Free Broken Pieces (Riverdale #2) by Janine Infante Bosco

do this time?” Cara asked and then bit her lip catching herself as the nickname culprit.
    “After dinner at my parent’s house, you know the night he became my chaperone for tomorrow’s little excursion? Anyway, he showed up at my apartment that night.” Cara’s eyes narrowed as Sam stood up and glanced back out the window. Nick’s eyes found hers and the words slipped out before she could worry if he was able to read her lips.
    “He kissed me like nobody’s ever kissed me.” She murmured and broke eye contact with him, turning her back to him and facing the girls, who were gaping at her.
    “And what happened?” Leah asked anxiously.
    “Tell me you slept with him, I’ll die!” Cara exclaimed.
    Sam shrugged her shoulders. “He turned around and left.” She blew out a breath. “It’s going to take every ounce of self-control I can muster up, not to kill him this weekend.”
    “You can’t even ignore him.” Leah said as she stole a quick glance at him. ‘He’s so big and broody.”  Then she flexed her shoulders and tried to imitate how Nick walked. Sam raised her hand to her mouth to cover her giggle as Cara was flat out laughed at Leah’s Nick impersonation.
    “That’s pretty good.” Cara said, giving Leah a pat on the back for her efforts. She turned and looked at Sam. “I wish I had words of encouragement, but I’ve got nothing. Nada. Zilch. Completely, tapped out.” She cocked her head to the side and gave Sam a sympathetic look. “If worse comes to worse, I will help you bury the body.”
    “I’m going to pretend I didn’t just walk in on that.” Luke said as he stood in the doorway, staring around his kitchen, taking in the women that were planning someone’s demise.
    Leah wrapped her arms around his waist. “That’s probably a good idea, baby.” She looked over at Sam and Cara who were chuckling as they each grabbed a bowl to bring outside.
    Luke eyed them suspiciously. “Dinner is ready.” He said reluctantly, still wondering what in fact he walked in on.
     

Chapter Seven
    It was amazing, to think of the lengths, a family would go, to keep one of their own from leaving this earth. The unconditional support and love behind each action of the Lanza family, was truly an inspiration to any outsider, but to Jake, it just emphasized the promise of what family was all about. He sat beside his brother, in the waiting room of the hospital. When he stole a glance over at Luke, he appeared to be calm and unaffected, just determined. Jake mused, give the man an opportunity to fix something and he was all over it like white on rice. He smiled slightly before nudging his older brother with his elbow.
    Luke turned to him and raised an eyebrow. “Before you ask, no, I don’t have any snacks for you.” Luke smiled at him and Jake just shook his head. He wasn’t one to make a big to do about his feelings, but at that moment he felt as if he needed to say something to his brother.
    “Don’t ruin my moment. I don’t get sentimental all that often so listen up big bro.” Jake leaned closer to Luke. “No matter what happens today, I just want you to know that I love you and I’m so grateful for what you are about to do for me.” He cocked his head to the side and stared at his brother for a moment, watching as his eyes softened, and ignored the fact that they started to water. He wouldn’t be able to handle his brother shedding a tear over him, not in this life. “It’s important for me to let you know, that if the roles were reversed. I’d do exactly the same thing.”
    Luke inhaled a breath sharply and patted his brother on the back, as he nodded. “There was never a doubt in my mind that you wouldn’t do the same for me.” He gripped his shoulder tightly and leveled his gaze with Jake’s. “It’ll all be over soon.”
    Staring into his brother’s eyes as he reassured him that all the pain and suffering would soon be a distant memory, Jake almost believed the words. He