Page 69 of Apparently, I’m A B!tch

Chapter36

Nikki

Friday night

After I ranout of Extra Shot, I pulled myself together and went to dinner with my parents. Just being with them eased some of the damage done. They made me laugh, they gossiped and argued over my head, making it seem like what happened between Tristan and I was a surreal, horrible dream.

I went there hoping to make things right between us. I wanted to make him understand that I needed honesty, I needed to be able to trust him. But I lost all control as soon as he told me he loved me.

I jumped into his bed without resolving anything, as if his saying those three words could erase all the months of awkwardness and distrust we’d built.

I believed him, and it seemed like we were finally back to a place where we could be us, but words couldn’t resolve anything when his actions showed the opposite. Rochelle showing up and claiming she was there to warm Tristan’s bed only reminded me of how little I could trust him. Even if she’d been lying, she knew he was home, she knew about me. The truth was right there, physically in front of me, and I wasn’t willing to overlook it.

Tristan’s claim that he severed ties with her wasn’t something I could believe anymore, and even though I had no idea what to do next, I was more grateful than I thought I would be to have my parents here.

We were FaceTiming my sisters daily, adding the rush of joy that came with seeing my adorable nieces and nephews. That was the best part of our calls.

The worst part was when my mama broke into the conversation, claiming Tristan deserved another chance.

“You mean best-friend-turned-awkward-barista-Tristan? This is the same Tristan, isn’t it?” Elena asked while bouncing Chubby Nicholas on her hip.

Andrea clucked her tongue and rolled her eyes. “I knew she was having hot awkward sex with him.”

“Andrea! Disgusting!” Mama exclaimed as I shook my head.

“I don’t know what to do about him anymore. It feels like all he does is lie to me.”

I sighed as my sisters asked for more details, coercing me into rehashing everything that happened.

They already knew about Kelly’s unrequited crush, about how Harvey was using her to chalk up wins while he rested on weekends, and about how I thought Tristan was doing the same thing to Rochelle until she showed up and rubbed it in my face that Tristan was sleeping with her too. I wasn’t sure I believed that last part–I knew too much about Tristan, and it just wasn’t in his nature to sleep with more than one woman at once–but the fact that he lied about her still being in the picture was enough for me.

It was easier to talk about it now. I didn’t tear up at the thought of him anymore. At least… not right away.

“I’m not sure what to think anymore.”

I looked up at the screen and waited for their honesty onslaught, braced with the knowledge that my sisters didn’t spout useless lies to make someone feel better. It wasn’t how we were raised.

Elena shrugged and gave Chubby Nicholas back to Andrea. She cooed as she folded him into her, his small pudgy hands gripping onto his mother’s shirt. It was the kind of sight that tugged at me, giving me a wave of homesickness I haven’t had since my parents showed up.

“Maybe there’s more to the story, Nikki,” Elena started, surprising me. “You know things aren’t always so black and white in relationships. Like this case you told us about. On paper, your client’s a scumbag, right?”

I nodded and shifted in my seat. “I guess so.”

What I expected Elena to say was that Tristan had shown his true colors, and the only thing left to do was to cut ties. When she started by saying relationships weren’t always black and white, it pushed a feeble hope back to the forefront.

“But you’re sure this guy is innocent and you’re checking on all that evidence to try and get him off, right?”

Andrea’s shifty smile told me her brain honed in on the same dirty joke that mine did, and we said in unison, “That’s what she said,” before laughing at each other.

Mama’s lips puckered in confusion as Elena rolled her eyes. “You guys are idiots,” my sister said with obvious warmth.

“Give him another chance, Nikki,” Andrea demanded. “You could at least hear the guy out. Things aren’t always the way they seem. This Rochelle could be the liar. Or are you too busy swimming in a sea of men we’ve never heard about to give Tristan another try?”

Mama put her arm around me. “If she was, Andrea, don’t you think she would be less lonely?” She kissed the side of my head as my sisters swapped glances.

My father wandered into my open plan living room and kitchen; his deep grating voice raised so we could all hear him. “She should forget about Henry’s boy and come home, that’s what she should do.”

I turned to him with my mama’s arm still around me. She was patting my hair and it was giving me warm fuzzies. “But what about my legal career?”