It Starts with Us by Colleen Hoover

“My house. I have a room for you as long as you stop cussing so much.”
He raises an eyebrow. “What are you, some kind of religious nutjob?”
I motion for him to stand up. “An eleven-year-old muttering cuss words
all the time seems desperate. It’s not cool until you’re at least fourteen.”
“I’m not eleven, I’m twelve.”
“Oh. She said you were eleven. Still. Too young to be cool.”
Josh stands up and starts to follow me through the kitchen.
I spin and face him as I push back through the doors. “And for future
reference, you spelled asshole wrong. There’s no w.”
He looks surprised. “I thought that looked funny after I wrote it.”
I put his dishes in the sink, but it’s almost three in the morning and I’m not
in the mood to wash them. I flip out the lights and have Josh lead the way out
the back door. When I’m locking it, he says, “Are you going to tell Sutton
where I am?”
“I don’t know what I’m going to do yet,” I admit. I start walking down the
alley, and he rushes to catch up with me.
“I’m thinking of going to Chicago, anyway,” he says. “I probably won’t
stay more than one night at your place.”
I laugh at the idea that this kid thinks I’m going to allow him to run off to
another city now that I know he exists. What am I getting myself into? I have
a feeling my day-to-day responsibilities have just doubled. “Do we have any
other siblings I don’t know about?” I ask him.
“Just the twins, but they’re only eight.”
I stop in my tracks and look at him.
He grins. “I’m kidding. It’s just the two of us.”
I shake my head and grab the back of his hoodie, pulling it down over his
head. “You’re something.”
He’s smiling when we make it to my car. I’m smiling, too, until I feel a
sharp stab of worry in the center of my gut.
I’ve known him for half an hour. I’ve known of him for a fraction of a day.
Yet I suddenly feel like I’ll be protective of him for a lifetime.