I stood like a little girl inside one of the lockers in the locker room, my heart was beating out of control. I was worried that I would be caught, worried that someone would find me. Erika had practically pushed me in here, leaving the door a little ajar so I could breathe. I hoped her plan would work, because if not, it would be too embarrassing. “Man, you sure you don’t want to come with us?” one of the guys asked as I heard Carlo reach the entrance. He sighed. “Nah, I need to talk to my brother. He’s coming down to have a quick word.”“Alessandro still missing?”“Exactly, so I need to figure out what we’re going to do. He hasn’t been to practice or anything. At this rate, he’s going to get kicked out.”“Shit, man. You should be celebrating, not babysitting.”“Go start celebrating without me. I’ll be there soon.”“Laters!”On that note, I could hear footsteps walking towards me, and I could only hope that they were Carlo’s. The idea of one of his football friends finding me woul

This weekend with Carlo had been magical, but it was Monday morning and time to get back to reality. I had to get to class and work on my paper. I had finally figured out a thesis—way past the deadline, but better late than never. It came to me on a whim, and when I thought about my topic, I couldn’t help but flash my mind to Alessandro. Everything about him wasn’t logical, from the way he kissed me to the way he was completely different from his brothers. My phone chimed, and I expected it to be Carlo wishing me well this morning like he did every morning. Who would have thought he would end up being such a romantic? Well, I didn’t, and I realized the saying don’t judge a book by its cover was true when it came to him. It was a text from Adolfo, which was weird, because ever since we went to dinner that night, I hadn’t spoken to, let alone seen, him. I didn’t get why he was sending a message to me.Adolfo: I’m free this afternoon. Me: Ok, but why are you telling me this?Adolfo: B

In the few days I’d been back, I’d cooked for Carlo, cleaned up after him… but no matter what I did, he still didn’t want to talk to me. I’d crossed a line, but I could only apologize so many times. They never even asked what I used the money for or why I’d been gone for so long. They weren’t interested. Adolfo just wanted us to be a family like we used to be, and Carlo was too busy spending time with Bianca to care about trying to fix the bridge that I’d broken. I wanted us to go back to being the way that we were, or even better than that. It was as if seeing the damage that I’d done made me realize that having my brothers by my side was what I should have been focused on from the start. I should have told them what was really going on and asked for their help instead of pushing them away.I held my phone in my hand as I found myself restless and unclear how to get some concentration to train this morning or at least get some studying in. I was already on a thin line, seeing as I’d

I smiled as my phone chimed. I didn’t have one boyfriend, but three. What more could a girl ask for? The hot studs that I used to avoid were now my men. I had them in the palm of my hand, ready to do anything that I asked, any time of the day.“Which one of them is texting you now?” Erika asked as she crept nearer to me. “Alessandro, he’s so sweet. But I need to take a break or my pussy is going to fall off.” I smiled at her, thinking about how much Alessandro had changed within the past few weeks.“Listen to you! A few months ago, you hadn’t done the deed, and now you’re getting too much action. Oh, my pussy is too tired.” She giggled and laughed while fanning her private parts and battering her eyes. I shoved her gently out of the way, trying to get out of the bed. “Don’t make fun.”She shook her head. “I’m not. I’m happy for you. I can’t remember the last time I saw you smile the way you’ve been doing lately… even if I haven’t seen you much lately.”I moved closer to her and took

I followed Alessandro on my bike, after having a quick expresso and sobering up, as he stopped at the entrance, I didn’t go any further. Rik said nothing to him, and I could only assume that Dad was in the limo. Fuck. He didn’t even get out, and Alessandro wasn’t in there for long. What the fuck was going on?All the color from Alessandro’s face disappeared the moment he saw me. He shook his head as I drew closer. I didn’t even have to open my mouth. Whatever it was, it had him rubbing his wrist as if it was hurt. When he stopped, I could see that it was bright red. “Dad do that?” I asked as I pointed to it. He nodded but continued to stare at the space that the limo was once in, as if he was reliving the time that it was there. “I fucked up, Carlo,” he sobbed. The last time that I’d seen my brother cry was when he was nine and someone ran over our fucking dog. That had him in tears, but since then he’d been the hard front of our family. Now he was holding onto me, sobbing in my