5. Tristan
TRISTAN
I ’m restless tonight with the kind of energy that makes my teeth grind.
It’s like I’m agitated for no reason, which isn’t unusual for me.
It just feels more intense than most days for some reason.
Maybe my Spidey senses are tingling, as Callum would say.
You know what, fuck him and his stupid sayings actually.
Winter is right. It’s senior year, all the bullshit is behind us, and I need to just relax.
My father has called me six times today, so that won’t be happening any time soon. The more I think about it, the weirder this whole ‘family’ get together seems. While I don’t want to play into his bullshit, I do want to know what he’s concocting with this whole wedding fiasco.
The three ladies of our house are excited, and their voices are filling the whole fucking house with plans for tonight.
It's the Homecoming Carnival, and that sounds a little too people-y to me, but if Winter is excited about it, so am I. It’s the back-to-school tradition where Castlebrook, St. Charles, St. Augustine, and Harmony drag their best and brightest out to pretend we’re typical college kids and not the entitled spoiled brats we were raised to be. Rides, prizes, food. A show, I suppose.
I can pick out Winter’s calm tone easily through all the chatter bouncing around.
And over the months, I’ve been able to differentiate Lilac’s motherly scolding of Callum and Madison’s playful chiding that should absolutely be screaming because Hayden is so fucking annoying.
I have to drive to the post office to pick my mail up now because the mail person feels unsafe at our house because of him.
He’s an absolute menace and that isn’t the compliment he thinks it is.
I lean back against the doorway, arms crossed, just watching Winter.
She’s so elegantly beautiful even in a t-shirt and jeans.
I suppose I should say, especially in a t-shirt and jeans.
She wears a lot of skirts and dresses, and I admire her in every single one of them.
Jeans means she’s planning on riding with me on my bike, because I have a rule that all of her skin has to be covered.
I’d never drive recklessly with her, but I’m not taking any chances.
The dining room table is covered in a pale pink cloth, edges draped down almost to the floor.
Madi has spread out a mess of fabric, bows, and markers, turning the whole thing into her own little workshop.
Winter, Lilac and even Callum swarm around her like her helper bees.
“Reese texted and said she's going to meet us at the carnival," Madi says to the other girls, but it’s Hayden who pokes his head in from the other room. He’s got a plate of really messy looking chicken wings in his hands, sauce on his mouth and t-shirt. I’m convinced he doesn’t know that Madison makes him food to occupy him like a fucking toddler.
She even turned a hockey game on for him before she slipped in here to make a dress out of a hockey jersey.
I think it’s a dumb idea, but Winter wanted one, so naturally I want to see her wearing it.
It’ll have my name and number on the back, because Madison is good about those things.
I suppose she treats Callum and me like toddlers too.
“Ouch,” she hisses when she pulls a pin out and pricks her finger.
“Oh, is she coming with Ramsey?” Lilac asks, and her eyes widen because we’re still all waiting for Ramsey to beat the fuck out of Reese’s boyfriend. Justin is a punk, and I commend Ramsey for playing the long game.
Callum leans over the back of Lilac’s chair, hands waving as he lists food like he’s drafting a grocery order. “Corn dogs, funnel cakes, fried Oreos, cotton candy?—”
Groans echo from every corner.
“You’re disgusting,” Lilac mutters, wrinkling her nose.
“You’re a trash can,” Hayden adds, biting into a wing, unironically, with a smirk.
Callum grins, unbothered. “A trash can with abs.”
“More like a dumpster fire,” Hayden shoots back.
The girls laugh again, shaking their heads at the two of them, but I just stay where I am.
I can’t help but be envious of the loud and unhidden way my teammates love their girls.
I want that with Winter. I want to just grab her, kiss her on the mouth and annoy her until she erupts into a fit of giggles.
My eyes drift to Hayden circling Madi at the table like a predator who can’t sit still.
She’s bent over a half-finished jersey, focused, some blonde hair slipping from her ponytail.
Her little Pink Bow Club has blown up, orders stacking higher than she can keep track of.
I don’t care about jerseys, bows, or whatever else she sells, but I think that she deserves good things.
Anyone who puts up with Hayden Lockwood has earned that much.
Of course, Hayden picks that moment to wander too close with his plate of half-eaten wings.
“Hayden!” Madi shrieks when the first drop of sauce splatters dangerously close to her fabric, but he’s quick and catches it before it can ruin anything.
Lilac and Winter both burst out laughing, moving to shove him back. “Out!” Winter giggles, her braid slipping forward as she leans into the push.
Hayden raises his brows, all mock innocence. He ignores Winter and Lilac, who despite all of their valiant efforts, don’t even make him budge an inch. He speaks directly to Madi when he says, “What? I just want to be included in everything that you’re doing.”
“Have you considered getting a hobby?” Lilac deadpans.
Hayden frowns, like the suggestion itself is absurd. “Madison is my hobby.”
Madi giggles, shaking her head, walking over to help the other two girls push him farther back.
Winter crosses her arms, eyes sparkling as she looks at me as if to say ‘watch this’.
She backs away from everyone and makes her way over to stand next to me.
I can’t help it, I haven’t touched her in what seems like forever, so I wrap my arm around her.
I cup my hand at her hip and pull her against my side where she belongs. I feel fucking better already.
“If you were actually athletic, what sport would you play?” Winter asks Hayden, and her voice is so mockingly sweet that Callum’s eyes flash to mine as if to say, ‘what the fuck?’
The question makes me snort before I can stop myself. Winter is so kind, so gentle with me, but she loves needling Hayden. And he falls for it every single time.
“What do you mean? I play hockey,” Hayden furrows his brow, and Lilac has abandoned trying to push him out of the room.
He’s got a plate in his hand, and she knows things go flying when he’s worked up.
Madison has her hand on his chest, but she’s ducking her head trying to hide her laughter.
This has been a trend for a while from what Winter tells me, but Hayden follows one account on social media: Madison’s Pink Bow Club account, which is her only account.
“Yeah, but if you were an actual athlete,” Winter presses, pretending to think it over like she’s more confused than she could ever be, “or like… if you were like…tall enough to play a sport… what would it be?”
Hayden’s eyes go wide, outrage plain, but holding it together probably because he knows I’ll knock him the fuck out. He looks at me in confusion and then back at Winter. “I am the literal captain of the actual hockey team here at Castlebrook.”
Madi cuts in, laughing, “That’s enough. He’s going to flip a table, and I worked really hard on this order. Look…see the little bow details inside the numbers?” She nudges Hayden and then widens her eyes in a silent plea to Winter who’s biting her lip to keep from laughing outright.
“And I am tall,” Hayden grumbles, glaring. “You’re the one who’s barely five feet tall…”
“Watch your fucking tone,” I cut in, “or I’ll beat your skull in and then tell Madi about the strings you’re pulling for graduation.”
Hayden’s eyes snap to me, wide. He doesn’t give a fuck about the violent threat, but he doesn’t want Madi to know about his little surprise.
Madi’s gaze flicks up, suspicious. “What are you planning, Mister? Graduation is two semesters away.”
“Keep your mouth shut,” Hayden growls, pointing at me.
I shrug, unbothered. “Indoor voices only with Winter, if you must speak to her at all.”
Before Hayden can snap something else back at me, Callum pipes up with that shit-eating grin. “Remember when they had the goldfish at the Castlebrook Falls carnival? We need a house pet, and I was thinking…”
“Absolutely the fuck not,” I cut in, sharper than I mean to, but I don’t take it back. “You should not be allowed to take care of another living thing.”
Hayden barks out a laugh, already nodding. “He’s right. Callum, you’d kill a goldfish in under twenty-four hours. It’d be a mercy killing at that point.”
Callum throws his hands up like we’ve ruined his fun. “I’d be a great fish dad. I used to take care of the horses at Caiden’s house sometimes…did you know horses can actually have flat beer to soothe stomach ulcers?”
I blink at him, unimpressed. Why the fuck would I know that? “Thanks so much. I’ll make sure I tuck that little tidbit away for the next time I buy a fucking horse.”
Lilac rolls her eyes but smirks. “Never say never. Your kids might want a pony someday. And despite the way you act, I suspect you’d make sure they get whatever their little heart desires.”
Hayden seizes the moment, leaning toward Madi with that cocky grin. “Do you think I’ll be a good dad, princess?”
Madi doesn’t even hesitate. “The best.”
Callum ruins it, as usual. “Until he realizes he’s gonna have to share your attention with the kids.”
Hayden frowns like he didn’t think that far into it. “Wait…”
I can’t help myself. “I don’t think either of you should procreate. For any reason. They have sperm donors for situations just like this.”
The girls laugh, but Hayden glares at me, and I know why. The idea of anyone’s sperm near Madison that isn’t his, is enough to make him black out.
Winter turns in my arms and looks up at me, her hand sliding up my chest and resting over my heartbeat.
She’s checking to see if I’m okay, and part of me wants to tell her that I’m not.
Part of me wants to drag her up to my bedroom and board the door shut so that we can just be alone.
My whole body reacts to her touch, shoulders dropping, jaw loosening, chest finally letting out a long breath.
Just the feel of her body against mine is enough to undo the static in my veins.
My hand twitches on instinct, the urge clawing at me. To touch her. To fuse myself to her skin, even for a second. Her hand. Her leg. Anything.
I shouldn’t. I’ve got no right to her.
But the guilt never holds for long. The need I have for this girl always wins.