Read Homerun (Pro-U Book 4) for Free Online Page B

mind. If I don't say anything, he could really hurt my mom. More than a smack to the face or a bruise on her arm." I closed my eyes tightly and pressed my cheek to my shoulder. "Maybe moving in with Jayce is a mistake."
    "You said that already."
    "Did I?" I glanced over at her. "Because it's true. What if I break down in front of him? It's been a long six months since my father changed jobs and became an alcoholic."
    "Then break down in front of him. He loves you, Layla. If not like a woman loves a man, then certainly as a brother loves a sister. You know that." She reached over and brushed my hair off my shoulder. "Maybe there is a way to get your dad some help without having to involve the police."
    "Yeah. Maybe." I reached up to turn the heater down. "I need to figure things out soon, I just don't want to deal with it. I don't know the answer to solve it."
    "I can tell you that doing nothing isn't going to help anyone. If you want me to help you before I leave for Washington, I can. My dad probably knows someone who can help your dad with his addiction."
    I nodded. "I don't want to talk about it anymore. Okay?"
    "Okay. I'm here if you do." She released me and pulled up to Lucas’s old apartment complex. "Let's go see if Jayce is up there. If he is, he can help us carry stuff up."
    "I like the sound of that." I unbuckled and got out of the car, trying hard not to let the sickness that was swirling in my stomach rush up my chest. Living with Jayce Moore? Just me and him.
    It was too much.
    "You all right? You got pale all of a sudden." Aubrey reached for me and pulled me into an awkward side hug.
    "I'm good." I leaned against her as we paused at the bottom of the stairs. "I just hope this doesn't turn into another nightmare."
    "Just think... if it does, you just tell Jayce and he'll help you move out. If you were stuck with a nightmare roommate in the dorm, you're just stuck. Plain and simple. There would be no fixing that. You know the school isn't going to help you out."
    "I'd never tell Jayce that living with him was a nightmare." I rolled my eyes and pulled out of her hold. "I'm going to miss you. It hurts to even think about it."
    "Don't start that." Her eyes filled with tears. "I don't want to feel like I'm choosing Lucas over you and Jayce. I can't or I won't go."
    I nodded, biting my tongue and bounding up the stairs in front of her. I was due in the gym later that day to work with the softball girls on a weight room routine that we'd all be using for the start of the season. Where I normally hated the gym, I was looking forward to losing myself in the pain of pumping iron. I needed something to drag me from my thoughts.
    Aubrey was leaving me and Jayce for Lucas. Where I understood it completely, it still hurt like a bitch to think about not having her with me every day.
    "You glad to be back in school?" She moved up beside me as we walked toward Jayce's apartment.
    "Hell yeah. Last semester was so hard. Between trying to help my mom, practicing ball on my own and doing correspondence classes, I was a hot mess. It's weird being alone most of the time." I shivered at the thought and reached up to knock on the door.
    Aubrey reached around me and opened it. "Well, you're not alone now and you really weren't then."
    "Aubrey. Shit." I reached for the door, but she'd already pushed it open.
    "What?"
    "What if your brother was naked in the living room?" I stopped in the kitchen as Jayce walked around the corner wearing a pair of sleeping pants and nothing else. The beautiful swell of his chest and stomach stole my thoughts and left my mouth hanging open a little.
    "Hey girls." He moved toward me and gave me a quick hug before hugging his sister. Did he always hug us? I had to think back on it, but quickly realized that he did. Of all the men I knew, he was the most affectionate.
    "Layla was worried you might be naked." Aubrey winked at me and walked toward the fridge.
    "You just missed it. Sorry." He leaned against the