My older sister shook her head. “I don’t have anything to say, Tristan.”
His gaze dropped to my sister’s growing belly and smiled. “You’re pregnant?”
Like all of us, Tristan was well aware of my sister’s trouble conceiving. I didn’t doubt that he was happy for her and Bishop because he knew how long they’d been trying.
“I am.” Paityn brushed her hand over his cheek. “I’m so happy to see your face. I’ve missed you.”
“You’re angry with me. I get it.”
“I feel like you’re being disingenuous right now,” Paityn admitted. “You have a motive for being here that doesn’t involve simply spending time with us. That hurts.”
I heard a soft sniffle from behind me and craned my neck. Bliss dashed tears from her cheeks and stood. “I hate to say this because you know I love you with everything in me. But I hate that you came here. All I can feel is the tension in the room when you’re around. It’s like you’re a dark cloud casting a shadow on a sunny day. It’s a tragedy to me because…” She sucked in a shaky breath and took the Kleenex Dexter offered. “…you have so much to give. I remember feeling invincible, free when you were around. Now I’m just heavy.”
Blake muttered a curse because Bliss was the heart of our group. And judging by the tears in my sisters’, and even Asa’s eyes, the fact that Bliss had shed tears had affected everybody in the room. As for me, it made me even more angry.
“Listen, bruh,” Dex said, “I don’t know what’s going on, but I don’t like it.”
Dexter had been preoccupied for the past several months. Not only was he planning a wedding, but he’d also made the decision to split his time between Michigan and Atlanta due to Charlye’s job. And since he’d spent Thanksgiving in Atlanta with her family, he hadn’t been privy to the latest drama.
“You don’t have to like it,” Tristan told Dex. “But you’remybrother. And you’ve always been fair. Shouldn’t I have a chance to explain myself?”
“I think you should be able to speak your peace,” Asa agreed. My youngest brother had the benefit of not being a twin, a Triple, or the oldest. He’d pretty much been able to live his life under the radar, without much pushback from the family because of his age and general no fucks given attitude. But he was closer to Tristan than most of us, so his opinion didn’t surprise me.
Tristan sat, resting his elbows on his knees. “I didn’t mean to hurt Demi.”
“This time?” I asked, unable to keep silent any longer. He waved me off, but I wasn’t deterred. “What are you doing here?”
“I thought I could come and try to mend some relationships.”
Blake scoffed. “You could’ve come to Thanksgiving dinner. Mom was waiting for you to show up, after you told her you would. And you didn’t.”
“I know I’m not your favorite person, lil sister,” Tristan said, “but I do care.”
“If you care, do something about it other than spout lame-ass excuses.” Blake glanced at Dallas. “When was the Mediterranean Cruise for Mom and Dad’s anniversary?”
“Last year,” Dallas answered.
“Right. Aside from your cameo appearance at Dallas’ wedding for twenty minutes, that was the last time we saw you. And, honestly, I’m tired of your blatant disrespect of Mom and Dad.”
“I do miss y’all.” Tristan met my gaze finally and I caught a glint of something in his eyes. It wasn’t regret. It wasn’t shame. But I couldn’t put my finger on it just yet. “I want to be here. But I need to talk to Demi first.”
“No.” I shoot my head, drawing seven pairs of surprised eyes to me. I didn’t care. My urge to protect her was stronger than his desire to gaslight the family into giving him what he wanted. And I didn’t want to think aboutwhy. I just knew I had to make sure she was good. “That’s not going to happen today. You’ve done enough.”
Bliss squeezed my arm. “Duke, it’s okay.”
Ignoring my sister, I leveled a hard glare on my brother. “Why do you want to see her? So you can lead her on a little more? String her along for a couple more years? Nah, nigga, she’s good.” I caught Dexter’s curious glance out of the corner of my eye, but I kept going. “She’s reconciled the fact that you and her are not a thing. Oh, and that happened after you stood her up. Again.”
“When did you start speaking for Demi?” He snickered. “Because last time I checked, she was capable of making her own choices. Despite what you may think, I do care about her..”
“That’s never been in question, Tristan. She knows you care about her. I mean, she’s part of the family. What she doesn’t know is that you don’t want her. You never did.”
“How would you know?” Tristan challenged.
“Man, shut the hell up,” I blared. “You know as well as I do that if you wanted her, your ass would be here. With her. You never wanted her like that. Which is fine. But don’t make it seem like there could be something when we all know there won’t be anything.”
Paityn stood in front of me. “Baby brother, I think we all just need a break right now. Especially you.”
“I’m fine,” I assured her. “He came and inserted himself into the weekend. He can hear what I have to say.”
