Tessa Ever After Read Online Free PDF Page A

pipes?”
    “Yeah . . .”
    “Tess, what’s going on?”
    “I just . . . I forgot to leave a trickle of water running in the bathroom, and it was so cold today, the pipes froze. And . . . burst. There’s water everywhere . I don’t . . . I don’t know what to do.” Where it was frantic before, her voice has softened, wavering just slightly, and I don’t care that I know jack shit about plumbing. I set my beer down, thankful I’d managed to have only a couple swallows, and get up from the couch, grabbing my coat and slipping on my shoes before I’m out the door, phone still at my ear.
    “I’ll be there in ten,” I say, then hang up, rushing out into the cold November night to help a girl I’m trying my hardest not to think about.
    tessa
    There is so much water. Buckets upon buckets, and with every emptying of them, it’s another reminder of how I screwed up.Again. Of how this never would’ve happened if Cade had been here. He never would’ve let it happen.
    The pipes froze once, when I was nine. Though we’d been in the house for a few years by then, the previous winters had all been mild, so we’d never had to deal with it before. But that particular winter was harsh and brutal, colder than it’d been in a long time. It was after my dad had passed away, so it was just me, my mom, and Cade. And even though he was only eleven, Cade still stepped in and took charge. Like he just knew what needed to be done.
    Then every year after that, he or my mom were diligent in making sure to always leave the tiniest trickle of water running on days it got well below freezing. Every freaking year, they remembered to do that. And the one year I’m here by myself, I can’t even manage to turn on a fucking water faucet.
    I’m biting back a fresh wave of frustrated tears—which serve only to piss me off more—when the back door opens, and Haley calls out for Jason. He murmurs something to her, then the floors creak as he makes his way toward me.
    “Tess, what—” He stops in his tracks in the doorway, freezing as he takes stock of the situation in front of him. His eyes dart around—to the puddles of water on the floor, the bucket I’m holding under the vanity in front of the pipes, and finally to me and what a hot mess I’m sure I look like. I’m soaked from head to toe, and I don’t even want to imagine what my makeup is doing right now.
    Clearing his throat, he darts his eyes up to mine before he averts his gaze. “Did you, um, did you shut off the water?”
    I stare at him for a minute, and then a hysterical laugh burstsout as a fresh wave of tears spring up. Because, no. No, I did not shut the water off. I hadn’t even thought of that, and what kind of idiot does that make me?
    “Hey. Hey . . .” he says as he squats next to me, his hand rubbing tentative circles on my back through my water-soaked T-shirt. “It’s okay. I’ll go in the basement and get it shut off, then we can figure out what to do, okay? It’s fine.”
    As he stands to do what he promised, all I can manage is a shake of my head as I close my eyes and sink further into the failure I’ve been so good at.
    jason
    The water’s been shut off, a plumber called, and Tessa is hiding in her bedroom under the guise of changing. And while it’s a damn good thing she is, the part of me who’s been having fantasies about her can’t help but be disappointed.
    When I arrived, stepped into the doorway leading to the bathroom, and saw her sitting on the floor, her legs sprawled out in front of her, her makeup smudged down her face, her hair flattened against her head, and—God help me—her pale pink shirt plastered to her chest, I had to look away. Immediately. Because in those two seconds, I glanced at her body beneath a shirt that did absolutely nothing to hide it, and I got more of an eyeful than I ever imagined I would. Turns out, light pink acts the same exact way as white when soaked through. Which means I got a