“Well then, take your ass on.” I gestured for her to keep it moving. “Don’t let me stop you.” I sat down on a park bench. Needless to say, I wasn’t finishing this run. I’d already decided to walk to the smoothie place around the corner and get my favorite drink. “I can just meet y’all later.”
Bliss hugged me, catching me so off guard that I almost fell over. When she pulled back, she gave me a cheeky grin and a shrug. “Sorry to spring that on you. But you look like you need a hug.”
Even on my worst days, a hug from Bliss was always a good thing. “Thanks, Sissy,” I said.
“Any time. We should eat ice cream for breakfast.” We called her our own personal cheering section, because she rooted hard for everybody “Young.” Bliss was the heart of our family. Loving and genuinely kind, giving and positive. I loved the hell out of her.
Tyn sat next to me. “You two go on. I’ll stay with Dallas.”
“Sure?” Blake asked.
Paityn nodded. “We’ll meet you back at the house.”
Blake and Bliss took off, leaving me alone with Paityn.
“Are you really okay, Dallas?”
While Bliss was the heart, Paityn was the nurturer. She’d always considered herself Momma 2.0. And all of us agreed, even Tristan. Whenever we needed something, whether it was a place to hide or a peach cobbler, she had us covered. A couple of years ago, she’d made the decision to put herself and her dreams first and had moved to California. After a few short weeks on the west coast, she’d met the love of her life. I’d never seen her happier, but I missed her terribly.
“I’m good,” I told her. “A lot on my mind.”
“Thinking about the brewing scandal?”
I snorted. “That shit is already brewedandpoured.” Maya had set up a brunch for tomorrow so I could meet the Color of Law board members. It’d been a long time since I’d been nervous about anything, but I had teetered between making up an excuse to not attend and just telling her I wasn’t interested. “What if I’m not doing the right thing?”
She eyed me out of the corner of her eye. “You don’t even sound like yourself.”
“I know! I sound like a lil’ bitch.”
Paityn cracked up. “You sound like your ten-year-old self.”
“I don’t miss that kid.” At ten, I’d struggled to find my place in the family. Everyone seemed to have a pair. Paityn and Tristan were tight because they were the oldest. Duke and Dex were the twins, while I was the odd girl out. Blake and Bliss had each other andtheirtwin thing. And Asa was the baby. I remembered feeling so alone in a house full of people. It wasn’t until I met Demi that things started to change for me. She becamemypair.
“I do,” Paityn admitted.
I frowned. “What?”
“That kid needed me. She wasn’t afraid to show vulnerability, she wasn’t always trying to be strong, and she wasn’t fixing everyone’s life.”
I swallowed as tears filled my eyes. “Paityn, if you make me cry, I’m going to push you off this damn bench.”
She wrapped her arms around me and pulled me into a tight embrace. “I’ll stop. I love you, Sissy. I just want you to be okay.”
I leaned my forehead against her shoulder. “Why wouldn’t I be okay?”
“Because you’re so busy being Dallas Young, Marriage Broker, Badass Boss Bitch. Don’t get me wrong, I’m so proud of you. You are killin’ it out here. But I just wonder if you’re really happy.”
Pulling back, I nodded. “I am. My family makes me happy. My career makes me happy.”
“So why do you look so sad to me?”
My mouth fell open. I didn’t have words; I didn’t have an argument. And Ialwayshad an argument.
Paityn raised a challenging brow. “I get it, you love your job. But remember when Blake was too afraid to admit she was in love with Lennox? You were the main one encouraging her to do it. When I was going back and forth with my feelings for Bishop, you were right there telling me to get my shit together.”
“That’s different,” I argued. “In both cases, there was an existing relationship y’all were trying to fuck up. By the way, I’m not a novice at this psych shit. You keep trying to sneak in a therapy session, and I don’t like it. Between Bliss sending me matches and Mom introducing me to ‘nice’ young men, I’m over it. Please don’t become that older sister trying to marry her single sisters off. I thought you were better than that, Tyn.”
“That’s not what I was doing. And I’m not that much older.”
