Page 32 of Die for You

At the sound of her name, I stiffen. An awkward silence stifles the conversation. To this day, my parents don’t know the extent of all the shit that went on with Monica, especially my mom. She’d have a heart attack if she knew everything.

But I confided nearly everything to my brothers when they finally confronted me. They’re still pissed she never suffered any consequences for what she put me through.

“We want to meet her!” Mom practically yells like I’m not sitting three feet from her.

“I don’t have a girlfriend,” I remind her.

“But you will! Look at you—so handsome! And so sweet. My sweet, sweet boy. Of course she’ll fall head over heels.”

Sam’s mouth twists into a smirk, the brother who looks the most like me with matching brown hair and green eyes. Only a couple years older, and classmates always mistook us for twins in high school. “Aww.”

“If you like her, do something about it,” Karter says like it’s that simple. Dean and Sam nod along.

I haven’t felt this way about a girl in...ever. As much as I hate to ever give my family credit, especially my shithead older brothers, they might be right.

I need to make my move. I need to show Aurora everything I can do for her. Everything.

Chapter 11

Aurora

The courthouse airis musty and stale. Even as I head for the exit, heels clacking across the polished floor, my heart palpitates.

Twenty-one days. The judge granted me a temporary restraining order against Jeremiah for twenty-one days. In that time, they’ll serve him. Then they’ll schedule our hearing.

Outrage boils beneath the surface, and it takes every ounce of willpower to keep the lid on the kettle so I don’t scream.

I’ll have to face him in a courtroom. He’ll get a chance to defend himself.

They’ve given me a restraining order against my abuser, only to force me to be in the same room with him so I can get a final order that lasts three years.

Ifthey decide to grant it.

This system is fucked.

But the worst part isn’t facing him again in a courtroom. The worst part is the fear of what he might do to me after they serve him.

When he finds out I got a restraining order against him, that will only incite him further. It’s just a piece of paper, after all. A piece of paper won’t stop him from hurting me.

I’m still not sure if this is the right move or not. But I also can’t do nothing. I need to dosomethingto protect myself.

Outside, I can breathe again, the cool, spring air a balm to my burning skin and thumping heart.

Leaning back against a black sedan with hands braced on the hood behind him is a man with midnight-dark hair and piercing blue eyes, veins on his sinewy arms popping out. A lump lodges in my throat.

Finn.

Anticipation coils around every vertebra of my spine, no matter how much I try to fight against it.

Gray clouds above us blot out the sun, and I long for the excuse of the blinding light to pretend I didn’t notice him.

But I can’t pretend now.

“Did you follow me here?”

He doesn’t flinch at my tone. Only moves his hands.I’d follow you anywhere.

I ignore the way his words make my heart skip. “Don’t. I like my privacy. I like being left alone.”