Page 85 of Unleashed

“Morning.” Brooke gives me a smile that is strangely similar to the one she’s offered me every other day. “How are things?”

Her question sounds alarmingly normal too, and it freaks me out even more than if she made everything weird.

“Things are fine.” I wipe my sweaty palms on the front of my skirt. “How was your night?”

“Fine.” Brooke pops a coffee pod into the maker Tobias bought for her personal use. “Tucker and Ruth brought Birdie over to swim.”

“That sounds nice.” I manage not to shift on my feet, even though I feel awkward as hell.

She pulls her cup off the machine and tips in a little creamer from the mini fridge. “You and Trevor should bring Zara over one night this week.”

I step forward, fully intending to tell her there is no me and Trevor, but someone else beats me to the punch.

“We’d love to.”

I close my eyes, fighting the urge to turn and flee as Trevor steps into Brooke’s office. Everything in my life has changed, including the way I feel about him, and like all the other changes, I don’t have the first clue how to handle it.

Fighting with him was so easy. So natural. Finding him annoying and aggravating was safe.

The way I find him now, is not safe. Not at all.

“Here.” He holds out a cup of coffee made just the way I like it. “Did you get Zara to school okay?”

I scoff. “Of course I got Zara to school okay. I’ve taken care of her for her entire life. You think I’m gonna start sucking at it now?”

I expect to feel better after that little outburst. Assume snapping at Trevor will make me feel better. Like it usually does.

Instead, I feel…

Bad.

Almost…

Guilty.

“Fucking shit.” I turn toward the door, elbowing my way past Trevor as I dart from the room, needing a quiet place to scream.

Unfortunately, I make it three steps before half the Bradshaw brood turns the corner, blocking my escape path.

Can these people be more of a pain in my ass?

“Thought I might find you here.” Walker heads my way, Tobias and Ruth a half-step behind him.

“Of course you can find me here. This is literally where I am all day.” I go to drop down into the seat behind my desk, pondering if maybe I should just scream right here in the middle of everything. Bet it would get my point across.

What the point is, I don’t fucking know—but it definitely involves screaming.

Walker gives me a weird look. “I wasn’t actually talking to you.” He tips his head at where Trevor is now coming out of Brooke’s office. “I was talking to him.”

Well… That does make more sense.

“Fine.” I grab my bag and slide it onto my lap. “Great.”

Everything’s great. Perfectly fine. It’s all just fucking peachy k⁠—

“What the fuck?” I dig around in my bag, grabbing the laptop inside and pulling it free. I set it on the desk in front of me, staring at the device in confusion.

“What’s wrong?” Trevor’s eyes are on me as he rounds my desk, coming straight to my side before crouching down. “Is everything okay?”