I laugh. “Practicing already, Dad? That’s not quite how it works.”
“Tyson!” Otter barks in that voice even I can’t ignore. I’m such a fucking shit, but I can’t stop the anger rolling through me. I feel betrayed.
Oh? it whispers. You thought… what? That just because you stopped seeing him that the rest of them would? That just because you couldn’t handle the thought of him loving anyone else but you that they’d feel the same? Tyson. Kid. Child. You may be a genius, but sometimes, oh sometimes, you are so very fucking stupid.
“Apologize,” Otter growls. “Now.”
Bear’s trying to keep the hurt off his face, but he’s not quite succeeding. Goddammit. How did we get here so quickly? We were just laughing. All of us.
“Sorry,” I mumble. I’m pretty sure I’m the world’s biggest dick.
Bear shrugs. “It’s okay.” It doesn’t take away the pained look in his eyes.
“You and Dominic had a fight?” JJ asks me.
“That’s enough,” Anna says. “Time to eat.”
“It’s fine,” I say, waving her away. “Yeah. We did.” And he broke my heart. And somehow, every single person in the room knows it. Which means they all know I was in love with my best friend. That’s… fuck.
“When?”
“A long time ago.”
His face scrunches up as he thinks. “Then why are you still mad?”
“I’m… I don’t know.”
He nods. “We’re not related, right?
“Not by blood. In other ways, though. That matters. Just as much.”
“And Dominic’s not related either?”
“No.”
“But he is too, though. In other ways. Just as much.”
“Yeah, JJ.” My voice is hoarse.
He smiles. “Then you can’t stay mad. Dad says that’s not what family does. He says we can get mad, but we always forgive.”
Creed looks adoringly at his son.
Plates are handed around. Food is served.
Corey squeezes my leg in comfort. Otter whispers something to Bear. Conversation picks up about children and homes and school and the weather and how Mrs. Paquinn would have just loved this, would have just loved every piece of it.
And it’s funny, really, because all I can think about is how a nine-year-old kid sitting across from me might actually be smarter than I am. I wonder if Bear felt like this with me. It’s terrifying.
Shit. I messed up. Big-time. With him and with Dominic.
And I have no clue how to fix it.
9. Where Tyson Plans Attends a Protest
A WEEK later, I still have no idea. And trust me when I say I’ve thought about it harder than anything else. I know the simplest ideas are usually the best, but I can’t bring myself to pick up the phone, the nightmare scenarios of how those calls would actually play out running through my head.
Hello?