Page 40 of Caught Up In You (The Monroes 2)

“Did you get the samples you wanted?” he asked.

Braxton shut the dishwasher and hit the start button. When he turned to lean against the counter, one of the pups, Hulk if he was guessing correctly, started chewing on the lace of his sneaker.

“They’re in my truck,” Macy told him. “I have several. Would you just want to come out and look or do you want me to bring them in?”

Braxton reached down and plucked up the bundle of fur. Damn, he loved these dogs. He was still on the fence about taking one for his house. He was gone so much when school was in session and since he lived alone, he didn’t think it was fair to the animal to be lonely all day.

“I’ll come out.” Zach turned to Braxton. “Can you check on Brock? He was having a hell of a time with his algebra.”

Even though Braxton taught economics and history, math was his first love. “Sure thing. He up in his room?”

“Yeah. He’d rather have you help him than me. We fight.”

Braxton snorted. “Imagine that. You two were cut from the same cloth, just years apart.”

Macy and Sophie tried to cover their laughter, but Zach scowled at both of them. “C’mon, Macy, before I forget we’re friends.”

“Relax,” she told him, as she followed him toward the door. “It wouldn’t be a proper gathering if someone didn’t get picked on.”

“It’s usually me,” Zach grumbled. “I’m just used to Liam doing the picking.”

Macy patted his shoulder and threw Sophie a smile. “We’ll be right back, though I can’t guarantee his mood because I have a lot of samples and I can’t make up my mind.”

Sophie shrugged. “I’m used to his moodiness.”

“If you two are done discussing me like I can’t hear you, I’d like to look at this shit sometime today,” Zach called from the living room.

Braxton shook his head. “I’m out of this. I’ll be upstairs with Brock discussing girls and cars.”

“Algebra. You’ll be discussing algebra,” Sophie corrected.

Braxton nodded. “Yeah, some of that, too.”

Braxton headed down the hall, passing the new master bedroom Zach had converted so Sophie didn’t have to do so many steps because of her limp. When he reached the top of the steps, he smiled. He didn’t know Brock had taken his old room. Lightly tapping on the door, Braxton eased it open with his knuckles.

Across the room, Brock sat on his bed, back against the old familiar headboard. With a notebook open on his lap and the textbook at his side, Brock looked up and Braxton had to hold back a chuckle. The pleading look in the teen’s eyes was a mirror image of when Braxton had been a teen.

“If it helps, I hated school, too.”

Brock tossed his pencil on the notebook and sighed. “Then you’re stupid because now you work there.”

After crossing the spacious bedroom, Braxton sat on the edge of the bed. Spinning the textbook around to see what they were dealing with, Braxton replied, “It’s a bit different being the professor and not a student.”

“When will I ever use this?”

“Probably never, but that’s life. We do things we don’t like because in the end it’s worth it. You’re almost done with high school. Given any thought to college?”

Brock groaned, dropping his head back against the headboard with a thunk. “I want to be done with all school.”

“That’s your choice,” Braxton said easily, knowing Zach and Sophie would probably handle this topic differently, but he was the one here now. “You could always get a job paying minimum wage. Hard to save money for a house or a car chicks love doing that, but I suppose you could. Actually, as long as you get a job and work hard, no matter what it is, that’s all that matters. Just take pride in it and anyone would be lucky to have you.”

“I’ve actually thought about the army.”

Surprised, Braxton sat back. “Really? I think that would be a great choice for you. Have you talked to Zach?”

/> The teen shook his head and glanced back down to his notebook. “My dad always told me a pussy like me wouldn’t make it through boot camp so I haven’t thought about it for a while.”

Braxton wanted to get ahold of that deadbeat dad and throat-punch him . . . amongst other things. No way in hell would Brock not make it with the right support system, and with the Monroe clan all backing him, there was no way this determined teen would fail.

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