“Voicemails transfer over,” Jasmine states, cramming a piece of pancake into her mouth across the booth from us.
I narrow my eyes at her.
“It’s okay.” Haven wraps her arms around my shoulders and pulls me into her. “I’m just glad you’re here now.”
“Yeah.” Jasmine nods her head. “We know how you get.”
“What does that mean?” I ask.
“That you pull away.”
I can’t argue with her or be mad about what Jasmine says because it’s true. I’ve never allowed myself to get too close. Not even to them. Haven and Jasmine were the closest.
“And your mom is sick …” Haven goes on. “I can’t even imagine how hard that must be.” She rubs my back. “How are you and your dad holding up?”
Jasmine drops her eyes to the table. She hasn’t told Haven what happened to him. I imagine Haven doesn’t watch the news often anyway. If she did, she’d see nothing but bad things regarding her husband.
“My father …” I take a deep breath. “My father passed away a few weeks ago.”
The table falls silent, and I drop my head to stare at my hands in my lap. “It was a heart attack. Happened at his office while in a meeting.” I swallow and leave it at that. “He left everything to George. And he is blackmailing me.” I’m like a drunk girl who has reached her limit of drinks, and they’re all coming back up. “But George owes the Kings five hundred thousand dollars. And he has offered me up to Titan in exchange for repaying his debt.”
As the words finish rushing out, I’m met with silence. But I can’t look up at them. I’m ashamed. Not sure why, since the girls and I have never kept secrets from one another. And let’s face it, we’ve all three done some stupid shit when it came to boys. I don’t know why this would be any different.
I hear the vinyl in the cushion shift as Jasmine gets up from her side of the table and comes to sit by me. I move closer to Haven to make room for her. And then I feel both of their arms around me.
Closing my eyes, I feel a tear run down my cheek. These are my sisters. We’ve only ever had each other, and I’ve missed them so much.
“I’m so sorry,” Jasmine whispers, either pretending like she didn’t know, or she truly is sincere.
“Me too.” Haven sniffs. “We should have been there for you …”
I pull away from both of them. “No. I should have been there for you,” I tell Haven.
“Hey.” She smiles. “I’m fine. Promise. Don’t worry about me. But Jasmine …” She looks over at her. “She needs help.”
I laugh, wiping the tear from my cheek.
“I’m just fine. Thank you,” Jasmine says, lifting her chin. “Hey, that offer still stands, Nite,” Jasmine calls out.
“Offer?” I ask, confused.
“Yeah, I told him I’d fuck him with a strap-on.”
“What? Why would you say that?” I ask.
“Because he’s gay.” She rolls her eyes.
“No, he’s not,” I argue.
“He is. But that’s okay. I don’t discriminate. And I’ll have you screaming my name all night.”
“He’s a mute,” I remind her. He took some kind of vow of silence back in college. That’s where he got his nicknameSilent Nitefrom.
“He won’t be when I’m done with him.” She winks.
He ignores her.
Haven rolls her eyes. “You fucked him at my wedding.”
