Page 187 of Edge of Unbroken

One would think that after years of living in a heightened state of awareness I’d have learned to expect the unexpected. But apparently the only thing I’ve learned to expect is pain, because I didnotsee this coming. I should have, though. Obviously. My dad and Penny have been together for quite some time now; she lives in our damn house. For fuck’s sake, she and my dad have kitchen sex, and living-room sex, and all kinds of other sex I don’t want to know about. Of course, I should have expected them to maybe want kids together at some point. It’s not like my dad’s old by any means. Mid-thirties. That’s when a lot of people only start having babies. Why should he be done? Why shouldn’t he be allowed to start an entirely new life, with an entirely new woman, building himself an entirely new family? It’s not like the old one was so great. And now that his divorce is final, Steve is about to move to Boston, and I’m entering college, there’s absolutely nothing to stop him from doing exactly that… but, fuck, I can’t say the thought doesn’t hurt.

“What the fuck happened, Ran?” I hear Shane’s voice and look up to see him and Tori making their way down the short cement walkway that cuts clear through the narrow patch of grass that constitutes our front “yard.” I was so damn stuck in my head, I didn’t even hear his Jeep approach or notice him and Tori climbing out of it.

“Who says something happened?” I ask, well aware of the deep crease on my brow.

Shane cocks an unimpressed eyebrow at me. “Uh, your face.”

I roll my eyes.

“Dude, you look way too damn serious for someone who’s about to have tent sex four nights in a row, so you might as well just spill it.”

The crease on my brow softens. “You’re going to think I’m being a fucking idiot.”

“No worries, I’ve always thought that,” he jokes. “Just spit it out.”

I chuckle. “Good point. Alright, so my dad and Penny just shared the news that they’re expecting twin boys.”

Tori’s mouth drops open soundlessly.

Shane looks stunned, his blue eyes wide, incredulous. “You’re fucking kidding, right?”

I shake my head. “No.”

“Wow. Okay, well, how do you feel about that?” Shane asks.

“I don’t know. Confused, I guess. I don’t know.” My thoughts are jumbled. “I know I should be happy, and I guess I am, maybe? But I can’t help but feel like my dad is building a whole new family. He’s moving on from everything, which is good, but I feel so fucking stuck, Shane.” I shake my head, knowing I’m probably being completely unreasonable.

Shane sighs. “That’s heavy, Ran. I felt something similar when my mom just up and left my dad, Lauren, and me after Liam died. Like she lost her youngest son and suddenly didn’t want anything to do with the rest of us,” he says. “It was obviously a different situation, but I just… I think your feelings are valid, Ran. That being said, I don’t think your dad’s building a whole new family. I just think he’s adding on. I mean, he’s young, right? And you and Stevie are doing your own things. Steve’s moving to Boston, you’re at Columbia, you have Cat, you work all the damn time. It doesn’t mean he cares about you any less.”

“And as for you feeling stuck, I get that. I know it’s been rough for you. I mean, you still live in that damn house where your mother beat you to a fucking pulp all the time; you still go back there every single day. And I think you’re still kind of following the same patterns you created for yourself when your mom was around. Right? I mean, you still try to be gone as much as possible, just like you were a year ago; you still do all the same shit, except that nobody has put a fucking hand on you in almost a year now,” Shane says. “So, maybe what you need is a change. Finally get away from that place, you know?”

I nod, then grin at him. “I guess you should know I’m moving in with you.”

A sudden buzz of excitement emanates from him. “Are you serious? When did you decide that?”

I shrug. “I don’t know; probably the day you moved into your apartment? I had always sort of figured that if you still needed a roomie by the time I was in a place to move in with you and I wasn’t going off to, like, California, I would. I wasn’t trying to rush things, but when my dad told me five minutes ago there will be two newborns in a matter of months, I made the call.”

“Holy shit, Ran, I’m trying not to get overbearing right now, butfuck, I’m excited. Let’s cancel this camping trip and move your shit today,” he says with a chuckle.

I laugh. “Woah, man, I’m not foregoing tent sex four nights in a row to pack my crap and move!”

“Who’s having four nights in a row of tent sex?” The ring of Cat’s beautiful voice flows into my ear.

I turn to look at her as she emerges from the house. Magic. “You and me,” I tell her with a wicked grin. My smile gets even wider with the light-pink hue warming her cheeks. I’ll never get tired of making her blush.

“Oh, yeah?”

“Duh.” I pull her into my arms.

“Did you already tell Shay about your decision?” Cat asks.

“To have tent sex with you four nights in a row? I think he already knew,” I say with a sarcastic shrug.

She swats at my shoulder. “To move in with him.”

“He just told me,” Shane says. “Holy shit, man. I can’t even tell you how stoked I am to finally have you as my roomie. Freaking epic. There are going to be parties, and girls—”

He’s interrupted by Tori and Cat, who both start yelling at the exact same time, making me laugh.

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