Hardcore Volume 3 Read Online Free PDF

there?”
    “It’s fine. I’m not doing it for them,” I snapped.
    “Want me to go with you?” Her eyes were big and soft.
    I pulled away, barely able to hold on to control. My skin crawled from anxiety that bubbled over at her touch. “I said it’s fine. I’m fine.” I spun around and walked to the access door as guilt, fear, uncertainty tumbled through me.
    My hands were ice as I pulled open the same door I’d walked in and out of a million times, though I hadn’t been inside in years, hadn’t seen my parents in longer. Nerves twisted around in my guts at the thought of facing them. But fuck them — both of them. I needed to see my sister.
    I trotted down the familiar stairs and to their door, pausing for a long second before knocking.
    My mother answered. The door opened only a crack, and I caught sight of one green eye and a slip of black hair. The eye narrowed.
    “What the fuck are you doing here?”
    “I want to see Jill.”
    Jill tried to edge her way into the doorway. “Mom, I’ve got it.”
    “Whatever.” Mom shot Jill a look and rolled her eyes before turning for the living room.  
    Jill pulled the door open and found her way into my arms. I squeezed her tight, closed my eyes. The smell of the apartment, the sound of my mother’s voice, it all took me right back to the years I’d spent there, holding Jill just like this. The two of us holding each other so we wouldn’t feel so alone.
    She pulled away and took my hand. “Come on.”
    I followed her through the apartment, my eyes locking with Mom’s as she and my father tracked me from the couch. The room was dark, their faces lit by the blue glow of the TV screen, the curling wisp of smoke from the cigarette in her hand threading ribbons in the air between us. Neither one of them moved otherwise.
    We stepped into Jill’s bedroom, and she closed the door behind me. Her room was cheery and warm, papered with posters of bands from The Smiths to Taylor Swift. A massive bookshelf nearly took up one wall, jam packed with books stacked two deep. She sat down on her bed, watching me expectantly until I reluctantly sat next to her. My nerves were jacked on adrenaline and memories and absolute unease. I tried to keep still.
    “You okay?” she asked.
    “Everyone keeps asking me that.” I snapped, but took a deep breath to try to get my shit together, pushing all of my feelings down and away. I was there for her, to comfort her , and she was asking about me. My heart thawed out, and I slipped an arm around her shoulders to pull her into my side. “I’m fine. I want to know how you are.”
    “I’m all right. I mean, I’m shaken up, but I’m okay. I feel a lot better now that you’re here.  
    “I’ll always come for you, Jill. Always.”
    She let out a heavy breath and relaxed into me. “It was so fucked up to see her, knowing what she did to you. Imagining what she might have done to me.”
    “I don’t know what’s going on, but I’m going to find out. Okay? I’m going to take care of this.”
    “I don’t know what that means, and that scares me. I’m not sure I even want to know.”
    “This is going to end. Soon. I’ll figure something out.”
    “I don’t want her to get hurt, but I want her to leave us alone. Is there a way to have both?”
    I squeezed her a little tighter. “With Jade, there is no easy way. There never was.” We sat in silence for a moment. “We’ve got to get you out of here, Jill. Move in with us.”
    She pulled away with her brow quirked and wonder in her voice. “Really?”
    I nodded. “Really. The only reason I didn’t take you away before was because it wasn’t safe, not with us stealing. I didn’t want to expose you to Jade on that level, either. But now that you know everything, now that we’re straight, there’s no reason for you to stay here. At least if you’re with me I can watch out for you.”
    A smile stretched across Jill’s face. “But you already watch out for me.”
    “Well,