Fall Guy (A Youngblood Book) by Reinhardt, Liz (knowledgeable books to read TXT) 📕

"You do want to see him, though, right? You're not that insane, right?" She's begging because she believes in true love and beating all obstacles and love conquering everything.

It's not that I don't believe. I can see the beautiful kind of love my grandparents fought for and perfected right in front of my face. But that's a love between two people. Not two people and one crazy, controlling family.

"I do. I want to call him. I want to be with him. But you don't understand, Bren. Every single time I think his family is as crazy as they can get, they up their insanity level. Without a break. And I had to stand there and watch while Winch got the crap beat out of him--"

My breath hitches for a second, and I have to grit my teeth together and push back the images of all that blood and Winch's battered body, and everyone sitting around that goddamn table not caring about what happened to him.

"He takes the fall for Remy over and over. And when his little sister got a boyfriend, it wasn't just like they'd give him the cold shoulder and try to keep them from getting too close. There was a freaking payoff scheme, Brenna! And he told me so calm, you know? Like he wasn't remotely shocked and didn't think it was weird. Which is weird right? Tell me I'm not just gunning for best drama in a dysfunctional relationship?"

"It's weird." She blows out a long breath. "You know I had to deal with it with Jake. When his family came around with all their money? And it's still kind of a thing, because his inheritance gets handed over the end of this year. And it's not just, like, enough to buy a car. It's like a trust fund. Like a serious trust fund. But it's not just money that's scary. It's that power I guess?"

I brace the bottom of my feet on the footboard of my bed and rub my thumb and forefinger against my temples.

"Yep. The control? The millions of strings that are so attached. And it was that way with my parents, you know? Money turned into something that basically screwed up our life, and they let it. But it's worse with Winch, because, with Jake, he can just take the money and give his family the finger. With Winch, it's all about his family. It's all about loyalty and doing anything for them. It's just worse because they have enough money that they have a lot of power. And ask him to do crazy, crazy things. Bren, if he gets in legal trouble again, he is going to jail, no questions. The judge at our hearing? She wasn't playing around. And his brother is a total loose cannon. He's not just going to calm down."

I try to regulate my deep, shaky breaths, pulling them in and out as evenly as I can.

"You're so worried about him. You care so much." Brenna is just stating facts, but they core me. I press my fist to my mouth and almost lose the very tenuous hold on my self-control when she asks, "Why don't you just talk to him? Isn't there anything you can do? Isn't there anything...you can say? I can hear how much you love him."

"I love him so much," I rasp out. "And that's why the one thing I refuse to do is watch him ruin his life and lose himself. If he's going to throw away his future and get sucked under, that's his decision. I refuse to watch him do it."

"Oh, sweetie." Brenna's voice is warm and soft as a hug.

Only because she's my best friend and she's seen me through everything and back again, I cry without caring that she can hear. First muffled little sniffles, then full-blown belly sobs.

I cry in front of her because I sure as hell won't do it in front of the boy I love and have to let go of. She stays on the line until I'm wrung out, damp, and calm. Her sweet words are the last thing I hear before I disconnect and sink into a long, black, dreamless sleep.

Winch 13

Andre didn't take the money.

I moved the amount up a few times, especially once I saw the falling-down trailer he was going back to. I knew my dad would be happy to have the money paid and the situation swept under the rug.

Ithaca? It would take a while, and I predicted a lot of threats of 'never forgiving' us, but what had to be done had to be done, and, eventually, she'd realize it was for her own good and life would move on. It wasn't always romantic and easy.

That was the thing that Evan didn't get.

The day of the fight, the day after the perfect night I spent in Evan’s arms, Andre had stared at his hands in the backseat of my car for a few minutes after turning down more money than I know the kid's entire family put together had seen in a year.

I was pissed because I'd dropped Evan at her grandparents' house after breaking every promise I tried to make, probably right along with her heart. And there wasn't a damn thing I could do about it. I just wanted this punk out of my car, and I wanted to stop fucking up every single time I tried to make things work with Evan.

Not so much to ask for, right?

"I love her." Andre completely interrupted my run of self-loathing. He lifted his eyes, dark and totally belligerent, and glared at me from the backseat.

"You're, what? Seventeen?"

I flicked my eyes, focused and controlled from years of experience, to the reflection of his seething ones in the rearview mirror.

"Eighteen in three days."

He crossed his arms over his chest.

"Alright. She's gonna be seventeen in four months. You two are babies still, okay? You'll meet other