Breaking Through (The Breaking Series Book 3) by Juliana Haygert Read Free Book Online Page B

in Santa Barbara. It had a big family room, dining area, and open kitchen, an office, and four suites. Bia’s apartment was close, only two blocks away, but hers was much smaller, with only two bedrooms in a quieter building. Ri and Lauren’s townhouse was about ten minutes away. Not a problem, but their neighbors always complained about the noise every time we met there. So every time someone planned a get-together, we ended up at the guys’ place.
    “You should have seen the apartments we looked at yesterday afternoon,” Bia said, seated on one of the high bar stools lining the kitchen’s bar counter.
    “And this morning,” I filled in.
    Yesterday, she hadn’t relented until we went looking for furnished apartments. I didn’t think we would find many, but we ended up finding some gems. All of them only a couple of blocks from either hers or the guys’ apartments.
    “And this morning,” she repeated. “Have you decided on one yet?”
    I shook my head. “I don’t know. They all have good things and bad things.”
    “Oh yeah,” Bia said. “That one with the white flooring had a funny smell. And the one with the big bedroom had centuries-old furniture that will probably break as soon as you use them.”
    “Exactly. Besides, I haven’t even talked to my parents about this idea. I guess they are assuming I’ll either stay at home, or crash at Hannah’s.”
    “You know my house is your house,” my sister said.
    “I know, but I already told you. You guys have your own routine, customs, and whatever. If it were for only one or two weeks, it would be okay, but for three months? No. That’s too much and I wouldn’t feel comfortable.”
    “She told me the same thing when I offered for her to stay at my place,” Bia said.
    “See? Besides,” I continued, “you and Leo just got engaged. I can’t imagine how steamy things are around that house right now. I don’t want to imagine.”
    Bia scrunched her nose. “Eww!”
    My sister barely paid attention to the last words I said. With dopey eyes, she gazed at Leo, probably imaging all the steamy things they were doing around that house. Double eww!
    Leo was seated beside Gui in the living room, a joystick in their hands, their eyes glued to the big screen hanging from the wall.
    “ Não! Veado, não é assim !” Ri yelled at them. “You’re ruining my high score!”
    Gui flipped the middle finger at him. Ri jumped over the ottoman and lunged at Gui. Ready, Gui dropped the joystick and braced himself. Ri and Gui started fighting—playfully. Apparently, it was always like that when they played whatever epic game they were addicted to. The girls didn’t even bother separating them anymore. They would exchange a few weak punches, try to kick at each other, swipe someone under his feet, and then they would just yell they were done in Portuguese, and resume playing as if nothing had happened. Sometimes Leo and Pedro got in those fights too.
    Garrett never got involved in the fights, though. Bia thought he was afraid of being expelled from the group if he beat one of the guys up. It was nonsense, but he didn’t want to hear it.
    “Boys,” Lauren whispered, coming to the kitchen to pick up some appetizers.
    Bia got her drink from Hannah. “Tell me about it. I grew up with these jerks.”
    I shook my head. “I still can’t believe they were always like that.”
    “It got better with age,” Bia said. “When they were teenagers, it was so much worse.”
    “I would have liked to see that,” Iris said. She was at the microwave, heating up a cheese sauce she had brought for a bread and chips dip.
    Bia snorted. “I guess there were times when it was fun, but mostly, it was annoying.”
    The five of us watched as Ri pulled off Gui. Instead of arguing more, he picked up another joystick and started playing too.
    “Okay,” I said, taking a Coke Zero from the fridge. “We’ve got an important subject to talk about.”
    “What?” Hannah asked.
    “Your