Chapter 1
Shit Damn Mother Fucker
Blake
January, This Year
At fifteen, I’d started sipping on my father’s cognac while they were out of town. I blamed that shit on my older brother, Duke. He’d always been a bad influence on me. That same year, I’d lost my virginity to an older boy, Keon Pollard. I blamed that shit on myself, because…well, I just liked it.
Basically, I’ve been fucking and drinking over half of my life. Now, at thirty-one, I was dry—literally and figuratively. Granted, it was my own decision to stop having sex and drinking that good brown liquor, but it’d been over six freakin’ months. “Horny and thirsty” only scratched the surface of my emotional bandwidth. Add grumpy, frustrated, angry, snippy, sad, melancholy, concerned, exhausted, and we might be getting somewhere. On most days, I could handle myself and everyone around me. But today?
“Duke! You drank all my Berry Punch!” I slammed the refrigerator door. To my right, ready to go out in the recycle bin was my once-full carton.
The only thing I needed every morning was a small glass of Berry Punch. It was my morning routine, something I looked forward to since I didn’t drink soft drinks or Kool-Aid or anything other than water, the occasional cup of coffee, and booze. And,dammit, I wanted my juice!
I grabbed the empty carton from the counter, stalked to the second guest bedroom, and barged in. An unfamiliar yelp caught me off guard, and I flicked the light on. In the bed, Duke and some woman were wrapped around each other.
“Ugh! Get out of my house!” I pitched the carton and lopped Duke on the forehead.
“Ouch,” he grumbled, rubbing his temple. “Shit.”
Scooping up a mound of clothes off the floor, I tossed it on the stranger’s head. “Now.” The woman scrambled to gather her things and hightailed it out of the room. I turned my ire on my brother.
Unbothered, he burrowed into a pillow. “Thanks for the save, B. I needed a way out of that.”
It wasn’t uncommon for any of us to serve as an excuse for my playboy brother to ditch a date. But this wasn’t one of those times. “You too, punk. It’s time for you to go.” Turning on my heels, I stomped out of the room, nearly bumping into my very pregnant twin. “Shit,” I hissed. “I need to get out of here.”
Bliss winced, rubbing her belly. “I think I might be in labor,” she groaned. “I’ve been feeling contractions for the last hour.”
I rolled my eyes and let out a heavy sigh. “You’re not in labor, Sissy. The doctor told you last night it was Braxton-Hicks.”And the night before that, and the week before that.We’d been to the hospital at least four times over the past ten days, and the five hours we’d spent there yesterday had worn me out. “Did you do what Dr. Love suggested? Drink water? Go for a walk? Maybe you should come to the office today. It might help to keep your mind off everything.”
Bliss pouted. “It hurts, though. Can you take me to the hospital again?”
“No.” Brushing past her, I headed toward the kitchen. I loved my sister. Really. But going to the hospital wasn’t an option. I had shit to do. Like be by myself. My house had been invaded by siblings. Bliss had moved in after breaking up with Tyler. Duke had been in town since New Year’s Day. And while I enjoyed my brother’s company most times, I was sick and tired of him eating my damn food and drinking all of my freakin’ juice.Ugh.
Bliss joined me in the kitchen a few seconds later. “Are you mad at me?”
I counted to ten. Then, counted to ten again. “No, boo.” I gave her my best almost-smile. “I’m just tired. Can you tell Duke to get out when he wakes up?” Opening the refrigerator, I searched for something to eat on the way to work. Unfortunately, the only thing appetizing was an apple. Muttering a curse, I grabbed it and tossed it into my bag. Luckily, Dexter was in charge of food this week at the office, which meant we’d get good, hot food instead of the bland, healthy food Dallas always brought. “I’m running late.”
As I moved through the house, I managed to avoid eye contact with Bliss. She was my kryptonite. Perhaps it was the twin thing, but she was theonlyone of my siblings who had the power to make me change my entire day around to help her. The last several months with her were all the proof anyone needed. I’d gone to doctor appointments, shopped for baby shit, held her hand during ultrasounds, lotioned her feet when she couldn’t reach them, and planned a damn gender reveal party.
“Blake?” Bliss called.
“Damn, B, you need to stop acting like a virgin and get some,” Duke grumbled as he entered the living room. Picking up a pillow, he grinned at me. “Punch this. It might help with that tension in your shoulders.”
Glaring at my brother, I punchedhiminstead—in the gut. I smirked when he doubled over and fell back on the couch. “Ooh, that felt good.”
“You sneaked me.” He blew out a harsh breath. “I taught you better than that.”
“You also taught me not to take shit from anyone. That includes you, asshole.” I put on my coat. “You know, I like living alone. But every night this week, I’ve had company. I’m putting my foot down. I need my space back.” Bliss opened her mouth to speak, but I rushed on, “Not you, Sissy.” Addressing Duke again, I added, “Aside from Bliss, no one is allowed over for the next two weeks.”
“You’re kicking me out?” Duke stood, a frown on his face. “Seriously?”
“Yes. You had sex in my house!” I smacked him on his shoulder. “In. My. House.” I shoved him back down on the couch. “No one has sex in this house but me! Get out. Go to Dex’s house. Or Dallas’.” The triplets were close, but Duke always insisted on staying with me when he was in town. “I don’t care where you go. Hell, there are six other houses you can go to.”
Duke exchanged a worried glance with Bliss. Lifting his hands up, he said, “Fine. But I’m concerned about you. Maybe you need to go to the dojo and hit something harder.”
“He’s right, Sissy,” Bliss said. “You’ve been on a terror the last few days.”
