After waking up earlier than usual with Chase, I took the opportunity to head to the Callingwood Daily with the intention of writing and studying. And accomplished very little of either.

Zara, Noelle and I ended up catching up and gossiping instead. I couldn't help it; I was flying way too high to write a dry technical piece for Professional Communications.

"I feel like I haven't seen you much lately, B." Zara leaned over the table, eyes glinting mischievously. "Chase keeping you occupied?"

I glanced up at her from over my laptop screen. "Oh, you know, I've been busy in general."

"Getting busy, more like," she said.

I dropped my gaze back down to the blank word professor screen, warmth spreading across my cheeks. Good thing no one else was in the Callingwood Daily office with us.

Even though I knew it was impossible, I felt like there was "just had amazing morning sex" written all over my face. Or more accurately, "just had amazing night and morning sex, which I've been replaying in my mind all morning while thirsting to see him again and questioning my sanity because I can't focus on anything else."

I mean, seriously. What was happening to me? I'd never felt like this before. Ever. Hopefully this calmed down somewhat by finals or I'd flunk out of college.

"Maybe a little." I cleared my throat, certain my face was as red as a Falcons jersey. Zara and Noelle exchanged grins across the table. "What about you? How are things with your guy?"

Zara had crushed more than her fair share of fragile male egos—and hearts. I think this was the longest she had ever dated someone without losing interest. And she seemed really happy, which was nice to see.

Her glossy plum lips pulled into a wide grin. "They're great. He's amazing. I was going to ask you both about that, actually. His friends are having a big Halloween party. Any chance we want to stop by later on that night?"

Something pinged in my brain. Halloween...Halloween. Then it hit me—the pub crawl. Chase said they were having a party too, and he asked if I would come. Unfortunately, he asked me while we were cuddling after sex and my mind was completely checked out, so I said yes. Now I'd double-booked myself. Zara even texted me a reminder recently, so I really had no excuse for forgetting. Other than post-orgasm brain fog.

"That depends," Noelle said, arching a groomed eyebrow. "Are his friends hot?"

Zara nodded. "Oh yeah. And it's a house in Rock Pointe, so you know it's going to be nice."

I chewed on my bottom lip, debating how to proceed. I didn't want to be a bad friend...or a bad girlfriend. "Um, I think I may have goofed on this one."

"What do you mean?" Zara asked.

"Chase invited me to their party that night too, and I said yes. I'm so sorry, I completely forgot."

"That's okay." Noelle shrugged, taking a sip from her shiny red thermos. "We could go to Zara's party and you could head over to his place then. Maybe later in the evening, like around eleven?"

The tension in my body eased. "Is that okay with you guys? I'm sorry. It was a total brain hiccup."

How was I going to pass my midterm next week, at this rate? Would it be better not to see Chase before that, or to get a fix first? Hard to say.

"Yeah," Zara said. "No big deal. As long as we get some fun in before that."

Noelle frowned, staring at her laptop screen. "Um...Huh." She drummed her fingers on the tabletop thoughtfully. "Good news and bad news."

"What's that?"

"You don't have to go to Connecticut anymore." She sucked in a breath through her teeth. "Over half of the other basketball team has severe food poisoning. Not sure if it's a forfeit or reschedule, but you're off the hook for now either way."

I winced. "Yikes."

Though, not to take enjoyment in anyone's misfortune—because food poisoning obviously sucked—this was more than just good news for me. It was fantastic, because it would give me the chance to move out that much sooner. Siobhan already had the keys and had been slowly bringing boxes to our new place all week.

Then again, she had a car and I didn't, so I guess I was still reliant on help from her or Chase. Maybe he'd be down for moving instead of the basketball we'd planned on Saturday.

I could be free by Sunday, living without the cloud of Luke looming over my head. A dream come true.

Noelle added, "But Professor Johnson wants you to cover the Bulldogs game tomorrow so we can move the Arts feature to Saturday and fill that empty space. Sorry, I know that's short notice. Are you okay to do that? Maybe we can come up with something else."

Did I want to? Not really. Should I do it anyway?

Probably. Even though I was supposed to watch Chase's game that night.

"It'll be fine," I lied.

*

If anything was going to kill my Chase buzz, it was dealing with Derek.

We had hardly spoken in weeks, and every time we did, things were incredibly strained. That was why I'd tried to blow him off—again—when he first texted asking to meet. I finally relented when he insisted that it was important and promised it wasn't Chase- or Jill-related.

Coffee with my brother should be easy enough, right? Couldn't be any worse than the disastrous meeting with Paul.

I was having second thoughts now, though.

We settled into a table near the front of the campus Starbucks while I eyed him warily. It felt sad and awkward and comforting all at once to be with him.

Derek was dressed the same as always, in navy athletic pants and a grey-and-navy Bulldogs top—today it was a hoodie, but he had a rotation he alternated between. His entire closet was a monochromatic blur of grey and navy blue.

He glanced down at his white cardboard cup before meeting my eyes again. I swore to God, if he said one word about Chase, I was leaving immediately and ignoring him until Christmas.

"So...Mom and Dad are selling the house," Derek said.

My stomach pitched. "What? How come?"

The cozy, brick two-storey house wasn't anything impressive. It was well-lived in, to be sure. The beige carpets needed replacing, the worn hardwood could have used refinishing, and the bathrooms were terribly outdated.

But it was the house I grew up in. The house we came back to for holidays. The house my mother loved more than anything, with her garden that she babied every year, spending hours each day tending to the peonies and rose bushes.

It was always warm and welcoming, comforting when I needed it. And one of my favorite places in the entire world.

"I guess Dad's been out of work for a little while. They can't afford to keep it."

Everything came crashing down. A wave of nausea slammed into me. Hard.

"Hold the phone," I said. "Dad is out of work?! Since when?"

Why was it that when one thing went right in my life, something else immediately went off the rails?

He paused. "June, I guess. They didn't have him return this fall. It's all those education budget cuts. They axed a bunch of the older, more experienced teachers in favor of hiring new graduates who are cheaper."

"You're just telling me this now?"

"I just found out too, B."

Glowering at Derek from across the table, I took a sip of my vanilla latte. I didn't even want the drink anymore, but I couldn't justify wasting it.

"Are you sure about that?" If he kept this from me, I was going to be so ticked.

"Yes," he insisted. "They didn't want either of us to worry."

I frowned, still pinning him with a stern glare. Something didn't add up. "Why am I hearing all of this from you instead of Mom and Dad, anyway?"

"Mom wanted me to tell you in person. I think she thought you'd take it hard," he said carefully.

She was right. Especially considering the house was almost paid off until they refinanced it to cover my medical bills when I was younger. This was basically my fault. Not just basically, it was. Literally all because of me.

Derek added, "It probably makes sense for them to downsize anyway. They don't need that many bedrooms anymore."

"I never heard them talk about downsizing before," I said. "As far as I know, they planned to stay there forever."

Pretty sure our mom had used those exact words—it was her "forever house."

"I don't know." He shrugged. "Things change."

They sure did when you ran out of money. I scrambled mentally, trying to think of possible solutions or ways that I could help, even though there obviously were none. I had about ten dollars to my name.

"What about Mitch and Gavin? Can't they help them out?"

"They have been, B." Derek tilted his head, giving me a look that was meant to be sympathetic but came across as borderline condescending. Still pulling the older brother act, even as adults. "That's the only reason they've been able to keep the house this long. But you know neither of them has much money, either. Everyone is tapped."

"Right." I nodded, swallowing a massive lump in my throat. Now I wished we hadn't met somewhere so public, because I kind of felt like crying. "So, they're going to sell it after Christmas, then?"

"Er, no. It's already been listed. I think they need it to go as soon as possible. But worst case, we'll do Christmas at Mitch's." Derek took a gulp of his black coffee that made it clear he wasn't happy about this development either.

Right. My oldest brother Mitch lived in a small three-bedroom house with his wife and three kids. My second oldest brother, Gavin, was a perpetual bachelor who lived in a one-bedroom apartment. And this scenario left me and Derek sleeping on someone's couch, because we couldn't afford a hotel.

Not to mention, my parents. Where were they going to live?

"Have Mom and Dad got a new placed lined up?"

"Not yet," he said, giving a one-shoulder shrug. "They can't buy anything until the house sells. Plus...I mean, their credit isn't great anymore with all this. They might just have to rent something."

"Oh my god." My fingers crushed the cup I was holding slightly, and a panic attack started to come on. My parents weren't that young. They should have been thinking about retirement, not losing their home.

"It'll be okay, B."

But I was pretty sure Derek was trying to convince himself as much as me.

"I don't see how," I said. "I hope the house sells, because it seems like that's what they need. But I'm going to be really sad if we don't get to have Christmas there. Especially one last time." My breath snagged.

Derek nodded. "Yeah, me too." His throat bobbed and he paused. I used the lull in conversation to take some deep breaths, quelling the urge to cry. For now, anyway.

"On another note—"

My sibling senses tingled. Alert, alert. Attack incoming.

"Don't start." I was already keyed up emotionally right now and I'd probably explode if he started in on the Chase issue.

"I'm not trying to," he said softly. "I wanted to know how you were doing."

I deflated slightly. My shields lowered halfway, willing to give him a chance, but still ready for a fight.

"I'm good. Things are good."

"Classes?"

"Going well. Straight As." Not like I really had a choice, if I wanted to keep my scholarships.

He studied me, brow furrowed. "Carter's good?"

"He's great." I felt a goofy smile emerge across my face. Couldn't help it, always happened when I talked about him.

"I'm glad," Derek said. "I mean, I still don't get it. But if he's good to you, I'll try."

It wasn't exactly a glowing endorsement, but it was progress. If they could just start off by co-existing peacefully, I'd consider it a win.

"That's all I ask. If you guys actually kept an open mind and put all that other stuff aside, I'm sure you'd get along. At least, off the ice."

He shot me a look that said he didn't believe me even a little bit, but said nothing.

"What about...you?" I asked.

I was afraid to know the answer.

"I ended things with Jill."

"Oh, thank god." At least there was some good news coming from this. And Jill had seemed extra bitchy lately. Maybe that was why. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah." He drained his coffee, setting down the empty cup. "Honestly, it's better this way. I don't know how I got sucked into something that messed up. It was like this weird slippery slope."

In a way, I got it. Not the whole affair part. But the slippery slope thing, for sure. It was like I woke up one day in a really terrible, controlling relationship with Luke and I couldn't believe how bad it was. I didn't fully grasp how bad it was until I was out of it, actually.

"Good. You deserve better than that."

Now all I needed for Mendez for dump her and karmic retribution would be complete.

"Well, I'm going out with a chick from my finance class this weekend, so we'll see where that leads."

"Even being alone is better than being with someone toxic," I said. "I wish I had known that a long time ago."

He shifted his weight, looking uncomfortable. "Is Luke still contacting you?"

"Sometimes," I said honestly. It was hit or miss. I never replied.

Chase wanted me to block him, but in my experience, that just made Luke escalate more. If Luke had the slight satisfaction of thinking I was reading his nonsense—even though I wasn't—it seemed to keep him on more of a leash.

Derek shook his head, face clouding over. "I told him to stop."

Good to know he had at least tried for once, I guess. I wasn't sure if he knew about all the other things Luke had done, like texting lies about me to the team, but I didn't want to get into that right now.

"So did Chase. Repeatedly."

"That's what the hit was about, huh?"

"Little bit. Luke is a cheap shit anyway," I said. "He probably deserved it either way."

Derek laughed. "Probably."

My phone lit up with an appointment reminder to meet my academic advisor in half an hour across campus. It was a good fifteen-minute walk, and I didn't want to be rushed.

"Oh shoot. I should go." I stood up, pushing the chair back.

"I'm glad we got to talk," he said.

"Me too." I definitely hadn't forgiven him, but it was a step in the right direction.

Maybe some character development for Derek? We'll see...

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