Page 69 of Someone Like You

“So…Gavin, huh?” he said, a hardness in his voice and eyes.

“Yeah. Gavin. What a fucking asshole,” I pointed out—unnecessarily, because after everything that happened, it went without saying that Gavin deserved everything that was coming to him. “He’s in jail now.”

Bri cleared her throat so hard it sounded painful, then said, “I talked to our lawyer.”

Brody twisted the cap back on the water bottle and said, “Oh yeah? And?”

She plopped down onto a chair and smacked her gum, showing teeth in a vicious smile. “He says it’ll be a slam dunk case, considering all the video evidence and the testimony you two newlyweds will give, along with all the other witnesses that were there. The state is going through with a criminal case against Gavin, but we’re allowed to press charges and have our own civil case. He also spoke to the school, and Gavin Forster has been expelled. A faculty member witnessed the entire thing. How lucky is that?”

“I mean, I don’t thinkluckyis the word I’d choose here…” I muttered. But there was a deep satisfaction in knowing that there were not one, but two lawsuits that prick would have to deal with.

Bri’s eyes whipped to mine, and she said, “It was kismet. Is that better?”

I sighed. “Fine. Whatever.” I looked at Brody, who was watching his sister with a fond expression, and it made something inside me melt. He obviously loved his sister, and sheloved him right back, despite the roundabout way she showed affection. They had a close connection, and it made me happy for them.

“Thanks, Bri,” he said.

She put her teeth away and gave him a real smile, and Bri was just as gorgeous as her brother. “I got you, baby bro.”

“Babybro? How old are you?” I asked. I’d always assumed she was younger than him. Because she looked really young.

“Twenty nine,” she said.

I choked on nothing. “You look a decade younger,” I said. And acted it, too, sometimes.

“Yeah, it’s those Italian genes. Thanks, gramps,” she said to the ceiling. “Although I do have a bone to pick with you about the son you raised. Hope you’re setting him straight now, wherever you guys are.”

Jesus. Christ.

“Okay,” Brody said. “I think, on that uplifting note, I’m gonna take a little nap.” His eyes slid to mine, like I was the last thing he wanted to see before he closed them, and he asked, “Stay with me? Be here when I wake up?”

Ugh, this man. “Of course,” I said, kissing his forehead. His eyelids. His cheeks.

“So excited for you to be my servant,” he murmured. “Gonna really take advantage of that.”

“That’s not what I said,” I whispered. “You dick.” I kissed his smile and sat by his side while he drifted off.

ONE MONTH LATER

“Hurry up,Jordan! Please don’t make us latefor our graduation!”

“I can’t find my purple chucks! They’re the only shoes I have that match my?—”

“THEY’RE RIGHT HERE!”

Unbelievable. I grabbed them from the rack by the front door and shoved them at Jordan as soon as he finished sprinting down the stairs. “Put them on in the car,” I said over my shoulder, already hurrying to get in and start it up. We had twenty minutes to get to campus and get in our seats, and while normally it would only take about ten minutes, it was going to be an absolute mob scene and I was freaking out over finding parking. I loved Jordan, but when he made me sweat on days like this, I wanted to throttle him.

I had the car moving before he even closed the door all the way. “Holy shit!” he cried, scrambling to get it shut and put his seatbelt on. “Good lord, Isaac…it’s kind of hot when you get like this.”

I rolled my eyes and focused on getting us to campus.

“Is Brody coming?” Jordan asked when I was slowly driving through the outer fringes of the school hunting for an open spot.

“Yeah,” I said. “Bri’s bringing him, and then I’ll drive him home.” Hell yes, there was a spot! I slid in and grabbed my cap from the backseat. “Come on,” I said to Jordan.

We ran across campus all the way to the auditorium with two minutes to spare. It was going to be a relief when I didn’t have Jordan depending on me for rides anymore, honestly. I could be as early as I wanted now. But damn if I wasn’t going to miss the guy. He’d taken an internship at a counseling center that the school funded and was starting his master’s program in the fall. And while we were both sticking around the area, we wouldn’t be living together anymore.

I was panting when we slid into our seats, and then immediately looked over my shoulder to the multitude of rows that had been set up for family and friends to watch. And there—right there in the front row—was Brody, his eyes already trained on me and a huge smile on his face. My heart thumped in my chest and then sped up as I smiled right back. Bri was to his left, her jaw working as she chewed her gum, looking like she wished she were anywhere else but here. I barely glanced at her before my gaze was drawn right back to Brody, who gave me a wink.

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