If I Break THE COMPLETE SERIES Bundle (90 page)

“This girl has been nothing but trouble since the day she got here. Her and her crazy family,”

“Oh, that’s really nice dad,” I spit back. “Because we’re the picture-perfect family ourselves,” I say sarcastically and walk past him.

When he grabs my shoulder, I jerk away from him and go back into the house. The kitchen is empty except for my mom, who’s cleaning up the aftermath of what just happened. She looks at me, exhausted and regretful.

“I’m sorry, Mom,” I apologize, and she shrugs.

“It’s not your fault, Chris. Things like this are to be expected, I guess. We’re all getting to know one another’s personalities. It’ll get better,” she says, giving me a reassuring squeeze before she finishes sweeping the floor. I enter the living room and see Lauren’s friend Hillary sitting on the couch next to Lisa and Aidan sitting across from her.

“She’s a fucking bitch,” she spouts angrily, her arms and legs crossed tightly. She’s still furious. Her hair is blond at the roots, but turns a bright shade of red. She’s wearing leather boots up to her knees and a white leather jacket. She looks like she still wants to fight. If she weren’t so pissed off, I’m sure she’d be a pretty girl. She and Lauren seem so different. She actually reminds me of a more hotheaded version of Lisa. She glances up at me when she sees me enter the room and rolls her eyes.

“Look, I’m sorry to disrespect your house like that. I apologized to your mom and now I’m apologizing to you,” she says, throwing her hands up. “But I’m not going to let anyone talk to my best friend that way, especially when she’s really trying to be nice. I don’t know if you’ve seen Lauren pissed but she can go there fast. She was really trying in there,” she states.

“How long have you guys been friends?” Lisa asks cautiously.

“Since college. We’re not on the best terms right now but I’ll be damned if I let someone talk to her like that.” She then turns her attention to me.

“At first I thought you were lying. I didn’t know whether to believe all this or not, but now I know you’re not Cal,” she says, looking at me bitterly.

I sigh. “Why is that?” I ask.

“Cal would never let anyone talk to Lauren like that,” she says before getting up and brushing past me. I think this is the first time in my life I’m embarrassed to be myself.

“Dude, I think I’m in love,” Aidan says, following her.

“Chris. I’m sorry. I told Lauren I’m sorry. If I hadn’t brought it up that would have never happened,” Lisa says, walking over to me.

“That was going to happen sooner or later.” I sigh.

“What’d Jenna say?” she asks.

“She got pissed and left.” I shrug with a sigh.

“You didn’t go after her?” she sounds surprised.

“No. You think I should’ve?” I ask. Now I’m surprised.

“No. Just surprised you didn’t.” She shrugs.

“Where’s Lauren?” I ask.

“In her room with her aunt. I think she’s trying to get Lauren to go back with her,” Lisa whispers.

“Today?”

“I mean, can you blame her after that disaster in there?” Lisa continues.

I nod. She’s right. “How serious was Lauren about staying here?” I wonder aloud.

“She seemed to be seriously considering it. I don’t know about now…” she trails off as Lauren’s aunt Raven emerges from the room. She doesn’t look happy.

“Christopher. Can I speak with you?” she says, looking up at me. She’s about my mom’s height but the expression on her face couldn’t be more intimidating.

“Sure,” I say. Lisa smiles tightly before excusing herself.

“I’m going to be blunt here. I’ve tried to convince my niece that she should come back home with us.”

“I understand,” I nod.

“She’s refused. I’m not surprised. I’m upset but not surprised. She’s still stubborn as all get out. But of course you know that.” She glances up at me.

“Or maybe you don’t.” She sighs, rubbing her head.

“I want my Lauren to come home in one piece, Christopher. I’m not generally a harsh person but I want to impress upon you the importance of what I’m saying to you.”

“I understand,” I tell her genuinely.

“I don’t think you do. Most people don’t want to hurt anyone, it just happens. She’s been through so much. If you’re confused about all this, if you’re in love with that other girl, just let her go. Don’t play with her, don’t string her along. We’re going to be stuck together for at least 17 more years, probably even longer than that. You do not want to be on my bad side.” And with that, she leaves me standing in the room alone.

T
hey’re gone. It wasn’t easy to get them to leave without me, but I did it. At this point, the only reason I’m staying is that I promised Mrs. Scott. I promised myself that I’d stay until I get some type of closure. The closer it gets to the time I’m supposed to leave, the more it feels like I’m saying goodbye, goodbye to my past, and goodbye to the man I love. There have been times along the way where I thought I might get my happy ending after all. But, as soon as they come along, something horrible happens and I feel that happy ending being snatched away. But the divorce papers were the real show stopper.

He’s had divorce papers all this time. All the times we’ve laughed and joked and spent time together, he’s probably been figuring out how he’s going to get me to sign the papers so he can make a clean break. I wish he would have mentioned them to me before. Maybe I wouldn’t have been so blindsided, so embarrassed in front of our friends and families. I know there’s not a good way to say ‘hey I want a divorce.’ But, as terrible as it would have been, I would have preferred to hear it from him instead of Jenna.

I don’t understand why he’s with her. I won’t lie, she’s really pretty when she’s not frowning, I’m sure she could be considered beautiful, but her attitude is absolutely disgusting. Then again, she hates my guts. I can’t really blame her. But if the roles were reversed, I’d never treat someone the way she’s treated me. There has to be something sweet and kind in her…but who am I to judge? A lot of people didn’t understand why Cal and I were together. They failed to see the good in him, even his own father. Thankfully, I haven’t been able to obsess over what happened today.

Caylen’s been crying all night. She has a little tooth coming through. I’ve walked her around, given her warm milk and baby pain reliever, but it’s been no use. There’s starting to be a small ringing in my ears from the crying, but I’d rather not hear my own thoughts right now.

“I know, baby. I know,” I say, walking the room, bouncing her up and down again. I hear a knock at the door. It’s probably Mrs. Scott coming in again to offer her help. She’s done it several times, and I’ve told her she needs her rest. She gets up so early in the mornings for the farm and I don’t have anywhere to be.

I open the door and see Chris standing there instead. I haven’t spoken to him since the dinner earlier today. I haven’t wanted to talk to him at all.

I’m not exactly ready now.

“I texted you. You didn’t respond,” he says bashfully.

“Kind of hard to hear an alert with a screaming baby,” I joke, but my tone is dry.

“What’s wrong with her?” he asks, reaching for her.

“She’s teething,” I say, gladly handing her over.

“Aww come on, big Cay, that little tooth is nothing,” he says to her. It’s a nick name he’s given her. He bounces her up and down, hugs her close to him, and makes faces at her, but the crying goes on and on.

“Is she okay? Should we take her to the doctor?” After five minutes he’s worried. He’s an amateur.

“She’s fine. She doesn’t have a temperature. Her gums are just irritated and she’s fighting sleep,” I say flatly. Truth is, I’d be as concerned as he was if I hadn’t taken her to the E.R. the first time one of her teeth came in. He looks relieved to hear that. Then he glances back over at me.

“I kind of wanted to talk to you about earlier,” he says, still attempting to comfort her.

“This isn’t really the best time,” I say, glad to have an excuse. He’s a guy and I’m sure his ears can only take so much before he has to excuse himself from the room.

“If I can get her to stop crying, will you talk to me?” he asks in all seriousness. That’s not going to happen.

“Sure,” I say with a disbelieving laugh.

He nods and hands her to me. “I’ll be back in five minutes,” he says and slips out of the room. If he comes in here with sock puppets or something, it’ll be completely adorable, but won’t help a bit. I continue to walk Caylen around, her crying at the level I’ve grown accustomed to. Soon, Chris is back, this time with a beautiful black guitar in hand. I can feel my eyes widen. He smiles sheepishly.

“I haven’t done this in a while,” he says nervously. “Can I sit here?” he asks, gesturing towards the bed. I nod, feeling my stomach start to knot. He sits on the bed and strums a few chords. God, he looks so freaking sexy and he hasn’t even played a song. I’m not supposed to think he’s sexy. I’m supposed to be angry and irritated at how wrong he was for hiding the fact that he wanted me to sign those papers.

He takes a deep breath and starts to play a little more fluidly. I recognize he’s playing
London Bridge,
but a slower version. It’s beautiful. I watch his hands and how he looks at the instrument so intently. I’m so lost in watching him play, I don’t even realize that Caylen’s stopped crying. Once he’s done with that song, he goes into another song. It takes me a minute before I realize it’s a song that’s on my iPod playlist for Caylen.

Oh, Mr. Sun.

Cute.

He plays it fast, then slows the tempo and starts to sing.

And, oh my God, can he sing! And not like the average karaoke singer, but as if he were on one of those talent shows where all the teenage girls would be crying when he’s done. The funny thing is, he started off nervous and a little unsure of himself, but as he keeps playing the nervousness melts away and he’s completely confident in what he’s doing. He’s good and he knows it. He looks up at me a few times with a small grin. He plays like it’s therapeutic for him. Caylen has drifted off to sleep so I put her in bed. I sit in my rocking chair, watching and listening. I close my eyes, feeling all the stress of today melt away. His voice is like a mix between Ed Sheeran and Connor Maynard. I cannot believe I’ve never heard him sing before.

If this were Cal, I’d know for sure he was trying to seduce me, but this is Chris, and I don’t know if he realizes the effect this is having on me. If he plays one more song, I’m pulling him out of this room and being charged for sexual assault.