Free Silver by K.A. Linde Page A

trip right now.”
    Stacia’s mouth dropped. “What?”
    “I’m gay,” he said quietly. “I’m…I’m gay.” His voice was stronger the second time. “I’ve wanted to tell you forever, Stacy. I really have.”
    “How long have you known?”
    Derek shrugged. “Forever. But I never acted on it until college.”
    Stacia threw her arms around her brother and pulled him close. “I’m sorry.”
    “What?” he asked crossly. “What for? This is who I am! I can’t change.”
    “Shh,” she said, taking a step back. “What I meant, if you’d let me finish, is that I’m sorry you didn’t think you could tell me before. That you didn’t think I would be okay with you or that you didn’t think you could trust me. That you were afraid I might think of you any differently.”
    Derek shuddered out a breath and then smiled. “Thanks, Stacy.”
    “Okay, but seriously, Jordan? Is he hot? When does he get back from Honduras? Oh!” she cried. “Does Dad know?”
    “Are you insane? No, of course I haven’t told Dad. He’s progressive for a football coach, but I’m still the starting quarterback of his team. There’s no way I can tell him before I graduate.”
    Stacia sighed. “I wish we lived in a world where you didn’t have to hide who you are.”
    “Yeah, well, keep dreaming.”
    “As long as we’re telling secrets, I don’t have a place to live next year. I’m trying to find a place, but I don’t want Dad to know. He won’t be able to come check on me during football season anyway, so I don’t want to worry him.”
    “Okay,” Derek said with an appraising look, like he expected more to follow. “Where are you going to live?”
    Stacia shrugged. “Still working that out.”
    Derek nodded and crossed his arms. “You’re really okay…with everything?”
    “If everything is you , then of course. You’re my brother. I love you. No matter who you choose to date. Who you fuck doesn’t affect me in the slightest.”
    Derek rolled his eyes.
    “Just like it doesn’t affect you who I fuck.”
    “Ugh, bad mental image,” Derek groaned.
    “Sorry about that.”
    “You know…this isn’t how I planned to come out,” Derek told her, running a hand back through his hair.
    “Well, I think you did all right,” Stacia said with a smile. “You’re going to have to bring Jordan to LV State before school starts though, so I can meet him.”
    “I’ll see what I can do,” Derek said as Stacia walked to the bathroom. “Hey, S?”
    “Yeah?”
    “You effectively dodged the conversation, but are you going to be okay about Madison?”
    Stacia placed her hand on the doorframe and sighed. “I really don’t know.”
    “Do you still like Pace? Is that why you’re holding on?”
    Her mind shot to Pace. His hulking form with the dark blond hair and those piercing eyes. The way he always seemed to know exactly what she was thinking. The way he was in bed. Fuck, he was amazing. The way it was so easy to be around him and forget the rest of the world.
    But bad always came with the good. She couldn’t deny that he’d wrecked her life on multiple occasions, and she’d gone back for seconds, like the kid eating chocolate cake in Matilda .
    The truth was…the cons outweighed the pros most days. And, unless that changed, she couldn’t really even say she liked Pace. Not as a person. Then again…she hadn’t liked herself much either. So, something needed to change.
    “No,” she finally said, “I don’t like him.”
    “Uh-huh.”
    “I just thought I loved him at the time,” she whispered before disappearing into the bathroom for her much-needed shower.

JOURNALISM CLASSES WERE a hell of a lot harder than Stacia had anticipated.
    She’d spent all summer working her ass off, trying to get As in her two introductory classes. And she was pretty sure it was a futile endeavor. She had never been an all-A student in her life, and she doubted it would just start happening now. But it didn’t stop her from