The Game Changer: A Novel Read Online Free PDF Page B

“stuff just to mess with you.”
    I considered my brother’s words carefully as Gran appeared, placing dishes filled with steaming food in front of each of us.
    “He’s right, Jack. She’s been so evil from the very start. What’s to stop her from being difficult now?” Gran asked, her voice shaky.
    I reached out my hand, placing it on Gran’s shoulder. “I don’t know. I guess I’m just hoping that she knows this is over and there’s no point in delaying the inevitable.”
    “I hope you’re right,” she said with a sympathetic smile.
    “How’s the kitten doing? Have you talked to her since she moved to New York?” I watched as Gramps’s face lit up like a kid at Christmas.
    “Gramps, if I didn’t know better, I’d think you had a thing for my girl,” I joked.
    “Your girl?” Gramps teased back.
    My fork clanged against the side of the plate. “Uh-huh. My girl.”
    Dean laughed. “Maybe I’ll make her my girl. Keep her in the family.”
    I glared at him, the heat instantly spreading across my cheeks. “And I’ll disown you before I kick your—”
    “Boys, that’s enough.”
    Dean shoved a spoonful of rice into his mouth as he grinned at me. “You’re lucky she’s like a sister to me.”
    “Yeah? I’d say you’re the lucky one. ’Cause I’d kill you if you touched her and you know it.”
    “I’m your only brother and this is how you treat me?”
    I tried to stop the smile from spreading across my face as Gramps interjected, “You’re trying to take the man’s kitten, Dean.”
    Gran laughed and my smile widened.
    “Worry about your own nonexistent girlfriend, little brother, and leave my girl alone.”
    “Do you have a girlfriend?” Gran’s focus shot to Dean as her eyes widened.
    Dean shot me a warning look through narrowed eyes. “No. Jack’s just talking about Melissa.”
    “She’s Cassie’s best friend, right?” Gran asked.
    “Yeah.”
    “Did you talk to her yet?” I asked, putting him on the spot for once.
    He shrugged one shoulder. “No.”
    “I told you to talk to her,” I reminded him.
    “I told you she’s not into me,” he snapped back.
    “That’s crap and you know it. She is definitely into you.”
    “Then what’s the problem?” Gramps dropped his chin into his hand, his gaze shifting back and forth between me and Dean.
    “I don’t know. She says she doesn’t want a boyfriend, but I think she just doesn’t want me as a boyfriend. Can we talk about something else now?” Dean fidgeted in his chair as he filled his mouth with more food.
    “Who wouldn’t want you as a boyfriend? Rubbish,” our ever-loyal Gran said with a huff.
    “Can we please talk about something else? Anything else,” Dean pleaded.
    Taking pity on my poor, uncomfortable brother, I changed the subject. “I found some of Cassie’s photographs online today.”
    Silence filled the air as everyone stopped chewing their food, directing their stares at me. “What?” I asked nervously.
    “How did you find them?” Gramps asked, blotting the corner of his mouth with a napkin.
    “I went to her magazine’s website. They had a feature online about moving to New York, and all the photographs in the article were hers.” My chest swelled with pride as I talked about her.
    “That’s fantastic news! I want you to show me after dinner.” Gramps’s eyes lit up with enthusiasm as he slapped his hand against the table.
    “Wait.” Dean tilted his head as a smirk appeared. “You follow her magazine online?”
    I squared my gaze, meeting his directly. “You’re goddamned right I do. I want to know what she’s doing every second she’s not with me. And if there’s a photograph she takes for that magazine, I want to see it.”
    “I think that’s sweet,” Gran said.
    “I think it’s psycho,” Dean countered.
    I changed the topic of conversation for him and this is how he repays me? “Really, Dean? After everything Cassie and I have been through, you think my following her