Page 145 of Reasons We Break

Rajan blinks at his brother, the spitting image of a younger him. “Are you—giving this back to me?”

“Take it before I change my mind.”

Rajan does. He hugs it close and presses his nose to its head. It no longer smells like his mother; but he can imagine her hands, carefully sewing each stitch.

He looks up at Sukha. His brother’s clearly feeling softer toward him because of the OD, and this opportunity might not come again. “I’ve been thinking about buying a baseball glove or two. Want to help me practice sometime?” No answer. “You can aim at me when you hit the ball, if that sweetens the deal.”

Sukha doesn’t smile. “What’s the point? I’ll never be good. I never played.”

“So? You can always start,” Rajan says gently, and Sukha takes a very large, very deep breath.

But he only says, “There’s a girl outside to see you, by the way.”

A girl? Rajan opens his mouth to ask, but Sukha’s already disappeared. He sets the bunny aside. A girl...

He shouldn’t want Simran to be here as much as he does.It’s wrong, a voice in his head warns him—a voice that sounds like his mother’s.

It’snotwrong, says another voice that sounds suspiciously like Kat’s.

He rolls off his mattress, if only to shut up the angel-and-devil routine in his head.

It’s sweltering out, so he doesn’t bother with a hoodie on top of his tee. He pushes through the front door even though he has no idea what to say to her.

But it’s not Simran at all.

TJ Powar stands on his front step with her arms crossed. She looks out of place in this beat-up neighbourhood, in a crisp white blouse, her mouth a slash of maroon lipstick.

Her narrowed eyes instantly find the uncovered tattoo on his neck. Her frown deepens. TJ didn’t like him in high school. He never cared for her either. The only thing they have in common is how much they care about Simran, so he can guess what this is about.

He leans against the doorway. “Are you here to tell me to stay away from your cousin? Because I’ve had about enough of your family.”

He waits for a comeback, but instead, TJ says, “Can we talk somewhere?”

Now curious, Rajan closes the door behind him and beckons her to the swing set next door. “What do you want?”

She perches on the swing next to him. “You’re an asshole.”

Not this again. Rajan stands up. “I’m not anywhere near her. Okay? Get off my case—”

“Sit down,” TJ snaps. “Simran’s not doing well.”

Instantly, he sits. “What happened? Is her mom okay? Are people giving her a hard time because of me?”

TJ studies him. He knows he sounds completely obsessed, but he doesn’t care. “Are you gonna make me beg? Because I’ll beg.”

TJ takes her sweet time answering. “It started after she went to see you in the hospital—”

“How do you know about that?”

“Whodoesn’t? She nearly caused World War III at her house to do it. Let me finish.”

Rajan rubs his face, agonized by this information.Whywould she make things more difficult for herself?

TJ continues. “She came back and said you told her it was over. And you know what she did next? She went right upstairs to work on some Hillway event proposal. She’s barely sleeping. I think she took on, like, four new projects in the last two days. Like, what the hell?”

Rajan sighs. “That’s what she does.”

“Yeah. It happened when her mom got diagnosed, too. She throws herself into these unhealthy spirals when she’s heartbroken.”