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He's one of my favorite humans in the world. He's the complete opposite of my dad and I'm pretty sure if he hadn't been away when my mom died, then I would probably be a little less broken than I am. He would never have allowed my dad to get away with the shit that he did.
Bentley never wanted Kensington Enterprises, which made my very narcissistic father happy. "Uncle B!" I call out, and he stands when he sees me, wrapping me up in the tightest hug of my life. Something about being here with him and Pops makes me feel stronger.
I feel like I'm going to be able to get through this day and deal with this whole engagement thing.
"I see you've been having fun," I tease, nodding toward Briar, who looks terrified now that his attention is distracted from her.
"Poor girl had no idea what sort of shark-infested waters she was swimming in. So I tried to be a lifesaver for her. She seems nice, too nice for this lot." I nod at his uttered words as he takes another sip of his drink.
"She is, she's nothing like our usual crowd," I murmur. "And with that in mind, I need your help."
After making sure the vultures on the other side of the room are too deep in their gossip to overhear me, I give him a quick rundown of everything that I already told Pops earlier, figuring every extra body we have in our corner is a win, and his jaw clenches.
"Does your dad ever get off his crazy train? I know I've been gone for a while, kid, but this is insane."
"You have no idea," I respond to him. "This is just the tip of the iceberg. If you had any idea about all the crap that's been going on around here, I'm pretty sure you'd just stay gone forever."
"Kid, I'd never leave you alone in the dark for that long."
I scoff at him and roll my eyes, and he looks a little guilty because we both know that he's left me with my crazy father for much longer than anyone should have had to endure. I don't blame him for it though. If I had a way to get out of here, I totally would.
I motion for Briar to join us and the relief on her face is palpable. She excuses herself from the conversation with my nana, who's barely looked at me since I entered the room. Finally, she does and gives me a tight smile.
It's very apparent which parent my dad got his psychotic ways from. He's just like my nana. I have no idea how my pops put up with it for so long with both of them. Uncle B is more like Pops. They're ‘salt of the earth’ kind of people, and the ones that I would strive to be like more than my dad any day of the week.
"Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you," Briar says quietly as she finally joins us. "I don’t know how you all do this small talk thing for so long. I’ve never wanted to disappear into the wallpaper as much as I have tonight. And that’s saying something."
A flicker of her shadows passes through her eyes before she smiles tightly again.
Bentley captures her attention with some daring tale of mayhem and intrigue from his days in the Marines, and italmostfeels like a normal family gathering for a few minutes. Her laughter for Bentley is genuine, telling me she’s just as smitten with him as everyone else he meets. But, like all good things, even this little happy moment must come to an end. I take a deep breath as I hear voices coming down the hall.
Moments later, my dad, Theodore, and the twins’ dad, Thomas, enter the room with Erica, the twins' mom, followed closely by Tobias.
"Dinner will be served in three minutes. If you'd like to head into the formal dining room and take your seats."
Tobias scurries away, grinning at me as he does, and I laugh, shaking my head.
Yeah I'd scurry away if I were him too. Serving my nana is never much fun. Add her personal brand of crazy to this dysfunctional melting pot, and everything just becomes a potential for nuclear fall out.
We all move to take our seats and I make sure that Briar is wedged firmly between myself and Cole, with Bentley on Cole’s other side since he seems to be on board with the whole, let's not get engaged thing.
Once everyone is seated and Pattie tops up everyone's drinks, my father clears his throat to do his yearly Christmas family speech. I groan internally because I’m sick of his pomp and bullshit.
I try to tune out the drivel, trying not to worry about how much my dad's going to flip his shit when Pops talks to him. I should try to relax because I know Pops isn’t going to cause a scene tonight—he’ll wait till later to talk to Dad and Theo—but I can’t help but feel nervous for Briar.
I glance down at her, the formal black dress she has on floating down to just above her knees, her feet wedged into the heels that she said were absolutely necessary for the dress, and her hair pinned back from her face.
Pops might have basically given me his blessing to go after the girl, but my dad is still never going to be okay with it. I’m also not sure that after the way I’ve treated her she’d want me again anyway.
Everything inside of me tells me that I want her, but my brain knows I can never really have her. Even if she wasn't my new stepsister. She's meant to be Cole’s. Or the twins’, I can feel it in my bones. I've done way too much shit to deserve somebody with as much inner sunshine as she has.
She might come across as snarky and sassy, and a big old walking thundercloud. But really, deep down, she's just permanent sunshine.
I know I don't deserve her.
My attention is drawn away from her to the opposite side of the table where the twins are sitting with their parents, bickering already before we've even managed to have food served. Nana tuts at them, scowling harshly, when the twins’ mom stands, shouting, "This is not the time nor place to be discussing this, boys. We will have this conversation. In. Private."
Asher drops his napkin onto the table, standing to face his mom. Sawyer stands too so that they’re shoulder to shoulder. "No, Mom, I think this is the absolute right time to have this conversation. We will not, under any circumstances, be a part of your insane plans. I don't care what sort of crazy games you guys have cooked up or what threats you make. We will not be pawns in your game. Not with something as significant as the rest of our lives."
