Page 110 of The Roommate Remodel

As much as I can’t stand Alex, I loved my job. I love the team. And this man in front of me?I’ll always love him.

But my life is a train wreck of loss upon loss. The grief feels like it’s going to crush me.

He stares at me for a long beat, his eyes wide. “Why would you do that?” he asks in a tone that verges on angry. “What about Sloan’s medical care? All the work we’ve put into the fundraiser?”

I give him a half-hearted smile. “I thought you’d berelievednot to perform.”

He looks taken aback at my statement. “I’m not. Iwantto do it.”

I shake my head as a wave of melancholy sweeps over me. “You don’t have to pretend for me, Brax. I know how you really feel about it.”

He blinks. “If you think I wasn’t all in, I was,” he says adamantly, like he needs me to believe him.

“There’s no point if Alex has other plans.”

Brax frowns like he wants to argue with me but then thinks better of it. “We could still do the fundraiser. It doesn’t matter what Alex says.”

I rub my palm across my forehead. “Do we have to talk about this now? Can’t we just get you settled in first?”

Brax glances at his brother, and a look passes between them. “That’s the other thing,” Brax says, rubbing his neck. “We aren’t staying. Vale and I need to head out. The Bayside Apartments had two places just open up.”

The news catches me off guard, and my face snaps to his. “You’re moving?”

Brax looks at the floor, his face unreadable. “We haven’t decided yet.”

My stomach clenches and I suddenly feel lightheaded. I brace the wall for support.

If we lose our renters, I won’t make my house payments. There will only be two options, then—find more renters or sell the house. It’s unlikely that I’ll find a group like this one. They’ve become like the brothers I never had.

Nausea hits me again, this time harder.

“If we decide on it, you’ll find other renters,” Brax says. “It’s for the best.”

For the best?Meaning, being together isnotwhat’s best?

The bile rises in my throat. “If that’s what you want.”

It’s not what I would choose. I want Brax here, so I can prove to him I’m not the person he thinks I am.

I wait for his reaction to show that he’s willing to fight forus. But his silence is like another blow.

A wave of panic rises inside my chest, making it hard for me to breathe.

Oh, please. Not now.

My body cannot betray me in front of Brax. The last thing I want him to remember is me falling apart.

I back up a step, searching for an escape, and nearly trip over a pair of shoes left by the door.

Brax catches my arm. “You okay?” he asks, frowning, his eyes studying my face intently.

“I’m fine,” I say, tearing my arm free, because his touch is going to break me if I don’t. “I’m no longer your problem.”

If I’m going to fall apart, I won’t do it in front of him. He doesn’t need to see how weak and pathetic I am.

I wheel around and rush to my room, locking the door behind me before I crumple to the floor, dragging breath into my burning lungs. The last time this happened, Brax held my hand and wouldn’t let me go. But now the only way through it is to ride out these waves alone.

I curl into a ball and let everything—the regret, the fear of losing Brax, all the mistakes I’ve made with my heart—wash over me.

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