Break Your Heart Read Free Page A

did, I guessed. Probably involving lots of bed squeaking.
    Casey put down her highlighter and looked up at me, her eyes suddenly serious.
    My heart thudded. “Everything okay?”
    She bit her lower lip and reached up to play with a strand of her hair. “So . . . I’ve been meaning to talk to you about something.” Her eyes met mine. “Things have been going really well with me and Daniel. As you know. And we’ve been doing a lot of talking about where we’re going and what we want. I mean, out of life. In the future.”
    “Are you pregnant, Casey?” I teased.
    Her face flamed. “Oh God. No. No, there’s no baby—”
    “I’m kidding. I think I get where this convo is going. Are you two moving in together?”
    Her eyes lit in excitement, and she nodded. “But not until the end of the semester. I didn’t want to leave you in a lurch. And frankly, I’m still a little scared to take that leap and need more time to prepare for it.” Her throat bobbed with her visible swallow.
    I reached over and rubbed her upper arm. Tears came to my eyes, and I blinked. “I’m happy for you,” I said in a quiet voice. “Really happy. You deserve it. And I’m proud of you for taking this chance. All the good things come with a risk. But I know it’ll be worth it.”
    She moved her books onto the coffee table, then reached over and hugged me. I wrapped my arms around her and we sat like that for a moment.
    “Thank you for your support,” she said as she pulled back and sniffled. I saw small tears in the corners of her eyes, and we both gave goofy laughs at how emotional we’d gotten. People who hadn’t watched her uphill battle wouldn’t understand why.
    Hell, I barely did. My childhood had been wonderful. Two doting parents with strong work ethics who encouraged me to follow my dreams. Casey hadn’t had that—she’d lived with her grandparents since she was a young teen.
    I felt like I had a part in helping her, which humbled me.
    Time to lighten the mood a bit. “Soooo,” I said in a slow drawl, “there’s a party next weekend.” Surely a hardworking student like myself deserved the occasional break, right?
    Her lips quirked. “There’s also an eighties movie marathon on one of the movie channels.”
    “Free beer.”
    “Chocolate ice cream.”
    Damn. She had me there. Sugar and caffeine were my mortal weaknesses. Still, I was hoping Patrick might come to this particular party, since he hadn’t dropped by Stackers yet like I’d invited him to. Maybe he just needed to see me in a social environment, hanging out and looking good and having fun.
    My brain suddenly went to Dr. Muramoto, a jarring image of him sipping on a beer at a frat party. Which was utterly crazy, because what prof would ever do that? Hang with students and have drinks with them? I couldn’t help my flushed reaction to the idea though.
    Casey gave me a knowing look. “Hm. Is there some guy at the party you’re hoping to attract?”
    I licked my lips. “No. I mean, yeah.” In that moment, I’d completely forgotten about Patrick. Whoops.
    She cocked her head and eyed me. Crossed her arms over her chest. “Okay. Here’s the deal. I’ll come with you to the party.”
    I clapped.
    “If,” she continued, holding up a hand, “before the party, you come with me to my grandparents’ house for dinner.”
    I stilled. She’d never invited me to meet her grandparents before. My chest tightened, and I gave a wordless nod.
    “Okay. Good.” She sniffled again and swiped a hand under her nose. “Now we have to get back to studying before I end up girl crying all afternoon. Daniel’s going to see my eyes and wonder what’s wrong.”
    I laughed and turned my attention back to my psych text. But it was kinda hard focusing when I felt like I’d broken past another one of Casey’s walls, had been invited even deeper into her life.
    I had friends on campus. Lots of friends, in fact. If I was bored, my phone had a dozen people I could call up