Page 17 of March’s Bad Boy: Ty

I can't answer. My mind is a mess of thoughts, panic swelling inside me like a rising tide. The bookstore--mybookstore--is being taken from me. The owner sold the building, and the new owner isn't renewing my lease. I have two weeks notice. Two weeks to pack up everything, to say goodbye to the dream I built from nothing.

"No, no, no..." My voice cracks as I shake my head, my vision blurring. "This can't be happening."

Ty steps closer, gently prying the paper from my fingers to read it himself. His jaw clenches, his anger rising the more he reads.

"Kara," he says, reaching for me, but I step back, shaking my head frantically.

"I'll lose everything." My voice is barely above a whisper. "The store, my customers, the community I built here... I have nowhere to go, Ty."

His expression darkens, his hands balling into fists. "We'll figure this out. I promise."

But the weight of reality is already crushing me, pressing down on my chest until I can't breathe. I stumble backward, my heart hammering as the panic threatens to consume me.

Ty moves to steady me, but I shake him off, needing space, needing to think. "I... I need to go."

"Kara--"

"I just need to be alone," I whisper, clutching the notice against my chest as I turn and hurry away.

I walk home, needing fresh air and time to think. It takes me an hour to get there, and I still don't have any idea what I'm going to do.

The second I step inside my house, the weight of it all crashes down. If I lose my bookstore, I’ll lose my house, my car, everything.

Sliding to the floor, my back against the kitchen cabinets, I have the eviction notice crumpled in my shaking hands. Tears blur my vision, hot and relentless. The store isn't just a business, it's my home. It's proof that I belongsomewhere. And now, it's slipping through my fingers.

My chest tightens and my breathing turns shallow. A sob escapes before I can stop it, then another. My body curls in on itself as the panic takes over, a deep, suffocating weight pressing down on me. I've fought so hard, worked so long to build something lasting, and now...

Now it's gone.

The room feels too big, too empty. Just like when I was a kid, shuffled between relatives, always trying to prove I was worth keeping.

I think about the countless nights I've spent here after closing the shop, curled up on my couch with a book and a warm tea. The thought of losing it all makes my chest ache. The kids who come in every Saturday for story time, the elderly man who buys a paperback every few months. It's all slipping away.

A vibration from the counter jolts me from my downward spiral. My phone.

I reach for it with trembling fingers, barely able to read the words through my tears.

Ty: Hey, just checking on you. You, okay?

I squeeze my eyes shut, my fingers hovering over the keyboard. I type, then delete. Because if I tell him the truth--that I feel completely alone and terrified--he'll try to fix it. And I can't ask him to do that.

A second message comes through almost immediately.

Ty: Kara. I mean it. Are you okay?

The dam breaks. Before I can stop myself, I type one word.

Me: No.

His response is instant.

Ty: Can I come over?

I hesitate, wiping my tear-streaked face. I never ask for help. Never let anyone in when I'm falling apart. But this is Ty. He already sees me, even when I don't want to be seen.

Me: Yeah.

I don't know how much time passes before he shows up, but he doesn't even knock, he just walks in and right to me.

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