1
My fingers tremble as I reach up to take one of the pictures off the shelf. The one I want depicts Tristan down on one knee, sliding an engagement ring on the red-headed girl’s finger. There’s a Christmas tree in the background and wrapping paper all around them. It looks like it was a magical time for them.
This woman. I’ve betrayed her, and I don’t even know who she is. My heart aches from that realization. I never meant to do this. I never mean any of it.
“Good morning, beautiful,” a man’s voice says behind me. Not Tristan’s voice.
I’m so startled that I drop the picture. The frame hits the tile floor and the glass protecting the photo shatters. I cringe. Tristan is going to be pissed. Pissed that I broke one of his matching picture frames. Pissed that I discovered his secret.
“I’m sorry,” the voice says.
I’m on my knees, trying to pick up the pieces of the frame, hoping I can hide it long enough to get the hell out of this house. I turn my face towards the person who was speaking to me. My eyes land on a wall of lean hard muscle, an unfamiliar man wearing only a pair of black boxer shorts. He’s tall and handsome, with mussy hair that’s almost black and eyes just as dark. He kneels beside me to help pick up the pieces of the broken frame, and I find myself staring at him. Who is this guy?
“I didn’t mean to startle you.” He takes the frame from my hand and sighs at it. “This is the last one. We’ll probably have to replace the whole set now.” He slides it back up onto the shelf by the rest of the pictures.
I stand and give him a curious look, completely confused. “I’m sorry, but who are you?”
He huffs incredulously, “I guess Bonehead didn’t tell you about me.”
I wrap my arms around myself protectively, trying to keep in all the horrible emotion raging through me. This is not the best time for me to be meeting someone new.
“I’m Shawn, Tristan’s brother. I’m guessing he also didn’t bother to tell you that I live here too.” He rolls his eyes, but it’s not directed at me.
“He didn’t.” I shake my head. Tristan obviously didn’t tell me a lot of things.
“Well, he told me he had a guest, so I figured I best be hospitable and introduce myself.” He makes it sound like a chore.
It doesn’t matter. After today, I’ll never see Tristan again. How can I possibly live with what I’ve done? A tremor of pain races through me, striking straight at my heart. My life has been nothing but one mistake after another ever since I met Ethel. I know it’s not her fault, but I need someone to blame.
If it wasn’t for her father dating my mother, I never would have left Catholic school and been put into public school. I never would have been peer pressured into skipping class and doing other stupid stuff to try to fit in, and ruin my chance to get a scholarship. If her and her father had never come into my life, I wouldn’t have to be working as hard as I am now to get ahead. And I never would have gone to that stupid party and met Tristan. I never would have lost my virginity to such a horrible man.
“I see you met Kelly.” Shawn stares at one of the photos.
“Is that her name?” my tone darkens with bitterness.
“Yeah. She was something else.” He grins, probably recalling a memory.
“It looks like Tristan loves her very much.” Tears sear my eyes, and I do my best to fight them back. Love. I thought I knew what that was. I don’t though. That’s blatantly obvious. I got caught up in the sweet words and romance of it all. I was too stupid to see I was being led on.
“He does love her. He always will.” There’s a sadness in his eyes that seems misplaced.
“So where is she now?” I hate myself for asking, but I feel like I need to know.
“Dead,” he replies shortly.
“Oh.” Relief rushes through me. It’s coupled by guilt from being glad that she’s dead, glad that everything I just tortured myself over was all for nothing. “How did she die?”
He turns to look at me. “We don’t talk about that.”
“Breakfast is ready,” Tristan announces as he pads through the house towards us. My heart leaps into my throat as I realize he’s probably going to see that I broke the picture frame. If he doesn’t, then Shawn will likely rat me out.
I give Shawn a pleading look, but he just stares at me, emotionless. His eyes are so cold. A shiver rolls down my spine from the intensity of his gaze.
Tristan rounds the corner with a smile on his face. “There you are. I was wondering where you ran off to.” He walks past me and places a hand on Shawn’s shoulder. “I see you’ve met my brother.”
“You never told me he lives here with you.”
They couldn’t look anymore different. Well, maybe they could if they were like Ethel and I, different ethnicities, but as far as biological brothers, they definitely don’t look like they came from the same batch. Tristan is stocky and thick with muscle, while Shawn has more of a swimmer’s build. Tristan is blonde with light blue eyes, while Shawn’s features are dark. Tristan is warm and affectionate, while Shawn seems a bit cold. They’re both sinfully attractive though. That’s one thing they definitely have in common.
“It must have slipped my mind.” Tristan flashes me a charming grin, and all is forgiven.
“I need to buy you a new set of picture frames,” Shawn mentions out of the blue. My stomach twists with the realization that he’s about to tattle on me. Then Tristan will get pissed, and it will all be over. I bite my bottom lip, staring into Shawn’s eyes, silently begging him not to say anything. I know it’s already too late though. He picks up the broken picture frame, showing it to Tristan. “I accidentally knocked it off the shelf, and it broke.”
Tristan frowns, and I’m able to breathe again. Shawn lied for me. He actually lied for me. I can’t believe it.
“Mistakes happen,” Tristan says, though he’s obviously not pleased about it.
“They do.” Shawn’s eyes sweep over his brother. The way they act together is a bit strange, but perhaps it’s just because I don’t know them. It seems almost like they’re holding a silent conversation.
Finally, Tristan looks at me and forces a smile. “Well, we should go eat before the food gets cold.”
I nod timidly, following them into the dining room.
“You never told me your name,” Shawn says back to me.
“Sarah. It’s Sarah.”
“Alright, Sarah,” and that’s the end of conversation until we reach the dining room.
The meal is awkward. Tristan seats and serves us, and Shawn and I wait without so much as a word. When Tristan joins us, it’s like I don’t even exist anymore. The two guys talk about the business trip Shawn just came back from. Apparently, he arrived by private jet around midnight. We were both asleep by then. Their business talk makes little sense to me, so I simply sit quietly and enjoy my food. Eggs Benedict with fresh-squeezed orange juice juice and a side of hash browns. I swear, I could marry Tristan just over his cooking. It’s delicious. A man who can cook like this is a rare commodity.
Once the meal is finished, Shawn excuses himself to return to his room. He says he woke up early just to introduce himself to me. That must mean Tristan sent him a text about me at some point. It’s an endearing thought. Maybe Tristan really was sincere about everything he said to me. I can only hope.
“So what do you think of him?” Tristan asks me once Shawn is out of earshot.
“He’s nice.” I don’t know what else he expects me to say. It’s his brother. I wouldn’t speak ill against him, especially since I really want to try to stay in Tristan’s life.
“He’s a little rough around the edges, but that’s part of his appeal.” Tristan leans back in his chair, staring out towards the living room as if he can see Shawn through the walls.
“Have you guys always lived together?” I ask, wanting to change the subject.
“Yeah. Ever since we were out of foster care.” He stands to take our plates to the kitchen.
“Foster care?” I repeat.
“Yeah. Our parents died when we were teenagers,” he says matter-of- factually as he rinses the dishes off in the sink. “Our only living relative was an aunt who was a drug addict, so we were put in foster care until she sobered up enough to take care of us. That never happened.” He shakes his head. “We were just lucky she didn’t kill herself with an overdose until the day after Shawn turned eighteen.” The way he says it doesn’t sound lucky at all.
I twist around in my chair to face him. “How did they die?”
“Plane crash,” he lets out a short laugh. “You’d think it wouldn’t be a business Shawn and I would have gotten into after that, but Shawn has my father’s obsession with planes. He likes to fly them, work on them, build them. I prefer to keep my feet on the ground, doing more of the businessy stuff.”
“I’m not a big fan of planes either,” I admit, thinking about how much I dislike flying. It always makes me sick to my stomach no matter how much medicine I take beforehand to counteract the effects. Luckily, I haven’t had to fly much in my short life.
“Well then, that’s something we have in common.” He smiles absentmindedly as he finishes putting the dishes in the dishwasher. I sit there silently and fidget until Tristan returns to the table. He has two bottles of water, and he hands one over to me before sitting down. “So, Sarah, tell me a little more about yourself. I know you live in a mixed family. I know you have fairly traditional values. And I know you’re a good dancer. But I don’t know anything else about you.”
The way he recites all he remembers about me makes me blush. He’s so observant. Still perfect.
“Well, you also know I work at a coffee shop,” I begin.
“I do.” He nods.
“I’m working there to save up for college.”
“Oh? What do you want to go for?” He stares across the table at me in interest.
“I think I just want a general degree. Probably business related. I don’t want to back myself into a corner by getting something too specific. Besides, there’s nothing I’m really passionate about. Since I started high school, I’ve changed my mind at least half a dozen times about what I want
to do for a living, so I finally decided I should probably go for a degree that would give me the most opportunities,” I tell him, a bit embarrassed. I know that makes me sound indecisive, which I’m really not about most things.
“That’s probably smart.” He twists the cap off his bottle and takes a sip before leaning back.
“Well.” I wring my hands around the bottle nervously. “I should probably get going.”
“Why is that?” He smirks.
“Because I have work.” To be honest, I almost forgot about it. I’ve been so preoccupied thinking of other things.
“Call in.”
“I can’t.” My eyes shoot up to meet his. I know he’s trying to be sweet, but I just told him I’m saving up for college. He should be a little more considerate.
“Why not?”
“I told you why already.” I sulk a bit. Not everyone can be rich like him. Some of us actually have to work to get by.
Perhaps he senses my discontent, because the smirk melts from his face. “Well, I’ll be sad to see you go, but we’ll see each other again, yes?”
He sounds so insecure that I can’t help but grin. “Yes. You’ll see me again, if that’s what you want?” Oh no, now I’m doing it too.
“That is what I want.” His expression brightens as he stands to lead me to the door.
Just walking next to him makes me heart beat faster. In the course of one night, he’s done something to me. I can only hope that all of his sweet sentiments are sincere, otherwise, I’m in for a world of hurt.
