Page 94 of Leave Me Broken

“We’re not, not trying.” He shrugs.

I gape at him. “No! Oh my—no!” I gasp. Looking at Janelle instead of the big drunk idiot to my right, I shake my head. “No, we are not trying for a baby. My word, Jay, I’m a junior in high school.”

“No judgment here.” She holds up two hands. “I will say it might be best to wait till you’re at least not living with your grandpa, that might kill him.”

I wasn’t even thinking about that. Even Ash cringes at that. “I do not wear condoms and she is not on birth control. If it happens, we will deal with it.”

He is trying to kill me and my best friend. I knew how casual he was about this from the first time we had sex. He doesn’t know I have issues with my period, which I’m pretty sure is what you need to get pregnant and that’s the only reason I’m not freaking out about my boyfriend trying to get me pregnant while I’m still in high school.

“’My Volleyball Coach is Trying to Impregnant Me.’ You know if I ever decide to write a biography about you, I’m using that as my title to entice readers.”

Luca chuckles. “Do you write?”

“No, but I might start if these two keep being so crazy.” She throws a thumb our way.

I drop my head to my hands and sigh. “Can we find Parker? I’m ready for you two to go home.”

The three of them join in laughing at my misery and mocking it. I drag Ash over to a spare room to start looking. He’s not in the first room or the bathroom next to it. He’s obviously not in the bathroom Ash was just in. The four of us head to the second spare. Janelle reaches for the handle but stops when a girlish moan comes from the other side.

We each shoot a look at the other. Then I turn and look to Ash and scowl. I shove him over so he’s not in the doorway.

She pushes the door open and my mouth falls seeing a naked Alyssa on top of a naked Parker. Riding him.

The room was dark before we opened the door so they both look our way. Parker freezes but Alyssa continues rocking her hips, smirking in our direction.

I’m so distracted from what is happening in front of me I don’t see or hear my best friend crying until the door slams and Luca pulls her into his arms. Janelle cries into his chest and I blink at them. I’m not exactly happy seeing what I just saw but I’m surprised to see Janelle crying.

“Jay?” I ask softly, placing a hand on her arm. She pulls away from him and throws herself into my arms. “I hate boys. I hate them all.” She cries into my shoulder. “I hate her, Pay. Fuck, I hate her so much.”

I hug my best friend but eye Luca curiously. For the first time ever, he looks pissed. Ash walks around and he looks just as pissed.

“I hate her too,” I agree with Janelle. “But why are you crying?”

She wipes her face on my shoulder, pulls away, and wipes her face with the back of her arm next. “Parker and I were hooking up. Since the night of the movies.”

My mouth drops. Ash flattens his lips. Obviously already aware of this confession. Her lips tremble and I pull her back in for a hug because, truthfully, I don’t know what to say. I guess that makes sense why she stayed at Ash’s that night and insisted I sleep in Ash’s room and not with her. I assumed it was for me, but it was probably for Parker who was across the hall. “I don’t know why he would d-do this.”

I do. “Jay, it’s probably my fault. I pissed her off by telling her Ash asked me to marry him.”

Ash’s eyebrows shoot up his forehead; Luca is next and is quick to look at his best friend. They mutter back in forth in Italian which is wildly annoying and makes me want to learn Italian quickly.

Janelle squeezes me tighter. “I expect to hear about that and a good excuse why you didn’t tell your best friend. But right now, I want to take a lesson from the Payson handbook and stab the two people in that room.”

She pulls away and scowls at Ash. “I’m not sorry.” She looks back to me and frowns. “When you are Parker’s mom can you ground him, like, for life.”

Oh my God.

“Never say that again,” I complain.

Ash storms over and throws the door open, ignoring Janelle’s comment in his angered stupor. Thankfully, they were smart enough to stop fucking and Parker is even mostly dressed. Not Alyssa, she’s taking her sweet time making sure everyone can see her tits on display.

Ash pays no attention, instead grabbing his son by the shirt and tugging him into the hallway. He slams the door behind him.

Janelle and I watch Luca and Ash rip into him in mixes of English and Italian on both sides.

“I need to learn Italian,” Jay mutters.

I nod, agreeing.

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