With You Forever (Bergman Brothers, #4)

by Chloe Liese

I was going to be a nerdy eighth-grade science teacher.” He frowns. “What changed?” I stare down at the juice box, spinning the straw. “It’s a long story.” “I’ve got time.” Sighing, I give him a look, but his eyes are shut, and if he senses me staring at him, he doesn’t let on. “It was a lot of things. Partly my personality—I’m very competitive with myself and achievement oriented. Partly my family life.” “Your family life?” “My parents’ marriage was rocky. Lots of tension and hissed arguments in the kitchen when they thought I was studying or watching TV or up in bed. One night, I came down to refill my water glass, and right when I was about to enter the kitchen—” My throat catches as I remember it, such a visceral memory. I’m thirteen again, braces hurting my mouth, my hair up in a haphazard ponytail, all scrawny long limbs that I haven’t quite grown into. And I see it just how I did over a decade ago—my mom right in my dad’s face, the pain in her expression. As I pull myself out of that memory and swallow the lump of tears in my throat, I’m more grateful than ever for Axel’s quiet way, the patience in his silence. He doesn’t push me or pressure me. He just slowly takes the juice box from me and links our hands together. “My parents fought,” I tell him. “And I overheard things I wasn’t supposed to. I was an unplanned pregnancy from a fling they had while working on a movie together.” Axel is quiet, but he’s listening. I feel his attention, his presence, as he watches me...