“Because it was supposed to be my turn!” he shouted, glaring at me. “For the past five years, it was my turn to have the attention. You leaned on me!” He hit his chest. “You needed me.”

I slowly shook my head, backing away from him. My face cracked, and tears started streaming down my cheeks.

I swallowed, choking out my words. “How could you?”

“I wanted you to be okay.” His voice was barely audible. “I wanted you happy with friends and loving the life you lived, but…”

“But?” I pressed.

He hesitated, looking up at me.

“He’s going to be a senator,” Jack stated. “If your relationship went the distance, you’d be back in the limelight.”

“You were trying to get me to shrink away again,” I cried, turning angry.

But he went on. “And then Newsweek and the interview today…” he pointed out. “It doesn’t matter what you do, you’ll always outshine me!” He hardened his jaw, scowling. “Why couldn’t you just stay quiet? Why couldn’t you just be normal like everyone else? Just be my sister! Let me have something!”

I continued backing away, thinking about him doing those things. He’d known it would hurt me.

“You made me think someone was in my home,” I charged. “In my things! You terrified me!”

He closed his eyes, looking like he was ready to break.

“I often wondered what made Chase Stiles give up,” he rasped. “Why did he take his own life?”

I stared at my brother.

“He knew he was going to hurt you,” he concluded. “And he didn’t want to.”

Yes. The final stage of stalking was physical violence. Chase’s abuse had been growing more and more threatening, and Jack was probably right. I didn’t know why Chase killed himself, but I did know he was losing his grip. Or what grip he had left.

And my brother? Would he go that far?

He seemed to see the flash of awareness and understanding in my eyes, because he rushed forward.

“I would never hurt you.”

But it was too late. Spinning on my heel, I ran out of my classroom and into the hallway with Jack yelling behind me.

“Easton!” he called.

But I raced down the hall, needing to get away from him.

I wasn’t sure if he would hurt me, but up until this morning I wouldn’t have thought he could’ve done any of the things he’d done. I had thought, next to Tyler, Jack was the person I could trust most in the world.

Why would he have wanted me to live in fear?

I ran outside, but Jack’s voice was right behind me. “Easton, stop!”

He grabbed my wrist, and I cried out, stumbling in the heels and slamming with all my weight against the wrought-iron railing of the staircase.

“Jack, please!” I cried, grabbing on to his hand with both of my own as I screamed, falling over the side.

“Jack!” I cried out, again grasping at his hand with both of mine.

He hung over the railing, grunting as he tried to pull me back up, but my legs flailed fifteen feet above the cement ground below, and I gripped his hand so tightly, my knuckles turned white.

I twisted my head, seeing the distance to the ground below me and crying out as my arms felt like they were being ripped from their sockets.

Jack grabbed underneath my arm with his hand, fear in his eyes as he tried to pull me back up.

“Jesus Christ!” Tyler bellowed, swinging his torso over the side and grabbing me, too. “What the hell happened?”

I breathed as fast as my heart beat, and I cried out as both of them pulled me back up over the side of the railing.

I instantly fell into Tyler, both of us slamming to the ground.

He pulled my body in to his, holding me tight. I hugged him close, hearing his heart race through his clothes as I laid my head against his chest.

“Come here,” he soothed, wrapping his arms around me.

I opened my eyes, seeing my brother on his knees by the railing. His broken eyes were filled with regret.

“Easton, please,” he whispered. “I would never hurt you.”

“What’s going on?” Tyler shot out.

But I just looked at my brother, my tears making him blurry. “You already did hurt me,” I told him. “You broke my heart.”

And then I looked up to Tyler, his brows pinched together in concern.

“Take me home,” I begged.

TWENTY-SEVEN

EASTON

Tyler’s body shifted under me, and I opened my eyes to see him reaching over and switching on an iPod dock. The soft tune of Bush’s “Glycerine” drifted out of the speakers, and I closed my eyes, hearing the light rain tap against his bedroom windows as well.

“You put an iPod in here,” I said just above a whisper, nuzzling into the safe heat of his body.

His fingers grazed up and down my back as he kissed my forehead. “I’ve started taking time to enjoy the little things again,” he answered. “Rediscover my youth…”

My body shook with a little laugh. It was all I could manage, I was so tired. Mentally and physically.

“Yeah,” I joked. “I think I was two when this song came out.”

He snorted. “Well, listen and learn,” he shot back. “This comes from the last time music was good.”

“Mmmm,” I moaned, sliding my leg over his hip and laying my body on top of his.

I soaked up the sensation of his naked chest against my bare breasts, both of us completely unclothed under the sheets.

“Are you okay?” he asked gently, rubbing his hands up and down my side.

“Don’t ask me that,” I told him, lying on his chest with my eyes closed. “Ever.”

“Okay,” he replied quietly. “How do you feel?”

I laughed, loving how he’d gotten around that one.

I was sick of being worried about, coddled, and spending my time on things that didn’t bring me happiness.

Tyler was my happiness, and at that moment I was exactly where I wanted to be and doing exactly what I wanted to do.

“Safe,” I replied.

After we’d gotten home last night – and left my brother alone inside the school – we’d taken Christian to dinner at La Crepe Nanou. After I’d cried in Tyler’s car, argued with him about just staying at home for the night, and then dried my eyes. I wasn’t letting anything else get in our way. We’d promised Christian dinner out, and we weren’t disappointing him.

I was heartbroken over my brother’s betrayal, and I had no idea what we were going to do, how I would ever feel safe around him again, but I was done spending time holding myself back from life.

After dinner I’d dived into Tyler’s shower, neither of us caring that Christian probably knew I was spending the night. It wouldn’t be a habit, and we would be discreet, but Tyler wouldn’t let me go home after the episode, and Christian seemed thrilled to have me around anyway.

“I don’t want Jack around you,” Tyler insisted, taking my ass in both hands.

“Neither do I,” I assured him. “Not right now anyway.”

“Easton,” he warned, not liking the sound of that.

I opened my heavy lids and pushed myself up, my dark hair tickling my breasts.

“He wouldn’t have hurt me,” I said, staring down at him and running my hands up his chest.

“You don’t know that,” he pointed out. “He needs help.”

“I know.” I nodded. “I won’t agree to even the possibility of being in touch with him unless he gets some help first.”

I looked down at Tyler, ready to cry because I loved him so much. I touched him everywhere, my hands running over his chest and down his arms and then coming up to graze his face with my fingertips.

I rolled my hips, feeling him grow hard under me.

“Can you take me to my apartment in the morning?” I asked. “I need to take care of something.”

He kneaded my hips and ass, his breathing growing labored. “Of course,” he answered. “But I want you to stay here for a while.”

I shook my head, giving him a gentle “no.”

“Easton,” he bit out, looking at me with less patience.

I fell forward, planting my hands on both sides of his head. “Yes, Mr. Marek,” I sang out.