I was sitting in at the island in my dad's kitchen. My dad had a large two story house, but he and his now wife, Stephanie, were the only two living in the house. He and Stephanie had this huge wedding, and he made it look like he loved Stephanie completely when he only loved parts of her and what she could give him.

Stephanie was pulling stuff out of the oven and slid a tray of cookies in front of me.

"You can have some if you want." She pulled up a stool and sat across from me. "I got bored waiting on your father to come back, so I decided to make some of these. It's so good to see you. You know it's really boring here without you."

"I thought it was pretty hostile with me being around."

Stephanie rolled her eyes and chuckled. "Your dad is definitely a hard ass when it comes to you. Is he like that with Trinity."

"Nah. He barely talks to her. Now my mom. That's a different story." I smiled and so did she. She grabbed a cookie off the tray and bit into it before coughing over the heat.

"I probably should have waited. How's your mom?"

"She's fine. Focusing on work."

Stephanie nodded and I grabbed a cookie, tearing off a small piece.

"How are you and Dad?"

She stood and grabbed a tub of milk from the refrigerator and set it on the counter. "Better. Definitely better." She grabbed some glasses from the cabinet and filled them both with milk. "He still works for god knows how long during the day, but at least he's trying."

She brought the glass to the island I took one from her. "What about that pretty girl from across the street?"

"Nothing. There's nothing there." I began to chug my milk, and she took the cup from me.

"This half glass of milk says otherwise. Spill practical step child."

I smiled at the nickname and reached for another cookie. "She's out with this fucking jug head looking guy. Guys probably a secret asshole."

“Are you jealous?” She smirked.

“No.” I was. I was definitely jealous. “He just looks like a jerk.”

She laughed and took a sip of her milk. “You think she still likes you?”

“I know she does, but you should’ve seen her when she opened the door. Pretty doesn’t do her justice.”

She lifted her brow, set her glass down and folded her arms. “You should try again. You’re both adults. You obviously still got it bad for her.”

“Bad for who?” My father walked into the kitchen and wrapped an arm around Stephanie. He kissed the top of her head and she smiled. Maybe they actually did work things out. “Hi. Steph. Hello, son.”

“Hi, hon,” Stephanie said and winked at him.

“Now, I asked you to be here because I have something to discuss with you. You can reject it if you want but it would behoove you to think before you reject what I have to say.” He sat on a stool next to Stephanie, and she hopped off hers. “Stephanie, don’t you think cookies are a little unhealthy.”

“Brandon’s here after not being here for who knows how long. I think he deserves some cookies.” She gave him a pointed look, but his was stronger. She sighed and grabbed the tray, giving me an apologetic look. She put the tray in the fridge and poured her milk in the sink. He obviously still had something to say about her food choices. He used to fuss about her weight gain, almost as bad as my mom was to Trinity. “You can take the rest to your roommates if you want to, B.”

“Thanks, Steph.” I smiled and she headed out.

“So.” He clasped his hands together. Large wrinkles stretched across his dark skin. The man wasn’t even fifty yet, and he looked like he had seen it already. He still had those features of his that got females to look twice, but he was definitely looking older. “I was thinking you should transfer here.”

I groaned and put my chin in my hands.

“Now hear me out before you start complaining.” He held his hand up in front of my face. “I have better connections here. I want you here, and I think you would do a great job here. Now the soccer team isn’t as great as the one at Nerita, but why would you want to do soccer anyway. You could do something more practical like business or maybe go into the same field as me. At least if you did, you wouldn’t have to worry about being without a job if you get injured.”

“Dad, I have a backup.”

“Oh right. Computer science. The only other thing Nerita is good at. There isn’t much going for you over there. Besides, without me, Trinity wouldn’t have gotten the scholarship she did.”

“She would’ve gotten it without you Dad.” Trinity’s grades in high school were good. She had to work a lot harder now, but she didn’t have to work as hard then. School came to her easily. He may have thought he dealt a hand in her college career, but she made it here on her own.

“If you say so. She’s just like her mother. Needs help for everything.” He shook his head, and I glared at him. What was wrong with him? “But think about it, son. Try to have a smart future.”

He stood and walked out. I liked my current plan a lot. I didn’t need his help, or his money to get me anywhere in life. I was fine on my own. I walked to the fridge and pulled out the tray of cookies. I found a zip lock bag in one of the drawers and dumped the cookies inside, before heading back to Trinity’s.

* * *

“Great to know that Dad’s still judgmental,” Trinity said as we drank warm tea in her kitchen. “You know it’s your choice, right?”

“Yeah. I know.”

“Good.”

“I’m surprised you aren’t drunk right now.” My sister had been party hopping ever since she moved into her apartment. It was a surprise she only came home buzzed.

“Yeah. It’s a little weird.” She set her cup down. We both heard the front door open and close. A couple of things hit the ground, and the wood flooring creaked as feet crossed the floor.

“Ree? That you?” Trin yelled.

“Yup. Be out in a bit.”

A few minutes later Serena walked into the kitchen with a giant T-shirt and socks on. Her hair was out of its bun, and she looked tired but still gorgeous.

“Are you wearing shorts under that?” Trin pointed to the bottom of Serena’s shirt.

“I pay rent here. I wear what I want,” she yawned out. “And yes, I’m wearing shorts.” She lifted the bottom of her shirt revealing very short shorts, and I almost died. I shifted uncomfortably in my seat. I wasn’t trying to catch a boner just from seeing her ass cheek. “I’m surprised you came home. You and that Richard guy only stayed for an hour.”

“Well, we wanted to be somewhere with less noise.”

“Uh huh . . .” Serena gave Trinity a curious look, and Trinity smacked her arm and giggled. I rolled my eyes. Gross.

“What about you? You got back kind of early for a party.”

“Tristan wanted to meet me for coffee tomorrow, so he thought it would be a good idea to drop me off early.” She shrugged. She lifted her eyes to mine. “Hey Brandon.”

“Hey.” I grinned.

“Heard you had to visit your dad today.”

“Yeah.” My lips twisted, and her eyes melted into understanding. I didn’t even explain yet. “Still an asshole.”

“I’m not surprised. How’s Steph.”

“She’s good. She left me with some cookies.” I pointed to the Ziploc bag on the table, and Serena’s eyes lit up.

“Sweet!” She dived in, and Trinity finally took a cookie from the bag.

“You heard from your mom?” She nodded and her expression turned sour.

“Through Trinity,” she tore a small piece of her cookie. “From the god damned letters she sends me. I don’t write her back, if you want to know. I’m just waiting for her to find me online. I’m surprised it’s taking her so long.”

“You’d think with as often as she posts she would have found you already.” I stood to place my mug in the sink and Trinity laughed.

“You’d think, but she isn’t that smart,” Trin said and I laughed at that.

“You guys are friends with her?” Serena’s fearful expression matched the tone in her voice. I had the urge to run my fingers through her hair and tell her she was okay, but we weren’t there, right? She had that jug head looking guy to go too. It pissed me off a little that some guy like him would be comforting a girl like her.

“Yeah, we’re friends.” I leaned against the sink and studied her instead. Serena noticed the slight animosity at my use of the word friends and seemed to calm a bit.

“What if she’s been waiting for me to put something on my page, so she should could rain evil in my inbox?”

“Then you block her,” Trinity said maneuvering around me to drop her mug in the sink. “You can do that now. I’m going to bed.”

“Night,” we both said as she left.

“You good?” I eyed Serena. She was still taking deep breaths in her chair while trying to look calm.

“I’m fine. Just trying not to freak out.” She stood and walked over to me. Opening a cabinet to the right of me. She grabbed a mug, and I reached for the hot tea kettle Trinity picked out. She handed me the mug, and I began pouring tea into it. “I just have this crazy thought that she’d come after me.”

“She won’t.” I set the kettle back on the stove and turned the stove off. “She’s back there and you’re here.”

“But she isn’t far away from me either.”

“Serena.” She sucked in her bottom lip and looked at me. “She’s there and you’re here.”

“I know. Just waiting for the day when I won’t have to keep telling myself that.” She groaned in frustration, taking a sip of her tea before leaning against the counter next to me.

“Don’t rush yourself.”

She nodded and took another sip, throwing us into a comfortable silence.

“It feels like forever since we talked like this.” She had a smile on her face and buried it into her tea. I smirked.

“It does. Doesn’t it?”

“Mhmm.” She lifted her head and studied me for a minute. Her eyes left small spurts of electricity wherever they landed. “So, are you staying here tonight?”

She chugged the last of her tea, and I took the cup, placing it in the sink behind me.

“No.”

“Oh.” I caught the sadness in her voice as I turned on the water, rinsing out each cup.

“Did you want me to?”

“Oh. no!” She put her hands up and awkward laughter rolled from her lips. “I mean . . . you don’t have to.” I lifted a brow at her as I turned off the water and dried my hands. Her voice shook more. “You-you know . . . You’re Trinity’s brother. So . . . if you want to stay, that would be completely up to her. I don’t care. You're like, old now.” I felt the corners of my lips lifting, and I could see her mentally face palming herself by the squint of her eyes. “She pays half the rent with scholarship money . . . so . . . you know, it’s up to her.”

A gave her arm a gentle squeeze, partly so I could touch her skin. I leaned into her ear and heard her breath catch in her throat. I had to hold myself back. I wanted to kiss her, but she wasn’t mine. I kept my breathing steady. “It was good to see you, Serena.”

She nodded dumbly, and I made my way out of the kitchen. God it felt good to get a reaction like that out of her. I needed to get to the hotel as fast as I could before my coach blew up my phone, but it was definitely good to see her. I already wanted to see more of her, but that damn gym rat was in the way.