Page 74 of Losing Faith

“I love how much you love all the spiritual signs from the universe. I hope you accept this as a sign that it’s going to get better, but let’s accept it from my dry car.” He starts walking away, but rather than following him to warmer shelter, I lay on my back, soaking in the comfort the cold brings.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Lisette

SteppingoutofSire’sbathroom,I dry my face with a towel as I walk into his living room.

I stop in my tracks as my eyes land on the couch where Vidia straddles Sire. My eyes widen as she deepens the kiss and I’m surprised they’re fully dressed with the way her tongue is all over him.

“You two just can’twaitfor me to leave, huh?” I tease. I’m glad I slept here last night, not trusting myself to face my mind alone. However, now I’m starting to think I’ll be overstaying my welcome if I spend the rest of the day here.

Vidia attempts to climb off of my brother, but he keeps his arms around her tightly.

“We don’t want you to leave,” Sire calls out before looking behind the couch at me.

“Well, I’m certainly not joining.”

They both break into a loud laugh as I set my towel on a chair.

Vidia is still smiling at me while fixing her smudged lipstick. “He doesn’t know how to keep his hands off of me. It’s concerning.”

Sire’s head snaps back to her. “Me?” He starts tickling her and I can’t help but smile at the sound of her laugh. Flipping her, he pins her onto her back before climbing over her.

“You two are gross.” I shake my head at the couple, but secretly, I’m obsessed with them and so glad they are happy.

Glancing at the clock in the kitchen, my mood plummets when I notice the time. I still have two hours before I need to go tutor Isabelle.

I glance back at the couch where Sire and Vidia whisper to each other and laugh quietly. Vidia is on her lunch break and I start to feel bad for interrupting their alone time, so I collect my things.

I’m nearing the door when they call out to me.

“Hey, I meant what I said,” my brother calls. “Stay.”

“You’re good,” I reassure him. “I need to go tutor Isa soon.” I muster up a smile, desperately not wanting to be alone for the next two hours. If my pride wasn’t such a bitch, I’d tell him that.

“Isa is off from school today,” Sire says with a laugh before pushing Vidia’s hand away from inside his shirt. “Jackson and I were going to head to the park with her. She wants to play with Athena and he wanted to talk to me. He said he texted you?”

I pull my phone out of my pocket and notice a missed call from him. Opening our messages, he tells me what Sire said before inviting me with them. When I glance at the date, I realize it’s Tuesday and he wants totalkto him.

I tuck my phone away. “Alright so let’s go. Stop trying to get her pregnant.”

The couple laughs at me before rising from the couch.

We head down stairs with their dog and as we make it outside, Vidia gets on her tippy toes to kiss Sire goodbye. “I’ll see you after work, mi amor.”

She starts to pull away, but he pulls her closer.

“For fuck’s sake.” I roll my eyes at him. “I’ll meet you there. Come on, Athena.” They laugh from behind me as their rottweiler follows beside me. She stays close the entire walk to the park without a leash. I’m aware she’s a trained guard dog, but it’s pretty cool.

With the warm sun being out, it doesn’t look like the sad patch of grass I was laying on last night. Jackson and Isabelle are already here and I feel my mood skyrocket when Isabelle runs to me.

“Lissy!”

I kneel down with my arms open and she jumps on top of me. “Hello, pretty baby.” I kiss the top of her head before setting her down.

She barely spares me a second glance as she starts chasing the dog around. With a laugh, I walk over to her dad.

Today, he sits on the grass in a gray sweat suit.

---