Page 12 of Crave

Jake doesn’t stumble for long. Both brothers are the same height, and even though Troy is bulkier, it’s obvious that Jake spends more time in the gym. Like in a slow motion movie, I watch as Jake punches his brother in the stomach, causing him to double over. He takes a step forward, grabs him by the collar and shoves him into my mother’s cake. Troy doesn’t stay down for long. He tackles Jake, twists him around until they both land on the cake, smashing it completely and breaking the small table that held it.

Mrs. Clark is screaming at Luke and Josh to stop them as the two brothers continue to wrestle on the floor. I almost want to offer Tracy some comfort as the tears start to roll down her cheeks, but Luke puts a protective arm around her and escorts her away from the room and the disaster that’s continuing to unfold.

Mrs. Clark’s screams and the resounding sound of the table crashing finally pulls me out of my trance. Unable to look anymore, I turn around and walk out of the dining room. I find my coat and purse and walk out of the house, grateful that I’ll never have to return or see Jacob Clark again.

As I walk to the van, I’m reminded that the universe always has to balance itself. Jacob Clark was too good to be true.

CHAPTER 3

SANDY

“No fucking way!” my sister exclaims as I take a seat in her kitchen the following day.

“Total fucking shit show. It was like nothing I’ve ever seen before, Tash. It was just pure ugliness.” I plop myself on a chair at her kitchen table as she fixes us a pitcher of mimosas while her husband, Chris, rummages through the refrigerator.

After getting home last night and getting told off by my friends for standing them up, I could do nothing but change and collapse into bed as the events from the party played havoc in my mind.

My sister and her husband, who live in the adjoined townhouse to mine, were out last night and couldn’t pump me for information right away.

After a restless night of sleep where I was haunted by deep brown eyes and that dimple, I was a reluctant participant at my hot yoga class this morning.

Tash hands me my glass, lovingly garnished with a strawberry.

“You’ve gotta give us more details than that. Drink up.” I let out a small laugh, knowing that a little bit of alcohol is my truth serum. She puts a stray piece of her dark brown hair behind her ear and takes a seat, waiting for me to speak.

Even though we share the same parents, we look nothing alike. She takes after our mother, with her lighter skin tone and straight hair, while I take after our father’s side of the family with brown skin and curly hair.

Chris finally pulls his head out of the fridge, his arms filled with eggs, bacon, and veggies.

“Hold on,” I say, holding one finger up as I drink the entire contents of my glass in one long gulp. I hold up my empty glass, indicating that I want more. Tash, who loves nothing more than to hear good gossip, quickly refills my glass.

After inhaling half of its contents, I set it down and tell them everything from getting to the Clark residence, being invited to join the party by Mrs. Clark, meeting Jake, and how he never left my side until I mentioned Tracy’s pregnancy.

“You know what? I met Troy Clark a couple of times. The last time was when I went with Mama to make a delivery for a luncheon, and he’s about the nicest guy I’ve ever met. He actually helped us bring the food inside. I only saw Jake in passing. He was going to a meeting and his dad introduced him to us. Actually, the entire family is really nice. Our meeting was brief, but from what I saw, he was hella sexy. Does he still have that short, scruffy facial hair?” Tash says as she slowly sips her mimosa.

“I’m right here, babe,” Chris says as he starts chopping an onion.

“Not as sexy as you, honey,” Tash says, blowing him a kiss. He walks over and plants a soft kiss on top of her head.

“That means a lot to me,” he says, rolling his eyes. “I’m only your husband and the father of your children.”

“Yes, but I only married you for your mad cooking skills,” Tash says back.

“Get back to cooking us breakfast, Christopher.” He gives me a bit of the stink eye before going back to the kitchen counter. I smile at my sister and we both chuckle at Chris’ annoyance. He hates being called Christopher.

“And you probably didn’t even get to see his dimple. Sexy is not the word, Tash,” I say as I dramatically fan myself.

“He has a dimple? Damn. It’s almost unfair to be that good looking and to have a dimple.” She sighs as she takes a drink.

“Sounds like he’s as good looking as he is nutty, Dee,” Chris says, loudly banging the frying pan on the stove top. “And you, wife, should be grateful you have a husband as sane as I am, who is also gifted in the kitchen.”

“I’m so grateful. I’ll show you just how much once Dee leaves.” Chris wiggles his eyebrows and rubs his hands together in anticipation. “Sounds like you two had a connection,” Tash says, her focus back to me.

“I thought so too. I even agreed to see him again, but then the shit hit the fan. And some of the things he said to his sister-in-law were downright disgusting. He has a mean streak, and I don’t do mean.”

“Tell me again what he said,” Chris asks as he whisks the eggs.

“Something about how Troy should be careful because Tracy might move on to their other brother next. He even warned his mother that she might go after their father. Oh, and he gave Troy an ultimatum at some point.”

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