If I Break THE COMPLETE SERIES Bundle (146 page)

“Great,” I say with fake enthusiasm.

“Come on, I know you’re over what happened earlier,” she says.

“I was hoping to at least sleep on it, but hey, whatever,” I say sarcastically.

“Since when did you become such a delicate flower?” she jokes.

I can’t help but laugh. This William guy must really make her happy because she hasn’t been this jovial since our dad passed away.

“I’m fine with it, really. I guess it was better me being in the shower than on the toilet.” I shrug.

“I can’t wait for you to meet him, you know, the normal way this time,” she says, giving me a quick hug. “I’m going to go hop in the shower and freshen up.”

My sister seems almost giddy. What in the world is going on?

“Okay,” I say enthusiastically.

I check on the lasagna as it’s baking—it’s almost done, maybe ten more minutes—as its delicious aroma wafts throughout the house. I love cooking. I haven’t done it in a while though, and it feels good to be in the kitchen again. My dad taught me how to cook. I remember being five years old, playing with dough in the kitchen as he made up some concoction. I’m good, but compared to my dad, I have a long way to go. With his imagination and creativity, he could have been a five-star chef in any city, but he chose the small town in Michigan where our little family grew and thrived for a while. I’m pulled from my thoughts by the ringing doorbell.

“Gia, your beau’s here,” I yell jokingly toward her room.

“He has a key. He’s only ringing for your benefit. Get it for me? I’ll only be a few more minutes,” she calls back.

Ugh.
I walk toward the door and tell myself that it’d only be awkward if I cared what this guy thought of me. I haven’t cared what anyone thought of me for a long time, and he’s here to impress me, not the other way around. I’m the first member of Gia’s family he’s meeting, and I’m sure he wants us to think well of him. I open the door, and he’s facing the other way. He’s tall, maybe six feet. He has on a jean jacket and matching pants and a baseball cap. I’m a little surprised. I would have assumed Gia’s guy would have on a three-piece suit or something.

“Hi,” I say.

He turns around with a small smile. “Shower girl?” he says with a laugh. His voice is smooth and easy, not nervous or shaky, which is how I’d expected it to be.

“That’d be me, but I prefer Gwen,” I say, resting my hand on my hip.

He takes off his baseball cap, revealing a mop of light brown tendrils. Some fall over his eyes. He sweeps them away, revealing beautiful light blue eyes, one with a noticeably red circle around it. He sticks out his hand, and I stare at it, lost for a second. God, he’s hot, and not in the way Gia usually likes: clean-cut, uptight, and bully-able. William has stubble on his cheeks, his hair is naturally messy, and from his stance, he seems laidback. I take his hand, which swallows mine, and shake it. His hand is warm but not sweaty.

“Can I come in, shower girl?”

“Oh, you announce yourself? It would have been nice if you did it the first time,” I counter, stepping aside.

“I’m a quick learner,” he says, nudging me.

He winks before walking past me, leaving behind a nice aroma. He has on cologne or some type of spray but not a whole gallon like some of the boys at my school pour on before dances.

“What is that smell?” he says, his face scrunched up and not in the good way.

I feel my nerves go on high alert. “Is something wrong with your nose or something?”

“No. What’s that terrible smell?” he asks, taking off his jean jacket and revealing a white T-shirt and perfectly toned arms. One has a tattoo peeping from beneath the shirt sleeve, but I can’t see enough to know what it is completely.

“Look, buddy, I may not do a lot of things right, but cooking is something I take pride in doing exceptionally well, so if you think my food smells like a toilet, then you’re smelling your own shit because you are full of it,” I say angrily. A smirk spreads across his face, and I feel embarrassed.

“Is William messing with you? He has a very odd brand of humor,” Gia says, appearing in the room behind him.

“Just getting your sister back for punching me in the eye.” He winks at her before picking her up and giving her a kiss.

She pushes him away, and I feel so embarrassed, though I’m not entirely sure why.

“William,” she says, sounding embarrassed, but she doesn’t leave his embrace.

“I didn’t punch you. I elbowed you,” I correct him.

“Well, since it doesn’t seem like you two have properly introduced yourselves, William, this is my sister, Gwen. Gwen, William.”

“We actually did, but call me Will. Gia loves calling me by my full name, but please just Will,” he says.

“Great, less syllables for me to say.” I shrug.

We all stand around a little awkwardly.

“Gwen made lasagna. Doesn’t it smell delicious?” Gia says excitedly.

His eyes cut to mine, and we both laugh.

“What’s so funny?” she asks.

“We’re both jerks.” I giggle.

“Gwen!” she chastises me.

“No. She’s right,” he says with a smile.

Will’s performance of not liking the way my food smelled was pretty convincing, but he can’t even pretend it doesn’t taste good after the way he demolishes the large plate Gia fixes him.

“So it tastes better than it smells?” I tease.

He nods between bites. “Gia, why don’t you cook like this?”

“It’s just never been my thing. Gwen, Mom, and Dad all are good cooks, so I kind of let that be their thing,” she replies.

“You have to show her how to make this,” he says, shaking his head.

“Babe, cooking isn’t my thing,” Gia says with a frown.

“Well, hell, show me how to make it,” he says with a laugh.

“Sorry, family recipe.” I shrug.

“I’ll be family soon. Right, G?” he asks as she grabs his plate and takes it to the sink.

She smirks when she returns to the table.

“I’ve asked your sister to marry me. She turned me down,” he says teasingly.

I pretend she hasn’t already told me this. “Aww, Gia, quit playing hard to get.”

William shoots me a grateful smile.

“I didn’t turn you down,” she says with a sigh.

“You didn’t say yes,” he says adamantly, and suddenly I feel as though I’m part of a conversation I shouldn’t be present for.

Their eyes lock in on each other as if they’re having a staring contest. Gia breaks away first.

“William doesn’t have a filter. You two have that in common, I think,” she says, sounding a little irritated.

“I have a filter. It’s just not very clean.” I shrug.

William’s jaw is clenched. I can see he isn’t too happy about Gia turning him down.

“So are you going to law school too?” I ask, grabbing a piece of store-bought garlic bread that actually doesn’t taste half bad.

He laughs and shakes his head. “No, I hate school. I couldn’t imagine going for four more years.”

“Which is ironic since William is teacher, isn’t it?” she says, shooting me an amused glance.

“How do you hate school if you teach? What are you, a masochist or something?” I ask, confused.

“I hated being taught by other people. I’m a great teacher,” he says smugly.

“So you’re a hypocrite?” I ask.

“How does teaching make me hypocrite?”

“You’re in a profession where you make others suffer the same fate you want to avoid, and you’re probably stressing how important education is and how they should appreciate it,” I say.

“That doesn’t make me a hypocrite. If you want to survive, unless you have a really rich uncle or something, education is important and should be appreciated. Just because I don’t want to go to college a minute longer than I have to to accomplish what I want to do doesn’t make me a hypocrite,” he says, folding his arms.

“He’s right, Gwen. It makes him a sadist, not a hypocrite,” Gia says, sitting on his lap and giving him a quick peck on the cheek.

“It’s not right,” I say.

“I let my students know they have a choice. Love it or hate it, education’s important. Since I work with high school students, they could drop out if they wanted. School isn’t mandatory,” he says.

“Who on earth hired you?” I say in disbelief.

“You wouldn’t want me to be your math teacher?” he says, his sparklingly blue eyes holding mine. They’re beautiful, the kind you can get lost in.

I feel a pull in my stomach and shake it off. “Yeah, you seem like you’d blow off class a lot, and subs are easy.” I grab my plate and put it in the sink. “I’m going to head to bed. You crazy kids have fun.”

“You tired already?” Gia asks in disbelief.

I fake a yawn. “Yeah, the bus ride took a lot out of me.”

“And assault would too, I guess,” William jokes, and Gia swats him. “I’m only messing around. All’s forgiven. We’re going to be best buds, right, Gwen?”

I’m annoyed by the fact my heart is speeding up a bit. “Maybe. Good night, guys.”

I head up to Gia’s room. I lie across her bed and imagine what my life will be like in four years. If it’s half as good as Gia’s, I can see myself being a very happy woman.

I wake up to Gia’s nudge. She’s sitting on the edge of the bed next to me.

“What’s up?” I say groggily.

She sets my head on her lap and strokes my hair with a sigh. “Long day.”

“What’s wrong?” If she woke me up, something has to be wrong.

“You weren’t really tired earlier, were you?”

“A little bit, and I thought you guys would want some privacy.”

“How’d you like him?” she asks.

“He’s really cool. I didn’t think he’d be your type,” I say.

She smiles and chuckles. “I don’t think he is sometimes. We’re so different. He reminds me of you actually.”

I groan. “Is that a good or a bad thing?”

“It’s good. Mostly. And you think he’s cute, don’t you?”

As if the question is even needed. Of course he’s cute. He’s hot. I think I have a little crush on him, but I can’t tell her that without her spazzing out. I know what most people don’t though—crushes don’t mean anything. They’re just stupid butterflies and meaningless empty emotions. I used to have a crush on the guy who served pizza at our school on Fridays.