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Austin’s foot held the apartment’s door ajar. Stuffing his phone in his pocket, he glanced up and yanked out his keys. “Ready?”
“Yep.”
His foot shifted and the door closed in her face. “What’s wrong?”
Lauren rolled her eyes as her breath caught in her throat. “Nothing. What are you doing? I thought we were going to get coffee.” She sidestepped him and gripped the doorknob.
“Come on, Elsa. You just emerged from my room a frigid ice queen. What the hell happened?”
“Let it go, Austin.” She raised her right eyebrow and glowered.
“Uh-uh. You made me come clean.” He nudged her backward to the dining room table. “Now it’s your turn, sis.”
With a sigh, she dropped her butt into a chair, all remaining air escaping from her lungs. Tears welled behind her eyes as she blinked, battling the burn. “I’m fine, Austin. Really.”
“Tell me about it anyway.” He squeezed her shoulder as he stepped around the table and into the kitchen, turning the little coffee pot on. He winked and tugged Casey’s unidentified plastic can of coffee grounds toward him. “Trust me. This coffee is just as good as Starbucks.” He shook the container with a grin.
Lauren snorted and dragged her fingers beneath her eyes as she moved from the dining room chair to the barstool at the kitchen counter. She sniffled as Austin hit thestartbutton on the little machine and turned to open the refrigerator.
Tell him. Just tell him.
She opened her mouth and swallowed, the words catching in her throat as her heart shattered, bursting into a million tiny pieces deep within her chest, the truth of her words ready to draw blood.
“I think Mitch wants a divorce.”
His head smashed into the freezer as his body jerked. “Fuck. What?” Austin emerged, rubbing his head with a stick of butter in his hand. “What did you just say?”
Lauren hung her head. “You heard me,” she whispered, pressing her eyes closed.
“I’ll fucking kill him.” The butter dropped to the counter with a thud. “I’ll fucking kill him!”
The tears betrayed her, leaking down her cheeks like Poseidon himself ordered them to flow. “Austin, he’s just... tired of me.” She sniffled, wiping at the tears with her palms.
“Tiredof you? Lauren, you guys have been together since we were all in high school.” He pressed his hands onto the counter, resting his body weight against them. “Hell, kind of even before that...” The coffee pot beeped, and he pressed the glowing button to silence the noise. “I’ll kill him,” he muttered again, shaking his head.
“Oh, stop.” Lauren wiped her nose with the back of her hand. “Like that would help anything.” She straightened and inhaled a deep breath.
“Lauren, what the hell?” He bit his bottom lip. “How? I don’t even know what to say.”
She shook her head. “Even I don’t know what to say. But no one else knows yet.” She cringed. “Can we just keep this between us for now?”
Austin sighed and rounded the counter. His arms surrounded her, pulling her into safety and squeezing her into comfort. “What happened?” he whispered.
She groaned and pulled away, wiping another river of tears from her face. “He just doesn’t love me the way he used to and he’s tired of trying.”
“Tired of trying to love you?” Austin retreated to the kitchen and tugged mugs down from the upper cabinet. “I don’t understand.”
“This is so weird talking to you about this.”
“Why? It’s just me.” He poured the brown liquid into the mugs with shaking hands, sloshing drops onto the countertop. Frowning, he wiped the stains away with a soapy dishcloth.
Lauren sucked in a breath and closed her eyes. “We’ve been trying to start a family, and it’s just not working.”
“Oh.” His body stilled, the coffee carafe hanging in the air halfway back to its home. “Umm...”
“See, it’s weird.” Lauren buried her face in her hands, the heat rising to warm her cheeks. Through the gaps in her fingers, she watched as Austin returned the carafe to the coffee pot with wide eyes.
He shook his head and swallowed. “Maybe just pretend I’m not your brother for a minute or something.” He stuffed his head back into the fridge, pushing bottles and containers aside to grasp the cream.
