Chapter 30
thirty
“ Y ou and Tristan? Together?” My best friend blinked wide eyes at me with doubt written over every feature on her face.
I just finished breaking down the last twenty-four hours, and after getting over the shock, her biggest hang-up was me telling her Tristan and I were dating.
I nodded.
She wrinkled her button nose. “Tristan? 30A’s playboy?”
I swallowed the piece of chicken I’d been chewing on for too long. “Stop. Those days are behind him.”
Sam and I sat on my bed, eating Chinese takeout from white cartons. She raised her brows over a pair of chopsticks. “Are you sure?”
“Yes. He’s not Preston.”
“He also has never been someone’s boyfriend before.”
“Valid point.”
“Speaking of the ex-boyfriend, when are you going to tell him you’re dating his brother? He was released from the hospital, right?” she asked, lifting a piece of honey crispy chicken into her mouth. Her hair was secured into a messy bun on the top of her head, keeping it from falling into the sticky carton.
I dug my chopsticks around in my container of kung pao chicken. “Yeah, yesterday.” It had been three days since the incident. Tristan had picked him up and driven him home to their parents’ house. It just so happened to be the week of Thanksgiving, and despite Tristan wanting me to join him for the holidays, I thought it best this year to give the Malone family time alone. They would have plenty to digest without adding my relationship with their eldest son. We’d tell them eventually, but for now, we were keeping it to ourselves…and Sam, of course.
“You still want to come to my house for the holidays?” she asked.
I stuck my chopsticks into her carton, stealing a piece of chicken. “If your mom won’t mind.” My dad, like usual, was working. He texted me he would be in Milan and offered to fly me out, but that sounded as fun as swallowing glass.
I didn’t want to spend the time off alone in my big, empty house. I thought about staying at school, but Sam wouldn’t have it.
“Are you kidding? Pretty sure my mom loves you more than me.” She tapped her chopsticks together in the air. “There are worse things than a sober Thanksgiving.”
Scooping rice out of the carton we were sharing, I brought it to my mouth. “Is Veda coming?” I asked. I’d only met Veda, the girl Sam was seeing, briefly, but she seemed good for my best friend.
“Not this year. It’s too new, and I don’t want her meeting my mom and running for the hills.”
A knock sounded on my door. Chopsticks halfway to our mouths, Sam and I glanced in the direction of the three thudded raps. “Are you expecting someone?” Sam asked.
“No.” The delivery guy had already come. “Not unless you ordered more food.”
Sam shook her head. “Stay here. I’ll see who it is.” My protector. She climbed off the bed, setting her food on the desk, readying to screen and shield me from whoever lingered on the other side of the door.
I was all too happy to let her handle it and went back to my food, shoving another pile of rice into my mouth.
“Is she here?” A deep voice carried into my room from the hallway.
I nearly choked on the rice at the sound of Preston’s voice. My gaze flew up to the back of Sam’s head.
She stood blocking the door, arms crossed in a defensive position. “It doesn’t matter if she is. It won’t change the fact that I’m not letting you in. Actually, I have a few words I’ve been meaning to get off my chest.” I saw Sam lift her hand and stick it past the threshold, assumingly on Preston’s chest as she shoved him farther into the hall. She started to close the door behind her. Sam’s anger on my behalf remained a constant steady thing like our friendship; she was always on my side regardless of right or wrong.
“Sam,” I called out.
My best friend glanced over her shoulder, her head poking back through the door.
“It’s okay. You can let him in,” I said.
“Ever,” she replied firmly. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Her teeth gritted together.
“No, but I can’t avoid him forever.” Regardless of how much I might want to. It would take more than a few days for me to come to terms with his part in my nearly getting killed. I couldn’t place all the blame on Preston, but damn, if I still wasn’t upset. The high from being in love was making me soft.
“Like hell,” she hissed, her fingers pressing deeper into the edge of the door.
“Sam, I swear, it’s fine. Truly,” I added when she continued to look unconvinced.
Her sigh was loud. “Do you want me to stay?”
I shook my head. “It’s fine.”
Sam faced Preston again, her body lined with tension. “You hurt her…and I’ll break all the other bones in your body. The ones your friends missed.”
“Noted,” he retorted.
“I’ll be in my room. Text me when this asshole leaves.” She grabbed her carton of Chinese food and headed back toward the hallway, leaving the door open for my ex to walk inside.
He hovered on the threshold, his eyes following my best friend. “Sam,” he called after her.
I’d lost sight of her, but I assumed from Preston’s body language that she had stopped.
“I know it won’t mean much, but I am sorry. For all of it,” he said, his back pressing into the wooden frame.
“You’re right. It doesn’t mean jack shit. She could have died. Ever might forgive you, but I won’t.” Nothing in her voice gave an ounce of grace, her words trembling with scorn.
Preston accepted her response with a nod, none of his usual arrogant rebuttal. “I respect that.”
“At least one of us respects the other because I sure as hell lost all for you.” It was just like Sam to let him have it, no holding back. And with those parting words, Sam left me alone with my ex.
Preston glanced at me. We stared at each other, an awkward silence lingering in the air. “If she didn’t hate me, I’d be concerned,” he said, trying to break the ice.
I didn’t say anything, and I just watched him as he stepped into the room, the space suddenly feeling so small. I set my food on the side table beside my bed, waiting for him to say what he came to get off his chest. “You look better,” I commented. The last time I’d seen him, he’d been covered in blood. It was nice to see Preston looking less like he got hacked up by a botched murder attempt from a serial killer, but it was the only nice thing about seeing him. My anger and hurt lingered for so many reasons. He still had plenty of bruises to make it painfully obvious he’d been through some trauma.
“You look…different,” he retorted after a thoughtful pause.
Why did he pay attention to me when we weren’t together, but when we had been, he wouldn’t have noticed if I dyed my hair green? “Could be the shiner on my cheek,” I mumbled, hugging my knees up to my chest. I’d tried to cover it as best I could, but the mark Angelo left on me had started to turn a nasty shade of purple.
He shoved off the frame, closing the door behind him, and winced. “That’s not it. I’m surprised to find you in your room. I assumed you’d be in Tristan’s.”
The straight line of my lips turned into a frown, my patience tapering. “What do you want, Preston? If you came to see if I was still shagging your brother, you can go. There’s the door.”
“No, that’s not why I’m here.” He slumped against the wall, dragging in a deep breath. “I-It’s hard for me. I’m still getting…used to the idea.”
I toyed with the end of my sleeves, the oversized sweater I wore reaching past my fingertips. “Tristan told you?”
He nodded. “Yeah.”
I ignored how my heart picked up at Preston’s words. “He never meant to hurt you. Neither did I.”
A snort flared from his nostrils. “And yet we somehow ended up hurting each other.”
My defenses snapped into place. “I don’t want to talk about my love life with you. Actually, I’m not sure we have anything to say to each other.”
“Ev, please,” he said softly, his blue-green eyes pleading.
“Hurry and spit it out. My food’s getting cold.” I honestly didn’t care about the Chinese food. I’d lost my appetite. I just wanted to get this over with. I hadn’t expected Preston to be supportive, but I hoped he wouldn’t be mean, not after what he’d done.
Preston swallowed thickly, his Adam’s apple visibly bobbing with the movement. “Tristan told me I needed to stop gambling with your fucking life. His words exactly. He’s right. I’m getting help for the gambling.” The confession rushed out of him as if he feared I might not let him get everything he had to say off his chest.
“Good,” I stated simply. Preston wasn’t the only one who needed therapy. I should call my therapist up and schedule an appointment. It had been too long since we chatted last. “You shouldn’t do it for me but for you and the family you’re about to have,” I said, reminding him what he had at stake if he continued down this destructive path.
His eyes shifted to the floor, avoiding mine. “Do you think you’ll ever forgive me for what happened?”
Was that why he came here? To absolve his guilt? I chewed on my lip, contemplating how to respond without coming off as a total bitch. I didn’t want to stay angry at him forever. It took too much energy, and it would be easier to forgive him and move on especially with me dating his brother.
He lifted his eyes expectantly as he waited.
“I’m working on it.”
Preston nodded, his fingers running through his sandy hair. For once, he didn’t look completely polished and put together. Our eyes connected, his shoulder loosening as he exhaled.
“What about you? Are you going to be able to forgive me?” I asked. I’d slept with his brother. Hell, I’d fallen in love with him. Although I never cheated on Preston—he couldn’t say the same—and it wasn’t like I broke any laws, yet I couldn’t shake the feeling there was this morally gray line I’d crossed. But most of all, I’d hurt someone I’d cared about. That was what I regretted.
“I’m working on it.” He smiled, and I returned his with one of mine. “Do you love him?”
I thought it would be tough telling Preston the truth about my feelings. I wasn’t someone who enjoyed hurting other people, but somehow admitting what I felt for his brother lifted a burden off my chest. “I do. I have for some time.”
“I think I always knew. But I was selfish. I didn’t want to let my brother win.” He snorted pathetically at himself. “I’m sorry I treated you like a prize.”
The fact he was starting to recognize his faults had to be a step in the right direction. Perhaps getting his face rearranged knocked some sense into him. Or the severity of how close we’d all come to death shifted his ideas and what was important. “Me too. I might not have been the one, Preston, but maybe she is…if you give her a chance. She is having your baby after all.”
“Can you believe I’m going to be a father?”
I shook my head. “It’s wild, but I know you can do this. You both can.” And I surprised myself by realizing I wanted to see Preston become a dad. A good one at that because I knew he had it in him.
He sat down in my desk chair, his elbows coming to rest on top of his knees. “It hasn’t hit me yet. I need to tell my parents.”
“Do you want me to come with you?” I offered, another surprise I didn’t expect to come out of my mouth. I was full of them today.
“My parents do love you,” he said, seriously considering the offer with drawn brows, reminding me too much of Tristan’s. “Mom will be disappointed as hell when she finds out we’re not getting married. As much as I love the thought of having you there as a buffer, I think I need to do this alone.”
An almost smile touched the corners of my mouth. “Look at you growing up.”
Preston’s lips twisted, his eyes holding a hint of a sparkle I hadn’t seen in some time. “It was bound to happen even if it was sooner than I would like.”
A calmness settled over me. “You can still achieve your dreams. Life won’t end because you’re having a baby. It might get harder, but nothing’s impossible, and you are not a quitter.”
“No, I’m not,” he agreed, his spirits higher than when he’d walked in. “Thanks, Ev, for hearing me out. I probably didn’t deserve it, but I really am sorry. About everything. I never wanted you to get hurt.”
“I know.” Preston might be a selfish person, but he wasn’t cruel.
He clapped his hands on his thighs before standing. “Okay, I should go. I don’t want things to be awkward between us.”
Oddly, being friends with Preston didn’t sound bad. “Let’s give it time and see.”
He nodded. “He loves you, by the way, in case you had any doubts.”
I arched a brow, letting my legs stretch back on the bed. “Are you saying you’re cool with me dating your brother?”
He flinched, his nose wrinkling. “Not exactly. I want you to be happy, and if it’s Tristan, then I’ll find a way to accept it without wanting to kill him every time I see you together.”
“Should make for interesting family gatherings. Tristan, me, you, your baby, and…” I realized I didn’t know his baby mama’s name.
“Melody,” Preston supplied.
“And Melody under one roof,” I added. “If that isn’t messy, I don’t know what is.” I could find the humor in it regardless of the tension bound to hover in the group for some time.
“But it can work. We can make it work,” Preston said with more hope than I had.
“Maybe,” I conceded.