Chapter 3
TYLER brASSARD
My footsteps echo in the empty space. It didn’t feel this big when it was filled with furniture and all my things. As I turn, making one last circuit of the empty room, my phone rings. I thought my footfalls echoed, but the sound of my phone ringing off the bare walls makes me cringe.
Except that I’m smiling hugely when I see the video call from my sister coming in. There’s no way I can erase my grin as I answer.
I’m immediately looking at Sally in a hospital bed, looking exhausted but happy. The tiniest, most beautiful human I’ve ever seen is in her arms. I can just barely see their face.
“Oh my god, you couldn’t wait two more days?” I complain as I bring the screen closer to my face, as if that’ll let me see the baby more clearly.
Sally laughs. “I tried. He was ready to be in the world.”
“He,” I repeat, and Sally turns her face back toward me. “Yes. You have a nephew.”
Sally knew the gender her baby would be assigned at birth for like four months now, but she refused to share it with anyone. She wanted it to be a surprise. Even all the baby things she’d been gathering for her entire pregnancy have been neutral. At least, all the ones she’s shown me.
My chest tightens as I stare at his little face. Eyes closed. So much hair on his head. “He’s so beautiful, Sally.”
She sighs. “He is. He looks just like his father.”
I’ve had mixed feelings regarding this man since Sally told me she was pregnant. Yes, it was an accident, but she didn’t care in the least. She has been so excited to be a mother. I’ve been just beside myself with excitement to be an uncle.
But this guy—Denny Willow, hockey player? Meh. She’d never mentioned him before getting pregnant. Then she told me they were getting married.
She seems happy enough about it. The ring is enormous and freaking stunning. Not that she’s been able to wear it for the past few months because her hands have been so swollen.
But this guy! In the past seven months since she announced her pregnancy, I haven’t met him once.
I haven’t heard his voice. She never mentions him unless I bring him up and ask about the wedding or when they’re moving in together.
Then it’s usually, ‘we’re not in a hurry’.
But like… they’re having a kid. Their family has begun.
And they’re getting married, right? Why wouldn’t they live together?
Something feels weird about this. Sally hasn’t given me any indication that there’s something wrong.
I know my sister. She’s been my very best friend since we were kids.
Even though we live with practically the entire country of Canada stretching between us and time zones can get in the way, we talk all the time. I know everything. I see everything.
So I see that this guy is nowhere. There are no signs of him at her place. I’ve never seen her at his place. The only thing she’s truly offered me concerning him is that he’s a professional hockey player.
My sister is not prone to lying or fabricating the truth at all. I believe her when she tells me this hockey player is my nephew’s daddy. Besides, she’s wearing a rock the size of Pluto’s smallest moon on her finger. Sally has a decent salary, but she doesn’t make enough to fake this.
“Is he there?” I ask.
“He just left for a while. He was here holding baby for a couple hours until baby started crying.” She grins. “It’s so cute, Tyler. Denny is a big man, so seeing him hold this itty bitty human is the cutest damn thing. Just wait until you see.”
I hum noncommittally. “Why did he leave?”
“All I’m going to be doing is resting. There’s no need to hang around. He still has hockey. It’s not exactly a job where he can disappear for a few weeks.”
It’s difficult not to frown, and based on Sally’s expression, I think I only marginally succeed.
“You’re going to love him, Tyler. I promise.”
“I already love my nephew,” I counter. “Whose name you haven’t told me yet.”
Her grin turns wicked. “Not until you’re here and holding him in your arms.”
I roll my eyes. “That’s ridiculous.”
“My baby, my rules,” she singsongs and then laughs as I scowl at her.
Honestly, I don’t care. Her rules are completely fine. Whatever they are, however over the top they may seem. I’ll respect them and probably agree with them. Sally isn’t over the top as a person, so they won’t likely be outrageous anyway.
“I can’t wait.”
“You all packed?” Sally asks.
I hit the button to swap my camera and give her a view of the empty space. “I was just taking a last walk through. The moving pod will be delivered to your driveway in a week.”
“But you’ll be here in two days?”
“Yep.” I flip the camera back around so she’s looking at me again. “Tomorrow is my last day of work, and if I took a flight after work, I wouldn’t get in until well beyond visiting hours, so I’m just going to get a good night’s sleep.”
“Sucks you have to go to a hotel,” she says. “What about Jesse? You could stay there.”
I give her a demure look, and she grins mischievously.
Jesse is my casual boyfriend. Casual for me, I think. Boyfriend for him. He’s not at all my type. I thought we were becoming friends, but then he kissed me, and with the promise of sex during a prolonged dry spell… I may have let him believe we’re in a relationship.
Suffice it to say I’ve been kind of a shitty person. He doesn’t even know I’m moving!
“Use his bed and then take off in the morning, never to hear from me again?”
“Seems like the perfect ending to a relationship that you’ve pretended was real for the past three months.”
I feel the pout on my face. “I know!”
“Are you going to tell him you’re moving and that it’s over, or do you plan to send him a text once you’re here?” Sally challenges.
Sighing, I shake my head. “I plan to head over there after I drop off the key to my apartment.”
“Is that a plan you’re going to follow through with?”
“You’re being mean. Childbirth has made you mean.”
Sally laughs.
“How was it, though? Really? Everything okay?”
She nods. “I think so. I’m really tired but that’s to be expected. Even from a short labor.”
“Why didn’t you call me when you were on the way? Did you drive? How are you getting home?”
Sally smiles. “Such a mother hen,” she teases.
“That’s what older brothers do. The good ones, anyway.”
I love my sister’s smile. I love the way she looks at her new baby son. When she turns back to me with a smile, I can’t stop myself from taking a screenshot of her and my sleeping nephew.
“My contractions were too close to feel safe driving, and Denny was at hockey so he wasn’t getting my calls. I took a rideshare. The hospital got a hold of Denny while I was in labor. He’ll drive us home tomorrow, and we’ll meet you there.”
“You’re going to be discharged before I get there?”
She shrugs. “Probably. I’ve not received any concern that there’s a reason for us to stay. He’s healthy and feeding. Everything was perfect.”
“I suppose that’s acceptable.”
“I can’t wait for you to get here, Tyler.”
I sigh. “Me too. I’ve missed you so much, sister.”
What had begun as a year in Vancouver to finish my undergrad program turned out to be me staying here for a graduate program and a job offer I really couldn’t pass up as a recent grad.
Sally received a really good job offer in Winnipeg during that time.
The plan was always to live next door to each other on the outskirts of Quebec City.
Years stretched, and it became a ‘someday’ dream.
When Sally told me she was pregnant, we decided that someday was now.
It made more sense for her to stay in Winnipeg, where her job and baby’s daddy was, instead of us both uprooting everything for Quebec City.
I’d just have to come to her. It’s important to both of us that I’m close while she raises her kid.
Not because she needs help. She has a fiancé, after all. But because we’re the only family we have. We’re best friends. I want the best, closest relationship with my nephew that I can possibly have.
“Just a couple more days,” she says. “We’ve waited this long.”
“We have,” I agree. I press two buttons and take another screenshot of her looking at me with her baby in her arms as she smiles. Then I quickly take a third when she smiles down at her new little son.
We stay on the call until my nameless nephew begins fussing because he’s hungry. Probably. That’s a guess.
The apartment feels stupidly quiet once the call ends. I’ve always loved my home. It was comfortable and familiar, welcoming. It had all my favorite things.
I run my hand through my hair, adjusting my glasses, before picking my phone up. My apartment is empty. There’s nothing left here. All that I need to do now is text Jesse to see if he’s busy so I can break up with him.
Like a jackass.
Then I’ll work out my last day and begin a new life in Winnipeg with my sister and brand-new nephew.
I’m about to send the text when there’s a knock on my door. I frown. I’ve already told my friends that I moved out. Who in the world would just show up? Maybe the landlord looking for my key?
I come face-to-face with Jesse as soon as I open the door. He smiles and holds up a picnic basket.
“Did we have plans today?” I ask, genuinely confused.
“No,” he answers, still with his beautiful smile. He is a beautiful man. “But you’ve been so busy the last few days, so I thought I’d surprise you with an indoor picnic.”
He leans in to kiss me. Oh, god, I don’t deserve this man. I never did.
His eyes flicker behind me, and I watch as his eyebrows knit together. His smile fades as he shifts to look beyond me. “Were you robbed?”
With a heavy sigh, I step aside and gesture for him to come in. The very least I can do is not break up with him in the hallway.
Instead, I’ll do it in my empty apartment that I’ve moved out of without telling my boyfriend.
I take the picnic basket from him and set it on the counter. “Look.”
Jesse shakes his head. “My roommate said you weren’t really interested in me,” he says quietly. “You were just sticking around for the sex, weren’t you?”
“Jack hated me long before you and I even met because I took him out on one date, and he made me uncomfortable, so I refused to go out with him again,” I tell him.
Jesse’s eyes get wide. “I—really?”
“Yes. He then proceeded to text and call me continuously for three weeks, refusing to accept my no. He even showed up at my work and waited by my car when I wouldn’t return his calls.
I threatened to call the police, and since then, he’s been on a mission to make sure that everyone believes he’s a victim and I was a jerk to him for no reason at all—after a wonderful date.
A date that I was uncomfortable with the entire time, so yes, really. ”
His mouth is hanging open as he stares at me.
To be fair, I have a reputation. I love to date, fuck, and run.
That’s what Jack was expecting. However, he was really creepy and kept touching me when I didn’t want him to.
They weren’t sexual touches, but he was still touching me when I made it clear I didn’t like it.
It became apparent within the first ten minutes of our date that he didn’t know how to take no for an answer.
There was no way in fuck all that I was going to sleep with him when he didn’t understand the meaning of no.
I’m allowed to fuck around as often as I want and with whomever I want. That doesn’t mean I can’t tell someone no. Jack disagreed, so yeah, he doesn’t like me.
“However, in this case, he’s not entirely wrong,” I admit, and watch as Jesse flinches.
“I’m sorry. I hope you believe me when I tell you that I do genuinely like you.
I texted you often and wanted to hang out because I thought we were becoming friends.
I didn’t realize you were reading the situation differently than I was until you kissed me and…
yes, I was horny. I had mentioned I was in a dry spell often. ”
“I thought that was a hint,” he mutters, shuffling on his feet.
“Oh.” I chew the inside of my lip. “It wasn’t. It was just a complaint.”
“So… it was all pretend just so we could have sex?”
I don’t like this conversation at all. There’s literally nothing I can say right now and not come off as a giant asshole. I’m really not a jerk. This situation is not a good representation of who I am!
“You were going to move to get out of it?” Jesse asks, eyes flickering around my empty apartment.
“No. I swear to you, this has nothing at all to do with you, and I swear, I was just going to text you.” I put my phone on the counter to show him the text that’s still in the message window waiting to be sent. “Sally had her baby.”
Jesse grins hugely. “She did? What did she have?”
I smile. “A little boy. He’s so damn cute.” Pulling my phone back, I bring up the screenshots and turn my phone around.
He takes it and beams. “He’s the cutest baby ever.”
“I agree.”
“Wow. I didn’t know your sister was so beautiful. You look just like her.” He looks at me. “Your hair and your eyes and the shape of your cheekbones. Did you know that?”
“Thanks,” I say with a soft smile. “I love to hear it.”
“You’re moving to be with your sister, then,” he guesses.
“Yes! That’s exactly why I’m moving. I want to be close to her while she raises her son. It’s super important to both of us. We’re each other’s only family and… she’s my best friend.”
“I know,” Jesse says. He looks back at my phone for a minute before handing it to me. “Why didn’t you just say something?”
I shake my head. “To be honest? I don’t know. Because I do like you, Jesse. But…”
“Only as friends. Who have sex.”
There needs to be something I can say right now. Literally anything at all, so I don’t leave here with Jesse feeling like shit.
“Was I at least good?”
I grin. “You were fucking awesome, Jesse. So you know, I always, always loved hanging out with you. Every time we went to dinner, every time we went to bed, every time we cuddled and watched movies or talked or… grabbed coffee and walked around the park—I wasn’t faking any of that.
It was all real. It just meant something different to me than I think it did to you.
But I always wanted to hang out. I hope you understand that. ”
He stares at me for a long time, but eventually, he nods. “I believe you.”
“Do you? Really?”
“Yeah.”
My shoulders sag. “Thank you.”
“Want to have a last dinner?” Jesse asks. He pulls back the top of the basket. “We can chat. As friends.”
“I would truly love that.”
Jesse smiles. “Me too.”