Almost Broken Read Online Free Page A

not want to be in the back seat anymore. Well it does, but under entirely different circumstances. I swallow the lump in my throat and shake away the thoughts starting to surface in my mind.
    “I’m sure she’ll understand, right?” I haven’t known this woman long but I think I already know the answer to that. He displays a mischievous grin and takes out his phone and hands it back to me.
    “Hey honey,” her voice says through the phone.
    “Hi Mrs. Scott. It’s Lauren,” I glance over at Chris who’s grinning.
    “Oh, Lauren, is everything okay?” she asks, her tone going from worried to cheerful.
    “Yes, Chris is right here. We’re outside actually,” I confirm.
    “Oh great! Will finished the dollhouse, and I’ve started dinner. Do you like Lasagna? If not, I can throw on something else,” she says excitedly.
    “I was actually going to. I—I…” And I chicken out.
    “Lasagna’s my favorite.” I sigh and swat Chris’ arm as he laughs at me. Chris gestures for me to give him the phone. He takes it, and just like that, my tension is gone.
    “Mom, could you come and get Caylen?” he asks, and I guess she obliges because he comes out quickly. I notice her expression when she sees me sitting in the back seat, but she recovers quickly and greets us.
    “You tired the little angel out?” She laughs.
    “We had a ton of fun,” Chris says as he gets out of the car. I do the same.
    “This is a beautiful car.”
    “Thanks,” I say, wrapping my arms around myself as I walk behind them.
    “We’re going to head this way,” Chris says, gesturing toward the back of the house. I look back at Mrs. Scott holding Caylen. She gives me an assuring nod. I let out a deep breath and change directions. I see he’s headed to the yard where I saw the horses outside of their window earlier. I wonder if his mom said something to him. When we reach the gate surrounding it, he stops and leans on it. I do the same. The horses are beautiful. One’s a toffee color with a white stripe down its back and the other a beautiful chocolate.
    “That’s Butterfinger and Reese’s pieces,” he says, gesturing to each. I look at him to see if he’s joking, and he laughs.
    “Seriously?” I ask.
    “My parents let me name them, and when I was a kid, I was obsessed with candy.” He takes something out of his pocket. He extends his hand to me and reveals two bite sized bags of M&M’s. I laugh.
    “When you were a kid, huh?” I say after popping a few in my mouth. He grins at me before pouring the whole bag in his own.
    “I used to ride,” I say, leaning more of my weight on the gate. He turns around and leans his back on the gate so he’s facing me.
    “Really?” he asks in a disbelieving tone.
    “Yeah,” I say, finishing my bag of candy.
    “Is that so hard to believe?” I ask him jokingly, and he shrugs.
    “No, not at all,” he says, covering up his surprise, and I frown at him.
    “Hey, I look about as shocked as you did when I told you I play the guitar.” It’s just surprising Cal did something that could easily get him laid and not use it to his advantage. I want to tell him that but it may be a little inappropriate at the moment.
    There’s a breeze, but the sun is warm. I close my eyes and enjoy the small moment where I don’t feel suffocated by anxiety. At this second things are just easy.
    “Do you want to go for a ride?” he asks.
    My eyes snap open. “Now?” I ask a little surprised.
    “Yeah. That is, if you’ve really know how,” he says teasingly.
    “That sounds a little like a dare.” I fold my arms across my chest and he shrugs a little.
    “Not a dare. More like an invitation,” he says, his eyes narrowing in on mine and my heart speeds up. Is he flirting with me? No that can’t be. If this was Cal, it’d definitely be flirting, but it’s not him so I can’t read into this too much. He’s being friendly. Just because he’s being nice to me doesn’t mean he’s flirting. I just want