Page 65 of Keeping Score

“Because that’s one of the problems I dumped into your life, isn’t it? And that turned out okay—”

“This is the shit I’m talking about,” he bellowed. “You never know when to stop! You need to learn to stop crossing fucking boundaries.”

“All right, enough!” Brody shoved Liam’s chest, standing between the two of us as if we might charge each other at any moment. “Clearly, the two of you need to take some space.”

“Thank you,” Liam sneered sarcastically.

“Stop being a dick, Liam.” Brody shook his head, tone heavy with disappointment. “She’s your sister.”

“Yeah?” Liam said. “Well, you can deal with her now. I have to go home with my family.”

The words pierced me sharper than an arrow. What was he doing? Disowning me as his sister? Confirming my fears of being replaced by the family he chose?

It wasn’t fair. I wanted to scream. I wanted to punch him.

I let out a sigh so desperate it nearly turned to a gasp as I watched Liam turn on his heel and leave, door shutting behind him with a thud that felt permanent.

Brody pulled me into a hug, holding me against his chest with an intensity that I was sure was the only thing holding my broken pieces together.

Liam was gone. Cassie had been mine, my person, my best friend—and I knew she still was, but now even she belonged more to Liam than she did to me. Another loss that I couldn’t come to terms with.

Brody was the only one left on my side. I felt it in the way he held me, and the careful way he wiped the tears from my face. I felt it in the way he drove me home, holding my hand the entire ride as we sat in the silence of my mistakes.

He was here. He was real. He loved me.

But some part of me wondered if maybe it wouldn’t be long before he got tired of it all, too.

Gala

Maggie

Five Years Ago

“So, what’s going on with those two?” Brody leaned over his chair to whisper to me.

We were official now. Boyfriend and girlfriend. And that meant we didn’t have to hide anything anymore.

I didn’t have to hide anymore. Not how I felt about him, or anything else.

Because, shockingly, miraculously—he seemed to like me, too. Maybe just as much. It made me feel safe. But more than that, it made me feel happy.

It was hard to tear my gaze off of him, but he was still staring across the table, and if I remembered correctly, he’d just asked me a question.

I followed his line of vision to where he was looking at Cassie draped over Liam’s arm as she talked to the Harbor Wolves coach.

“Oh, them?” I said distractedly. “They’re pretending to be a couple to get Liam excused from the auction.”

“Right,” Brody laughed. “Bullshit.”

I arched a brow at him.

“Are you seriously looking at them and telling me you think any of that is fake?” he asked. “I mean, come on. It’s Liam. You think he could pull off a stunt like that? He can’t even pretend to listen to me tell a story, never mind pretend to be that infatuated by someone.”

I examined them closely. Brody had a point. Liam didn’t go the extra mile for anything unless he meant it and he wanted to.

So, if he was putting all this effort into the whole facade, well, Brody was right—the whole thing was bullshit.

Which meant…