Stronger (The University of Gatica #4) Read Free Page B

you're being iced, but you need to move a little or those muscles are going to get stiff, which will suck to work through later."
    "Ugh... just go away." Chrissy covered her eyes with her forearm. The thought of getting up and going anywhere seemed overwhelming. The pain in her leg was subtle, but still present.
    "Nope. Food for us." Jason stopped by the bed and reached down, slipping his arms under her and lifting.
    She let out a long groan as her knee bent slightly. "Damn that hurts," she barked at him.
    "You're tough. Stop whining and own it. You decided to eat it." He winked at her and moved toward the door, standing there awkwardly as if trying to figure out how he was going to go through the door with it closed.
    Chrissy sighed and looked up at him. "I'll open it. Just move closer and be careful."
    "I am being careful. Quit bitching at me." He moved toward the door, bending down slightly as she reached for it.
    Getting in the car was another adventure in futility. Chrissy leaned back as Jason shut the door, her heart racing as adrenaline pumped through her. The need to protect her knee overrode everything else and barking at her brother was her only release.
    She buckled her seatbelt and pulled the small visor down from the ceiling, checking her teeth and running her fingers through her hair. Jason got in and she turned to him. "I look like shit. I can't go anywhere on campus."
    "You look like you. Shut up and be happy that I'm here."
    She reached over and rubbed his shoulder, her mood settling as the hum of the car ushered in a bit of peace. "I am. Sorry I'm crabby. Just hurts like hell to move."
    "It's going to for a little while, but it’ll get better. I'll be here to help you."
    "You always are." She smiled sadly, turning to push the visor back up and refocus her thoughts to something more positive than her past home life.
    "Speaking of... I talked to mom an hour ago. Just gave her an update on you." Jason shrugged as Chrissy pinned him with her glare.
    "I don't know why you bother. It's not as if she gives two shits about me or you."
    "She's still our mother, Chrissy. I didn't want the school calling her and us not having told her about your accident."
    "Did she say she would be right up to help take care of me? Did she cry or seem worried about whether my scholarship—my future—would be affected?" The harshness of her voice stung her own ears. She hated lashing out at her brother, but he had started the conversation, and for what purpose?
    "She was drunk. I don't think she really knew who she was talking to." He sighed and pulled out onto the busy side street just behind the Woodlands dormitory. "Let's go to Pete's on the edge of town. No one really goes there, so we should be good for a quiet hamburger and fries."
    "Okay," Chrissy mumbled, turning to look out the window. It was freezing in New York, the temperatures dropping just after Thanksgiving and never really making a comeback. Speaking of comebacks... would she be able to strengthen this knee to return to the track by mid-January? Or at all? It was just a matter of time before her knee gave out completely. Having the same reoccurring injury a few times in her life left her with no doubt that she would end up on the operating table and off the track before too long.
    "I'm sorry for bringing up mom. Just no one else to talk to about it, I guess."
    "There really isn't anything to talk about, Jason. She's an alcoholic on her good days, half a whore on the bad ones. She's not a mother by any definition of the word. I know you wish she was or would be, but that ship sailed a long time ago for me." Chrissy glanced over at him. "We're just lucky that Uncle Marc helped to raise us. Not sure what we would have done without him."
    "Speaking of Marc," Jason cleared his throat, his features pinched with hard emotion, "he wants us to come to Manhattan for a big family dinner. It's just dad's side of course, but all of our cousins are coming."
    "When?" Chrissy reached