“Here.”
I reached out and took the bottle of water Trip held out, my eyes already adjusted to the dim light. I gulped the bottle down in one long drink.
“Thank you.” My voice sounded scratchy and I closed my eyes to try and ease the pain behind them.
“Scoot over,” Trip ordered.
He slid into my bed next to me and my heart rate skyrocketed. It wasn’t the first time Trip had lain in bed with me, but this was the first time we weren’t connected by ear buds listening to a magical adventure. This felt different, more intimate.
“Do you want to talk about it?” Trip asked, lying on his back with his arms under his head.
“I don’t know what to say,” I answered truthfully.
“You do know Brian loves Renee and Norah and will treat them both like princesses?”
“I know. I told Renee the same thing last night. She has a lot of trust issues when it comes to men. I’m glad Brian was the one to get through to her.”
“How are you feeling?” Trip asked, turning his head toward me.
“Sad and happy. Renee deserves a good guy. Norah’s dad really screwed her over, and I was afraid she’d never recover. Brian’s great with Norah and she really does need a father figure in her life. Not that my dad doesn’t do a good job, but she doesn’t live with him,” I rambled.
“He’ll be a good dad. He was an only child growing up. His mom always liked to make fun of him because he’d beg her for a sibling. This will be good for all of them.”
I tried to smile. It was weak and barely lifted my cheeks.
“You know, you’ve never told me about Norah’s dad. Is he still alive?”
I swallowed the nasty words wanting to spew out. Even though he did help produce Norah, and I wouldn’t give her up for the world, my gut still burned with anger when I thought about him.
“I’m sure he’s still alive. We haven’t heard from him, and I promised Renee I wouldn’t keep track. She wanted him out of her life, so I stopped keeping tabs.”
“Is that all I’m going to get out of you on the subject?”
I could tell he wanted more. He was curious, and I didn’t blame him. Hell, Trip wasn’t the only person in our lives to try and wheedle out more information on Norah’s dad. To this day we had continued using the story that Renee had a boyfriend in the military, and he broke up with her when he found out she was pregnant.
“Yep. Unless Renee decides to tell you, that’s all you’re going to get out of me.”
“She told Brian.”
I sat straight up. My heart hammered in my chest as it fought against the iron bands wrapped around me at his words. I knew it would make sense for Renee to discuss those topics with Brian, but my stupid brain still felt betrayed. It seemed Renee really did trust him, and I was slowly being replaced.
“She loves you, McKenna. She isn’t going anywhere. You two are sisters and nobody’s going to get in between you. Just think of Brian as an addition.” Trip tugged on my ponytail to get me to lie back down as he expertly read my fears. “I need to talk to you about Robin.”
“Trip, it’s fine,” I stuttered, not wanting to hear about the perfect girl who had captured his heart.
“I know it’s fine. Or at least it will be, when you let me explain.”
I moved to get out of bed, knowing he wasn’t going to stop and the only way to get out of the conversation was to remove myself. Trip grabbed my arm and kept me anchored to the bed.
“Robin’s gay.”
“Well, I’d be happy too if I looked like her and was the star of the women’s Olympic Softball team.”
“Stop being difficult. Robin’s in love with a woman. She doesn’t want it to get out, because her girlfriend’s pretty famous, and she’s trying to protect her.”
Trip’s hand stayed glued to mine. I relented from trying to escape and lay back down next to him.
“Gwen came up with this scheme, and at first I was resistant.”
