I jerk to my feet, popping off the worn couch. I can't wrap my mind around his bottled-up anger. "What the fuck is your problem?"Laughter bubbles up from his throat. There's an ugly twist to his lips that I find unnerving. I shake my head as my eyes narrow. I'm at a complete loss as to who my brother has morphed into.Is this the same happy-go-lucky kid who followed me around the playground? I can barely remember back that far. He's a different person than the one he used to be five years ago. If I could find my bitch of a mother, I would wring her neck for putting us through this."What the fuck is my problem? That's rich!" He shakes his head like I'm the butt of a joke.I clench my hands."Seriously dude? You have absolutely no fucking clue what's been going on around here." His eyes widen at the confused expression on my face. "What? You think because you pop in every once in a while that everything is under control?" His gaze cuts to my father. "Why don't you tell

"Hey, is everything okay?"My gaze slices to Sam who hovers at the threshold of my bedroom. Guess I hadn't realized I'd been staring off into space. There's a lot of shit on my plate and it's hard not to feel overwhelmed.I'm trying to work with the bank and buy more time but given the fact that my father didn't bother to respond to their previous attempts to contact him, they're not exactly sympathetic to our plight. Maybe if I'd found out a little sooner, I could have done something about it. We have little more than a week until my family is supposed to be packed up and out of the only home we've ever known.I don't understand what Dad had been thinking. And no amount of apologizing on his part makes the situation better.I shake myself out of those thoughts and shove my hands through my hair before dragging my gaze to him. "Yeah, it's fine," I say with a shrug. "Just some home stuff." I almost laugh.It's always home stuff.It never gets better.Doubt flickers across his ex

I'm not sure what I was thinking when I agreed to this.All right...yes, I do.I'd been thinking that I had no business getting involved with a guy who is twenty years old and still in college. Someone who is leaving town in a few months and won't be looking back once he makes it to the NFL.When I found Tyler standing in the doorway of my classroom, I had a moment of weakness and thought-why not? Maybe I need to give our relationship one last shot. We certainly weren't perfect, but I did love him. And Tyler is a good man.I could do a lot worse.That's exactly what my thought process had been forty minutes ago. It's also how I ended up in a restaurant, having dinner with Tyler. But somewhere in those forty minutes from when I saw him at my door to us sitting at a table and waiting for our dinner to arrive, I realize deep down that it will never work.Now that I'm here, and see the hopeful expression written across his earnest face as he tells me about all the ways he'll change i

My gaze travels around the new apartment my family moved into. It might not be much, but it's the best we could come up with on short notice. Hell, we were lucky to snag one with three bedrooms.So...there's that, at least.No one is happy about the move. Both Cullum and Claire have been uncharacteristically quiet about it. They understand there wasn't much choice in the matter. And Dad...well, he's been silent for obvious reasons.It feels like I let everyone down by not being able to buy us more time with the bank and save our home. The only positive is that we have a plan moving forward. My brother will continue to work until I start earning a paycheck. As soon as that happens, he'll quit his job and focus on high school. I'll handle the bills from now on until my father has completed an outpatient treatment program and can be trusted to deal with that responsibility again.Whenever that is.It sucks that everything had to fall completely to shit. I'd thought we were at le

I clear my throat along with those thoughts. "Thank you for coming. I was going to call my car service to repair the tire."His gray gaze locks on mine, holding it captive until my knees turn weak. "It's not a big deal. I'll have it changed in no time and you can be on your way."I shift my weight, wishing this was easier. "Well, thank you. I appreciate you getting here so quickly."Emotion flickers in his gaze. Silence stretches between us and I wonder if he'll address the strange situation we now find ourselves in. Instead, he says, "Is there a spare in the trunk?"Air rushes from my lungs. "Yes!" I back away to the front of the car. "I'll pop open the trunk."His attention stays focused on me as he nods.I have no idea what he's thinking. Is he happy to see me or does it no longer matter?My fingers tremble as I lean inside the driver's side door and hit the button that will release the trunk. While I do that, Liam walks back to his car to grab his tools. Within minute