Page 68 of Crave

“Because of the race thing, Tash. Pay attention.” Tash glares at her husband and he blows her a kiss.

“They’d better not have any issues with that, or they’d have to deal with me.”

“Calm down, tiger,” Chris says, rubbing Tash’s shoulder. “Tell us the good stuff, Dee.”

“Okay, so both his brothers were there, and let me tell you, his younger brother is an asshole. I don’t like him at all.”

“We don’t care about him. Get to the good stuff!” Chris says.

“Troy and his wife were there, of course.” I tell them everything that happened, from meeting Tristan and Emma to Jake’s change in body language to the verbal assault Mrs. Clark unleashed on Tracy, to Troy’s attempt to get me to talk to him.

“So, what are your thoughts? Troy is the villain here. Who steals his brother’s girlfriend, marries her, flaunts it in his brother’s face, and then claims to love and miss him. Dude is an ass,” Chris says.

“I don’t know, Chris. I met him, remember. He’s a nice guy,” Tash says.

“He can be both,” Chris says to his wife.

“He is a nice guy. He’s attentive to his wife and the kids. He’s loved by everyone in the family, except Jake. I swear, Troy and his wife spent the entire time watching us. Every time I turned around, there they were, looking at us, but I was watching them too. The way he looked at Jake was pained and desperate. It’s like he would have given anything to have his brother acknowledge him. Maybe Troy and Tracy have one of those crazy love stories, and she just didn’t feel the same way about Jake. Tracy might have Troy, but she’s definitely on the outside looking in.”

Tash places another piece of salmon on my plate once I finish my speech.

“Serves that bitch right,” she says.

“Wait? She doesn’t have to be a bitch, Tash,” Chris says. “We don’t know her version, and you’ve never even met this woman.”

“Well, I’ve met her,” I chime in. “She’s a good mom, and she’s adopting her niece. She takes quite a bit of hate from Lilian Clark, too. Whenever Troy leaves the room, his mother goes after her. And I don’t think she tells Troy about it. I think she puts up with Lil so Troy can have a relationship with his mother. Other than that, I don’t know what to make of her. I know that if anyone treated me like Lil treats her, I’d keep my distance.”

“Oh, she’s a martyr now?” Tash says, rolling her eyes. “The whole going from brother to brother thing is weird and frankly disgusting. And if anyone treats you poorly they’re going to have to deal with me. And it’s better that they deal with me than our mother.” Tash slams her hand on the table following her declaration.

“Don’t get her started, Dee. Calm down, Tash. No one is treating your sister poorly.” We all stare at each other and burst into laughter.

“Yesterday had much less tension. Troy dropped the kids off and left, so Jake and I spent the afternoon playing with them. You should see how cute Tristan is. Spitting image of his uncle,” I tell them.

“Are you sure he’s not Jake’s?”

“He’s not. He had a paternity test done.” I take a bite of food as the words I just spoke sinks in. “Oh my god! I just said my boyfriend took a paternity test to show that his brother’s son is not his. I’m on the Jerry Springer show!”

“No, sweetie,” Tash says as she reaches over and lays a hand on my shoulder. “You’re not on Jerry, you’re on Maury.” Tash pats me on the shoulder soothingly as Chris chokes on his laughter.

“It’s complicated, isn’t it? What the hell have I gotten myself into?”

“Dee, stop it,” Chris says. “Yes, it’s complicated, but what relationship isn’t? And you have to remember one very important thing here.”

“What’s that?” I ask Chris.

“Jake didn’t cause any of this. That’s on Troy and Tracy. And yes, he reacts, but who wouldn’t?”

“He’s right, Dee. You know how much shit I have to deal with when it comes to Chris’ family, not to mention that crazy bitch ex-wife of his? Enough about the crazy family. How are things with just you and him?”

I chew my food slowly as I think about my sister’s question.

“Things with us are great. Still new, but he’s amazing. Tracy’s a fool.”

“Yeah, well, he’s yours now.”

“Shit!” I put my dead phone on the charger and strip out of my scrubs.

Disappointed that I’ll have to wait before I can call Jake, I take the quickest shower in history. As I’m applying lotion to my legs, my phone starts to ring. With only a pair of simple, white cotton panties, I run out of my bathroom to grab my phone.

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