I folded my arms across my chest. “If they did, I wouldn’t care.”
“I’m curious now.” Tristan glanced at everyone, then back at me. “Doesn’t anyone want to know why Duke is so protective over Demi?”
“I always assumed it was because she’s one of us,” Dallas mused. “Kind of how you’re supposed to be.”
“Demi is a grown woman,” he argued.
I shrugged. “And? Woman and men do things all the time that are against their best interests. Hell, Bliss is accomplished, beautiful, intelligent… but she still ended up with Tyler’s secret-family-having ass.
Bliss smacked me. “Hey!” she snapped. “This isn’t about me.”
My eyes softened. “I’m sorry, but I’m trying to prove a point.”
She rolled her eyes.” Whatever. Go ahead.”
“And what did you do when you found out he hit her?” I continued. “You were ready to wear his ass out. If this was Demi and anyone else, you would want to do the same. Why shouldn’t I kick the shit out of you right now?”
Dexter clasped my shoulder. “Alright, now. We’re not fighting here.”
I appreciated my brother’s calm demeanor. He was like Pop in that way. And I knew what he was trying to do, but I wasn’t trying to hear it today.
Apparently, Tristan wasn’t either because he stepped to me like I was a stranger on the street. “You could try.”
I snickered. “We’re not kids anymore,brotha. I wouldn’t have to try.”
His nose flared in anger. “Why do you care so much?”
“Whydon’tyou care as much?”
“It’s always you,” Tristan shook his head. “Why do you have a problem with me?”
“Maybe if I had time, or cared enough, I might sit down and give you all the reasons why I think you’re full of shit. But since we’re in a house full of people who are not Youngs, and I have shit to do, I’ll just go with my main problem.”
“Which is?”
“You never sit in your own shit. When we were young, I thought you were the coolest, the baddest cat. There was nothing you could’ve done that would’ve knocked you off that pedestal. But you jumped off that mug in one of your crazy rages. Up until that point, we had no idea you weren’t mom and dad’s biological son. Even after we found out, we didn’t care.”
“He’s right,” Dex agreed. “It never mattered to us.”
Tristan’s mother was my father’s little sister. When she died, my parents took him in and raised him as their own. Although Tristan knew the truth, our parents had never told us the details. Mostly, because it never mattered to them. Tristan had been theirs since he was two years old, and even before that. My mother was in the delivery room when he was born and had even named him. And because Aunt Sara had struggled with a long-term illness, Ma had stepped in to provide constant care to both of them during that time.
“We didn’t tell people you were our adopted brother,” Paityn said.
“You were just our big brother,” Dex added.
“You made itusagainstyou,” I continued. “Andyouused that to alienate yourself from us.”
Paityn hugged Tristan. “I just want you to be okay.”
“In the meantime,” Dallas approached him, “I need you to leave.”
ChapterSeven
I CAN’T MAKE YOU LOVE ME
Demi
The setting sun provided a beautiful backdrop as I took the scenery in. Closing my eyes, I thought about everything that had happened to me yesterday and today. Part of me was happy that Tristan was there. Despite what happened between us, I wished he’d mend his relationships with his siblings. But the selfish part of me, the part that hated the thought of being around him right now, wanted him to leave.Can I tell him that?
