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Stupid freaking Wilder men. Stupid freaking heart.

Stupid everything. UGH! I slam the door to my oldest brother's house as I stomp up the stairs. “ELLIOT!” I screech. His head pops out of his office door seconds before my foot hits the landing. There is so much anger coursing through me that I’m sure my entire body is red.

I imagine this is what that superhero baby from the Incredibles feels like before he bursts into flames.

“What the he–” he’s cut off as I push past him into his nerd world of supercomputers.

My fingers fly across the keyboard as he barrels back into the room.

“Don’t touch my stuff, Abby!” he says as he hip checks me out of the way.

We wrestle for control for a second before Dex walks in and pulls me away.

My fists immediately start hitting him in the chest.

I’ve officially gone off the deep end. I’m so far out of control that I don’t even know which way is up anymore.

I don’t even remember I need to breathe until I’m gasping for air half the time.

It’s like my life has been one big lie. Lie after lie that I told myself.

Grab on with both hands, Abby. Keep a firm grip on everything, and you’ll never be out of control.

If you try hard, you’ll never be taken advantage of.

Vulnerability isn’t a weakness, it’s a strength.

Maybe he’s not so bad. That last one is the biggest lie of them all.

I should have listened to myself, I should have pushed back harder against him.

I should have resisted his stupid, handsome face.

I should have never agreed to that stupid “let go” bullshit.

Look at me now. A freaking broken mess, smacking my brother becaus e he’s trying to keep me from breaking our other brother's stuff.

“Let me go, Dex,” I say as I elbow him in the stomach.

He drops to the floor with a groan. Elliot stands between me and his computer baby with his arms crossed over his chest. “How?” I yell.

“How has it been a week since my car went up in flames, and we have nothing? NOTHING!” My hands fly to my hair and pull, my hysterics are clearly showing.

I’m surprised Collin hasn’t shown up and hauled me to the psych ward yet.

My oldest brother softens as he steps up to me and pulls me into a hug.

I break, and not for me. The strikers’ championship game is in three days, and I’m terrified that whoever this is, is going to do something drastic.

I’ve already lost him in the way I had him, I can’t lose him completely.

My luck, right? I tell someone I love them, and they run away the next day.

I should have known it was too good to be true.

But my stupid, traitorous heart told me it was safe to put my hope and trust in him. HA! Lesson learned.

They ruled my car fire as faulty wiring, which we all know was complete crap.

There’s no way it would have gone up like that.

Dex and Collin, being law enforcement, don’t buy it either and are trying to figure out if someone has the chief on their payroll.

I’ve continued to hang out with Nikki as if nothing happened, but we can’t tie her to it.

In fact, when this happened, her phone was pinging in New York.

So we know it wasn’t her, which brings us back to WTF levels of confusion.

“Abby, we’ll figure it out. The police have eyes and increased security all over the stadium.

” A knife twists in my gut. I want to go, but I don’t think he’d want me there.

He’s back to the jerk I knew before all this happened.

At first, I thought I could handle it, I swore I was the same strong woman I was before, and I could be in the same room with him.

That theory failed when he walked into book club and called me “terrifying pixie” with no emotion behind it.

Like he just turned it off, or maybe he never really felt the way he said he did.

That’s probably more like it. I texted Nelson two seconds after that, and he said he’d meet me at the gym.

I was there for hours. I’m talking, it was midnight before I left, and I only left because he swore I bruised his palms. Freaking pansy.

“What if we don’t? What if someone gets hurt? What if he gets hurt?” I drop into a spaceship-looking chair and start to swivel back and forth as a little dot on the screen lights up. “What’s that?” I point at the screen, as both their heads snap toward it.

Dex hums as Collin walks to the computer that's projected on the wall. Wait, when did he even get here? “Someone’s calling you.” I want to ask how he knows that, but my phone starts to buzz in my back pocket.

Technology is crazy. How does it know that before my phone even rings? “Answer it!” Collin stage whispers.

I swipe my screen and put it on speaker. “Hello?”

“Oh, thank God. Abby, they're up to something.” I don’t recognize this voice, but he clearly knows who I am.

My eyes track to the screen that’s doing some weird zoom in thing on wherever this person is. “I’m sorry, who is this?”

“River Owens.” Why does that name sound familiar?

I don’t have time to figure it out before he starts to ramble again.

“Look, I don’t have a whole lot of time.

But about six months ago, Nikki came to me asking to help her take Tate down again.

I said no.” I feel like I’m going to vomit. This is exactly what we needed .

Dex turns his fingers in a circle as if to tell me to keep him talking. He pulls out his phone and sets it next to mine, and starts a voice recording. “I’m not following. Who are they, and why are they trying to take Tate down again?”

I hear a heavy sigh over the line, one that presses down like a weight in anticipation of this bomb going off.

“I don’t know who she’s working with. She just said, ‘Fine, there’s someone I know will do anything for me.

I don’t need you.’ But, I didn’t have anything to do with it the first time.

She paid me to go along with it, and I needed the money because my mom was so sick.

” The dots connect, and I realize I’m talking to his old best friend.

The one Tate says played a part in attempting to plant drugs in his college dorm room.

“River, look. I’m not saying I don’t believe you, but I don’t know what I’m supposed to do with this information.

” I’m trying to be nice, but he’s not giving me anything to go off of.

And I’m getting impatient, I want this to be over so I can move on with my life.

With Hannah having Greyson, maybe I can take that job in Arizona I was offered a few months back.

But I can’t leave knowing my friends might be in danger.

“I don’t know what she’s up to, but I know it can’t be good. She wouldn’t just call me out of nowhere.” He sounds frantic. I feel bad for the guy. If he really didn’t have anything to do with it, he’s been on the receiving end of Tate’s fury for years.

“Look, I gotta go. Just be careful. And keep him safe, he doesn’t deserve this.” He hangs up before I get a chance to thank him. My eyes bounce between my brothers, who are having some silent conversation.

My hands fly through the air. “Wanna fill me in on whatever this is? ”

Dex walks toward me with his hands raised like I’m a caged animal who’d bite his hand off.

“Do you think, maybe we should loop him in on this now?” Dex says in a voice reserved for talking down a hostage situation.

Oh, for crying out loud. I launch myself in his direction, wrapping my arm around his neck, placing him in a headlock that he immediately taps out of.

“Look, I know he hurt you. But this is his safety, too, Abby. He deserves to know.”

I know they’re right, I just hate what I have to do.

I take a deep breath as I stand outside the door to Tate’s apartment.

I gave myself the night to think about this entire thing, hoping the delivery I have planned is enough to soften the blow.

Knock knock. The door swings open to a shirtless Zeke, his eyebrows raise as he silently steps to the side.

“Is he here?” He jerks his head toward Tate’s room, and I take that as permission to enter.

The music coming through his door is comical.

It’s A Day To Remember, my favorite. I push the door open to see him bent over a canvas, his eyes look toward me, then refocus on his painting before his head snaps in my direction, his hardened stare nailing me to my spot on the floor.

He’s on his feet and looming over me in seconds, “Why are you here?” His voice is rough, straight malice. I don’t cower, I simply put my hand on his chest and push him back a few steps.

“I need to talk to you about something,” I whisper, my eyes darting all over his room. The room that felt like home for a few months . The memories assault me from every direction in the worst possible way right now.

He turns his back on me before grunting. “Not interested.”

“River called me yesterday.” That gets his attention, he’s in front of me in seconds, his hands wrapping around my biceps as he backs me into the wall.

A move he’s done a hundred times before, it’s one of my favorites, actually.

Just not when it leads to anything other than a ridiculously hot makeout session.

He brings his face inches from mine and snarls. “What did you just say?”

I take a deep breath, holding it for a few seconds before exhaling. “I said, River Owens called me yesterday.”

“Why would he do that?” Hate drips off every word.

His hands tighten around my arms, and I wiggle in his hold. “Tatum,” I hiss. He immediately releases me from his grip, his hands flying up as he backs away a few steps. “Remember when I said I made a new friend?”

His lip curls back, but he keeps his distance. “You said it was a girl.”

I nod, my hands clasping in front of me.

“It was, her name was Maria.” His eyes widen before they narrow.

“Also known as Nikki.” If looks could kill, I’d be six feet under.

I watch as he battles with himself, his jaw ticking, hands clenching and unclenching as he stares at a spot on the floor. “Tate... Can you give me five minutes—”

His eyes dart back to mine as he cuts me off, “Get the hell out.” He points at the door. “Was all this some sick ploy to get me to fall for you, then pull the carpet out from under me?” His pointer finger moves rapidly between the two of us .

My head shakes, denying his claim. “No, no, I had never talked to River before yesterday. He called saying that ‘they’ were up to something, and I needed to keep you safe. But he didn’t know who she was working with. Only that she asked him six months ago to help, and he said no.”

His face is blank, and the way he stares at me like I’m not even here, squeezes what’s left out of my already bleeding heart.

“Get. Out. Abby,” he grits out, “You said you needed honesty, yet you weren’t honest with me.

” he yells, finally breaking the dam of emotions as tears fall from his eyes.

“You’re just like them.” A humorless laugh spills from him.

“God, I was so blind. You had me fooled.”

He starts to slow clap, anger seeping from his pores. “I guess I have a type.” He opens the door and waits for me to step through it. If I had an ounce of self-preservation, I would keep my mouth shut and leave, but I don’t.

“That isn’t what happened, Tate. I need you to listen to me, please.” I reach for him, and he takes a step back, taking what’s left of my pride with him. “I lo–”

“Don’t you dare say it.” His voice is venomous. His body visibly vibrating, and I know I’m pushing him to every limit he has. “Leave, Abby. You won’t like what happens if you don’t.”

I hang my head in defeat. Why did I think this was going to go any other way? “Please be careful. Whatever you think I did, I promise it’s not what happened. I’d never betray you like that. You’re my person, Sunshine.” I step through the door. “Good luck tomorrow.”

I really hate times like these, but what I hate even more is that I now have to tell my idiot brothers that they were right. I shou ld have told him earlier. I shouldn't have kept him in the dark. He deserves better.