51. Tristan
FIFTY-ONE
TRISTAN
After we finished arranging her clothes in the closet next to mine—the space was still half empty and I decided I had to take her shopping one of these days—she went to take a shower.
I could see she was nervous about this. Not only about moving in together but about facing Ryker tonight. He was going to come home in a few minutes from school and even if I assured her I told him about it this morning, she still looked as if she saw a ghost.
“Weren’t you supposed to go to that football game with him tonight?” she shouted from the shower, and I moved to the door to hear her better. I could barely see her through the steam, but she still looked gorgeous.
How the hell did she manage to breathe in that hotness was beyond me.
I leaned on the doorframe, crossing my arms over my chest. This felt good and I was about to see her like this every day. To have her next to me when I woke up, to have breakfast with her, to take showers with her.
“No, it’s tomorrow. You can come if you’d like,” I suggested.
“No. You should do this alone. I don’t want him to think that now that I’m here he won’t get you to himself anymore. Maybe another time.”
I nodded, then heard a door clicking shut.
Her head snapped to me. “He’s here?”
“Yes.”
“Then what are you waiting for? Go keep him company while I hurry out of the shower,” she pushed, her hands starting to move at a high speed. I walked inside the bathroom, sliding the glass door open.
Her eyes popped out at the same time her nipples perked. “What are you doing?”
“I’m not going until I get my kiss.” I rose a brow.
She rolled her eyes, then placed a peck on my lips. “Go.” She shooed me, but I saw the smile on her face as I walked away and closed the door behind me.
When I walked downstairs, Ryker was at the fridge, grabbing a snack.
“Hi,” I told him. “How was school?”
He shrugged, placing his elbows on the island in the middle. “Like school.”
“You’ll be done with it before you know it,” I told him and clapped a hand on his back.
Ryker ate his sandwich, then cleaned his hands of the crumbs. I could see he was ready to leave and go upstairs, so I stopped him.
“Can I ask you for a favor?”
“Shoot.”
“I want you to meet Haelyn before you go to your room, but I won’t force you to if doing it is something you won’t like.”
He looked from one side to another, barely squinting at me. “She seems important.”
I nodded. “She is.”
Footsteps approached us and to my surprise, Ryker didn’t look like he had any intention to move. At that, I couldn’t help but let a smile form on my lips.
He and I were doing better.
Haelyn walked down the steps in a pair of grey sweats and a black crop-top, her curly hair still wet from the shower she just took. I knew she wanted to look as presentable as always, but didn’t have time to dry her hair.
I placed a foot in front of Ryker, stretching my hand to Haelyn. “Ryker, this is Haelyn. Haelyn, this is Ryker.”
She gave him a soft smile. “Nice to meet you.” Haelyn offered him her hand, but when he took too long to reciprocate, she took it back. “I’m sorry, I got used to the formal handshakes at work,” She turned it around so easily I was surprised. I knew she remembered my brother was cold.
He kept silent, analyzing her. I knew he wasn’t doing it in a rude way and I hoped Haelyn picked that out as well.
“I was thinking of making dinner tonight while you and Tristan do something,” Haelyn tried again with a smile on her face.
Ryker tilted his head. “Cool.” Then walked past her right to the stairs.
Her eyes followed him until he disappeared at the first floor and she didn’t look back at me until she heard his door clicking shut. She looked as if she was about to throw up and I could barely hold in my laughter.
She placed a hand on her stomach, glancing down at her feet. “He hates me.”
I put my hands on her shoulders, making her look at me. “He doesn’t hate you, I promise.”
Haelyn bit her bottom lip. “He doesn’t hate me now, but I just offered to cook dinner when I only know how to cook cheap things.”
I smiled. “Do you know how to make banana bread, fries, and chicken breast?”
“I think so.”
“Then do that and I’m sure he’ll love them. Stop being so harsh on yourself,” I said, then kissed the top of her forehead.
Haelyn relaxed in my arms for a moment, breathing harshly before she pushed me away. “Now, go away and spend some time with your brother, I have things to do.”
Before I walked away, I stopped at the edge of the staircase to watch her. She searched through every cabinet, taking things she needed out and laying them on the kitchen island. Haelyn had her tongue resting on her bottom lip as she whispered what she had to do.
When I looked at her, she seemed like she belonged there and when I glanced at the rest of the house, it looked empty at the loss of her. She was what we needed here. What I needed here.
I walked to Ryker’s room, knocking on his door. When I got inside, his XBox was already out, waiting for me to join. I didn’t utter any word but took a seat next to him.
We played FIFA for a while until Haelyn called me from downstairs and we both walked out of his room with no complaint. I looked at him from the corner of my eyes and I was surprised to see a touch of eagerness on his face.
Maybe he missed having someone taking care of him as much as I did. I didn’t remember the last time someone made dinner for us besides our cook who was paid to do that.
When we got downstairs, the kitchen island had three plates on it, napkins, a candle, and dessert in the middle. She smiled at me and took a seat on the single chair which left me to sit next to Ryker.
She really wanted him to not notice she was even here.
Ryker and I took a seat and Haelyn started placing food onto each of our plates, then sat down and filled hers as well.
“Thank you for making dinner,” I told her.
She blushed but tried to hide it away with her palm. “I hope you guys like it.”
Haelyn was still tense, I could see it. And while I didn’t like to see her that way, I knew it was just a matter of time until they were going to get adjusted to each other.
I tried to think about something to say to disturb the silence—since it was the only thing that was bothering her—but I couldn’t find anything to say.
“How did you meet?” I heard Ryker say, and I almost choked out with the first bite of my food.
I glanced at him from the corner of my eye, but he kept his attention on Haelyn, eating his food. To say I was surprised was an understatement. Ryker had never willingly started a conversation with someone he didn’t know, if anything, people tried their hardest to make him talk, but with no success.
Haelyn’s eyes popped to him, a smile forming on her lips. “Your brother pretended to be Chad Bitt on a dating app.” She laughed, the tension easing from her body.
Ryker looked at me with a stern look, but enough to transmit he wasn’t proud of me.
“Not that Chad Bitt, but he used that name, then somehow made me work for him as Tristan and fall for the both of them. Luckily for him, I liked Tristan more than some made-up character.” She flashed me a look that said you ’ re still to be punished for doing that .
“Fucking Chad Bitt,” he murmured, and Haelyn and I burst out laughing.
This—the three of us, together at a table, eating dinner my girlfriend made—made me feel like I won the lottery. I was sure I didn’t need something else in life to be happy.
Except for a baby. But I was going to convince her about that later.