Page 17 of Covetous

Liv holds up her fruity vodka cocktail. “Finish your drinks, ladies. The next round is on me. But first, let’s toast.”

Esme grins. “To what?”

I lift my glass. “To friendship?”

“No,” Liv says. “To sisterhood.”

As we raise our glasses and clink them together, we all speak in harmony. “To sisterhood.”

Chapter Six

The only thing that could’ve made graduation day better was having my mom there to see me walk the stage. I like to think she’d be proud of me, just like I’d love to believe we’d all be one happy, healthy family. She would be standing with my dad while holding her first and only grandchild in her arms. My eyes almost water while posing for pictures with my family as I think about the void she left.

“Are you okay?” Niko stays behind after taking pictures, while the rest of my family scatters for my celebratory dinner at one of Hunter’s restaurants.

“Yeah.” I blink away the moisture from my eyes. “Just thinking about Mama.”

He wraps his arm around me, pulling me against his tall, lean frame. “I know. She’d be so proud of you. Just as I am.”

“Just trying to be like you.”

Niko and I have always been super tight, partly due to our dads encouraging open lines of communication when we were younger.

“Nah.” He grins. “You’re better than me. I didn’t graduate Summa Cum Laude.”

“Brains and beauty. That’s my girl,” my dad says as he approaches us, wearing his favorite blue suit and the tie I gave him for Father’s Day nearly five years ago. I remember when Grandma Cora helped me pick it out.

“Thanks, Dad.” I smile. “Did you find your phone?” He hadn’t realized he lost it until he wanted to take a picture of me and my roommates together after the ceremony.

“I did. It was still on my chair in the auditorium.”

“Dad.” I sigh, shaking my head.

“I know, Bug.” His sheepish grin makes him look younger than his fifty-seven years, despite the fine lines around his eyes and having more gray hair than blond now. His smile slowly disappears as he acknowledges Niko. “Niko,” he says, his tone careful as he holds out his hand.

“Graham.” Niko gives my dad his hand for a quick shake before dropping his arm to his side.

I’m a daddy’s girl, even when it served me no purpose, while Niko was always a mama’s boy. Losing her in such a sudden and tragic way significantly affected his relationship with my dad. He struggles with the fact our mother is dead from an addiction that my dad turned her on to, while my dad is flourishing in multiple aspects of his life, thanks to his healthy vegan lifestyle, his successful art gallery, the substantial inheritance following Grandpa George’s and Grandma Cora’s deaths, and his newly found relationship with God.

It was at my mom’s gravesite where Niko’s anger exploded toward my dad. All hell broke loose when my dad put his arm on Niko’s shoulder to comfort him. Without warning, Niko shoved his hand away. “It should’ve been you,” Niko spat at my father. “This is your fault. You son of a bitch!” It took Niko’s dad and two of his frat brothers to drag him away as he wailed and growled through his grief.

“How are you, Son?” my dad asks, pulling me back from my memories of one of the worst days of my life, second only to the day my dad and I found my mom’s lifeless body on the bathroom floor.

“I’m good.” A faint, restrained smile plays on Niko’s lips, almost invisible but undeniable to those who know him. “You?”

A look of surprise mixed with cautious excitement spreads across my dad’s face. “I’m good.”

I don’t think he expected Niko’s return question. I didn’t. Though he may be just being polite. When someone asks you how you are, you politely return the question. But maybe it’s more than that. Maybe he’s extending an olive branch. A girl can hope, right?

“Can I get one more picture of you two?” My dad pulls out his phone. “I wish Yasmine hadn’t already left.”

“One more, Dad. Ian went to move the car closer. He’s probably waiting for me.” I stand closer to Niko as he puts his arm back around me.

My dad holds up his phone. “He can wait,” he says before taking a few pictures. But after realizing he forgot to turn on the flash, he has to retake them. A soft chuckle slips from me at his lack of technological ability. “I wish Tina was here to see you both all grown up.” My dad’s voice cracks slightly with emotion.

“We all do.” Niko’s voice is tinged with sadness, but he quickly composes himself.

“There we have it,” Dad says, taking the last picture, his throat working in a swallow as he does.

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