dream board. She lifts her eyes to me and smiles sweetly.
“I wanted to help you unpack. I pulled it out of the plastic bag.”
I sit next to her. “It’s my dream board.”
She laughs and I examine her face, but there’s no judgement, no sarcasm.
“For a second I thought you took pictures of my family and glued them to the cardboard.”
My jaw is about to hit the floor. “What?”
“The pool and the house look similar. The people not so much, but they remind me of Mom and Dad and my two brothers. My parents had three kids just like these cuties.” She points to the pictures of the kids.
“You grew up in the perfect family, then. This is my vision of the family I want to have one day. Tell me about them.”
“It’s pretty boring actually. Mom and Dad have been married for thirty-five years. My two brothers are older than me. They’re pests and just as protective as Alek. Maybe that’s why I don’t mind Alek’s crazy, overbearing demands.”
“I want boring. Boring is good. So you don’t want to have a family like that of your own one day?”
“Maybe. But right now I want to travel with Alek. If the Florida team drafts him, I’d be happy to move there for a while. No kids for now. It can wait.”
I gulp and try to recover. Alek hasn’t mentioned anything to me about his next move or the Florida team. I don’t know why Abi’s words catch me off guard, when all I do with Alek is argue.
I need to come to terms with the fact that Alek will leave and won’t be able to keep me safe as promised.
Abi puts her small hand on my shoulder. “You okay?”
“I want to have a family of my own, after graduation. It may sound weird, but I want it to be just like your family. I love kids. I want to raise them and not make the same mistakes as my mom. I want to be a different mom.”
“If that’s what you want, then it’ll happen.”
I smile. “If you haven’t noticed, I’m broken, and I break everything around me.”
“Well, then you’ll have to find a guy who’s strong enough not to break.”
She gives me a knowing look. And Victor’s words that he’s unbreakable sound in my mind.
“Yeah, maybe I should start figuring out how to deal with Alek first. I’m really sorry for causing more trouble for you.”
“You’ll need to forgive him. Nothing is as it seems.”
* * *
