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“Be nice,” Keiris warned.
“Nope, and you already know that I won’t, so why waste your time asking me to?”
Keiris groaned and left the living room. Dreeya shifted to the edge of her seat, leveling her eyes with mine.
“I like you.”
“Why do I feel like that’s not necessarily a good thing?”
She smiled mischievously.
“Sexy and smart. I like that you’re perceptive.”
“You like mebut…” I challenged, hoping to get to the point.
“That’s my sister in there. I love her like we share the same blood, like we shared a womb, so if you hurt her…”
“I won’t,” I said firmly, with no reservation.
“I would hope not, but if you do. Then you won’t survive the type of wrath I will bring into your life. I will make you hurt ten times more than you hurt her.”
“I believe you will but again, I won’t hurt Keiris.”
“Good, and one more thing, I know you have some shit with you. The thing with your mother…” Her eyes met mine and I nodded stiffly. “You can’t depend on her to make you whole or to make you happy. You have to do it yourself. If you do it for her and it ever gets to the point when she’s not enough, she will get hurt. You can’t depend on Keiris to fix whatever is broken in you but you can depend on her to be there, to support you, and love you through it. Promise me you’ll do the work.”
She had a very valid point. One I had already considered so I made the promise. When I said I would never hurt Keiris, I meant that with everything in me.
“I’ll do the work. I’m giving you my word.”
She stared at me for a long moment then smiled. “Thank you.”
“Thank you too. You’re a good friend and I’m glad that she has you in her life. I also want to be clear, she has me too. I’m making these promises to you, for Keiris, because I know you love her. As her man, I will do everything in my power to make sure she’s happy.”
She smiled softly. “Then we understand each other and there won’t be any issues.”
I chuckled and nodded. “We’re on the same page.”
I wouldn’t hurt Keiris intentionally but that also didn’t mean I wouldn’t by default. Dreeya was right about one thing, I had to do the work and I planned to.
Epilogue
Six months and some change.
“I really struggle with how to move past what she did. There are days when I’m good and it doesn’t bother me then there are those days when I second guess who and what I am. I know I’m a good person and an even better man but there’s always that thought lingering in the back of my mind, fucking with me because I wasn’t good enough for her tostay.”
I tensed next to my brother and my fingers curled into my palm. I hated how bothered he was by the past. That was my issue, the anger I felt because of the hurt he felt.
“And have you been reminding yourself of the truths we discussed?” Dr. Tate spoke calmly, looking my brother right in the eyes. That was how she did things. This was our third session together and I had to admit being here helped.
If only for me having a space to express how much I hated that Ty allowed our mother to disrupt his life. Dr. Tate was able to help him see that my anger was not about him, but about her.
“Yeah, I know what it is. I know leaving was her issue not mine. And when she left she didn’t make the decision because I was somehow lacking as a son. I know the facts but they’re really hard to trust at times.”
“It gets easier. When I first started seeing you, you refused to admit that your mother leaving bothered you at all. You harbored the anger but now you express how the void she left makes you feel and how that void also shapes your relationships with other women. You’re honest about the ways she hurt you. In time you’ll be able to accept that her issues don’t create inadequacies in you.”
Tynan nodded as Dr. Tate turned her eyes to me. “You were upset about his confession.”
I frowned and her eyes lowered to my fist, which was still locked tight. “It’s my job to be perceptive. What did he express that angered you, Balor?”
