Driving away, I can see Dad holding back his laughter. As soon as we pull out on the road, he unleashes it.
When he finishes, he asks, “She your date last night?”
“No, her roommate was.”
“Shit, Tricks,” he sighs.
“Yeah, shit.”
“Next time, give me a heads-up when you’re trying to impress a chick. I can be a killer wingman.”
“How about we just focus on losing little dude from your vocabulary for … I don’t know, ever?”
He cracks up again, and yeah, I laugh, too.
Obviously, Savvy and I aren’t going to happen. First clue should have been when she told me it wasn’t going to happen.
Genius move, Romeo, I think to myself, fucking genius.
Chapter 5
“What can you do to promote world peace?
Go home and love your family.”
~Mother Teresa
Patrick
Standing on the deck with my cousins, we watch the ocean roar.
“Looks angry today,” my cousin Justice says as he walks up beside me.
“Sure does.” I look over at him. “You excited about the new school on Monday?”
“Excited and school in the same sentence?” He shakes his head. “Should be a crime to put them together like that.”
“New ass to be had,” Amias says, handing me a pair of binoculars and nodding to a few girls running on the beach.
Max sighs as he looks out at the ocean. “It’s like watching porn and not physically touching tit.”
Sucks to be him right now, truly. The kid lives to surf, and now he lives on the ocean and can’t get out there. Hell, I love surfing; can’t wait to wake up and head out my back door. Max, however, I straight up feel for him. Wanting something you can’t have—not cool.
“Gross.” Kiki makes a fake gagging sound as she walks up next to me, having missed the entire context of the ocean being Max’s porn.
To fuck with her, I say, “Nine o’clock, bro. That’s nice titties.”
Amias wraps his arm around her. “Kiki’s gonna have tig bitties soon.”
She elbows him in the side, and he grunts.
When we all laugh, Kiki gives us a death glare. “It’s Thanksgiving. The only breast any of you assholes should be thinking about is turkey breast.”
“What do we look like? Fucking pilgrims?” Max asks.
“Get your little asses inside,” Uncle Jase calls from inside. “You, too, Truth.”
When Truth went off on the nuns—the straw that broke the nuns’ backs—she did so by telling them they were basically judgmental bitches that hounded her about her skirt length. Shorter, obviously, because she was a hell of a lot more developed than ninety-nine point nine percent of every other girl in school. She also legit has a six pack, and that ninety-nine point nine percent of every other girl in school don’t have a four.
“Ha, ha, Uncle Jase,” comes from the deck below us.
“You need wheels for that wagon?” Amias calls down to her.
“Make it three!” she yells up. “Been sitting on it so much lately, waiting for school to start up, that it’s spreading.”
I yell down to her, “Stop complaining! We were stuck with the menstruating penguins until break. Trust me; I’d rather be sitting on my ass, taking in this view.”
I look at my phone when it vibrates.
A text from Brandon.
1:06 p.m. – How long you gonna let your dad chew my ass before you come in?
I walk in as Jase announces our oldest cousin, Bella, and her family are here. And I do it just in time to see some sort of standoff between Kiki and Brand.
Fucking matchmaker, I am not.
I walk up and immediately smell alcohol.
“Brand, you good?”
His eyes don’t leave Kiki’s. “Could be a fuck of a lot better.”
“Then let’s have a seat and get you there. No need to start shit on turkey day.”
* * *
Once we’ve all sat down, Uncle Jase is at one end, and Brand is at the other. Not sure how that worked out, but it did. And lucky fucking me, I’m between Dad and Brand. Should be an awesome fucking dinner.
Jase clears his throat, and we all look at him.
“Momma Joe’s not here to do this thing, but I think we know the drill. We’ll start with Xavier—”
“Why me?” Dad asks, running his hand through his hair.
“Because I said so.” Jase smirks at him.
“Fine. I’m thankful for family, you all, and our Forever Four Family.”
Cyrus chuckles. “You got it easy, man.”
Mom goes next. “I’m thankful to be with all of you and looking forward to heading to Boston to see my parents and brothers for a couple days.”
Carter, Bella’s husband, goes next. “Bella, Luna, you all. Thankful for it every day. Nothing more important than this.”
Bella looks at him. “You, Luna, family. Always.” She looks at Luna. “Now you.”
“I can?” Luna grins.
“Of course you can. This is our family.”
“I’m thankful for Momma Bella and Aunt Kiki’s gonna have babies.” She grins.
Brand sits straight up. Well fuck, there goes that.
“Luna, you for real?” Jase asks, and it hits me—Bella is pregnant, too.
Luna grins and nods.
Everyone gets up and hugs Bella and Carter, and I notice Kiki looking down. I wonder if she feels like the wind’s been stolen from her sails, but it’s not like Kiki to need the attention.
I look at Brand, and he looks straight-up annihilated. He looks … destroyed.
I get up and hug Bella, Carter, and Luna, congratulating them, before heading back to my seat, giving Kiki a quick peck on the top of her head as I pass.
Sitting down, I watch Luna hug Kiki and ask, “Are you so happy?”
“Yeah, Luna, of course I am.”
“I’m gonna have two babies to sit with, like you set with me!” She burst out in laughter.
She’s a freaking doll. Wasn’t born to this family, but it didn’t take more than two minutes with her to realize this is exactly where she belongs. She was part of us immediately.
Doll.
Before even thinking, I have my phone in hand and hit recent calls then message. I type in the address and hit send. Then I
