Broken Dreams Stories

Shattered Girl

Chapter 30

Mike and I were out of the shower when Drew stuck his head into my bedroom and told us the pizza was there. I threw my hair in a messy bun and followed Mike to the dining table, where the other guys were waiting for us. We all helped ourselves to pizza and breadsticks, then grabbed sodas; we returned to the living room and found a movie to watch while we ate.

We had just finished cleaning up and deciding how to spend the rest of our evening when Drew’s phone alerted us to a text message.

“Hey, Patrick’s on his way home. He should be back late tonight and wanted to know If Emmy would like to spend the day with him tomorrow?” Drew glanced at me, waiting for my answer so he could respond to Patrick.

“Sure, I would love to spend some time with him. It feels like forever since I saw him.” I smiled. As Drew typed out my reply, I looked around at the other guys. There were no signs of jealousy; no one seemed to be upset that I would be spending a whole day on one instead of with the group. Maybe the guys were right, and this could work out. I had zero examples of what a healthy family or relationships in general looked like. My mom was gone before I could remember her, and by the time I was ten, my father was ignoring me unless he was hitting me. I had always wanted a family full of love and kindness. Maybe I should trust what the guys say and let things happen naturally.

Drew had finished answering Patrick’s text when I asked if the guys would be willing to answer my questions. They all quickly assured me that I could ask them anything.

“So, I’m going to be gone most of the day tomorrow with Patrick, and none of you are upset or jealous?” I sat between Jake and Drew but glanced around at all the guys, looking for signs of anger or jealousy. I saw none, which allowed me to heave a sigh of relief.

together, and there will be times we aren’t. It’s the same with private time in the bedroom. None of us expect you to sleep with us every night; it will

my bratty moments and winding Josh up, I love his praise even more, and I have a feeling he’s figuring out. He stands as I approach, holding out his hand to me. I take it, looking at him questioningly; he pulls me closer, telling me he has something for me and to follow him. I trail behind him as he heads toward one of the bedrooms, which I assume is

opens his door and steps inside with me close behind. He leads me to his bed, telling me to sit; I follow his directions as he turns to retrieve something from his desk. Coming back to me with a box in his hands, he sits beside me and holds it out. I take it from him, turning it

was looking at a brand

I could see what he was doing. Turning the phone on, he selected English as the language and handed the phone to me, telling me to follow the directions. I follow the prompts until get to the part where it’s asking for credit card

accept this. I didn’t earn it, and I don’t want to live off you guys.” I crossed my

girl” Josh said, holding up a finger. We are a family, and we share everything. When you are healed, you can decide whether to go to college, get a job, or do something you enjoy. Patrick has enough money that all of us could retire tomorrow and still

and closed my mouth, not knowing what to say, and Josh leaned forward, kissing

his desk, picked up another box, and pulled things out. I shook my head, knowing arguing would get me in trouble, and followed the prompts on the

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Chapter 30

it to Jbsh. A few minutes later, he had applied the screen protector and case, and my brand new glittery purple phone was back in my possession. I sat on Josh’s lap, giving him a deep kiss, which he returned. Smiling happily, I ran my fingers over the phone, practicing locking and unlocking it. I had never had anything this nice. I had a cheap pay-as-you-go phone that I had

he followed me out of his room. I went right to Jake, climbing into his lap and cuddling with him; I

acknowledged, kissing the

to my messages, I asked Mike if it was ok for me to have Patrick’s number. Mike sent me Patrick’s contact information. After I saved it, I texted him, telling him I was looking forward to tomorrow and that I missed him. He responded almost immediately, telling me he missed me too and would be here