Master of his heart (Brielle and Max)

Max walked in to find Andrew looking like a shadow of his former self, just slumped on the couch, staring blankly as if the world around him had ceased to exist.

Meanwhile, Jaired, that goofball, was casually cracking open a beer right next to him.

"Hey, man. It'll be alright. Try to shake it off."

Over the past few days, Jaired had done some digging and discovered that Aubree was now seeing some 18-year-old kid.

Eighteen? Seriously?

Aubree was seven years older than him.

"Andrew, come on, pull yourself together. Even if those two have got something going on, who's to say this Matthew kid won't wake up one day and call it quits? Maybe they're just testing the waters." Andrew's lips quivered, and suddenly, he buried his face in his hands, his shoulders shaking slightly.

He didn't want Jaired and Max to see him like this.

He felt like he had brought this upon himself.

Jaired glanced over at Max, lost for words.

Max felt helpless too. When it came to affairs of the heart, there was only so much an outsider could do.

He gave Andrew's shoulder a reassuring pat.

Back when Andrew had taken Aubree for granted, Max had a feeling this day would come.

pain Aubree felt because of him was now his

had a good feeling

asked him to look into

at eighteen, Matthew had life experience that rivaled someone in

from a loving family, which was something many people

Casey and Pauline. Their love for their son was clear in their willingness

he

side, Andrew had a family that kept butting into his relationship with Aubree. Desiree couldn't stand Aubree, and the

en novelxo

SWI

mend the wounds his family had caused. Every time Aubree visited the Clements,

child, Andrew was

eye. He couldn't bring himself to cut ties

But when

with a bit of

against you, marrying into that family was like signing up for

seemed like there was no future for Andrew and

Jaired suggested, something went wrong between

He just sat there, crying into his

beer too. He'd seen his buddy struggle with love, trudging through the messy world of romance,

was a painful game he

of the

idly twirling