Page 53 of The Hat Trick

“Who?” I play dumb, just to irritate her.

“The two hot men and Chandler,” she rolls her eyes at me.

I shake my head. “Never heard of them, I think you’re losing it, shorty.”

“You’re an asshole.” She storms into the kitchen.

“Merry Christmas to you too, sis,” I call after her. She flips me off without turning around.

“Care to share what really happened this morning? Because I’m sure the version she gave me was not accurate,” Bryson says.

“Not really.” I wave him off and go grab the gift bags I got for them from the guest room. I don’t have a Christmas tree up because I don’t really see the point, but I got each one of my siblings a gift. Even the ones I figured wouldn’t come. Especially Brandon.

I do this every year, just in case this will be the year something magically changes. I may have cut off my brother, but I still care about him. My other sister, Bailey, has come over sometimes, but she goes through phases of talking to me and not.

When I bring out the gift bags, Brynn has settled on the couch with a bag of chips and Bryson is sitting in the armchair I was in last night. I smirk remembering what happened there but wipe it away quickly.

My sister snatches the present from my outstretched hand and opens it right away, revealing the necklace I got her. She beams and thanks me. Bryson is calmer and doesn’t rush through opening his gift.

“Anyone heard from Brandon or Bailey?” I ask.

They are both silent and avoid eye contact.

Brynn is the first to speak up, as usual, “Bailey called me yesterday just to say she wasn’t coming.”

I know she tries to keep her distance from the rest of us, but it sucks sometimes. We are all each other had growing up, and I did my best. But it’s her decision to not want to be close and I can’t do anything about it.

“Brandon hasn’t reached out, I don’t know if he went into treatment or not,” Bryson says quietly while pulling out the hoodie I got him.

“They both know where to find me if they want to talk then, I guess,” I say with a shrug, collecting the garbage from the presents to throw away.

“Are we going to address the elephant in the room?” Brynn speaks up hopefully.

“I might be the tallest and biggest here, but you don’t need to call me an elephant,” I joke.

“You know what I’m talking about.” She narrows her eyes at me.

Bryson looks between the two of us, I can tell he’s just waiting for something to happen whether that be a fight or an explanation. He’s always been the quiet one, and with Brynn and me being polar opposites as far as personalities go, it can lead to interesting interactions.

“There’s nothing to address,” I say.

“Okay, so you want me to just assume, and think what I want? Okay, hey Bryson, did you know Brent is gay?”

“Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but I’m not.” I shake my head.

“Then you have a side job as a porn director,” she tries.

“No, what the fuck?”

“Might as well explain, or I’ll keep guessing.”

Reluctantly, I agree and then question why I’m telling one of my brothers and sister this. Of course, I opt to leave out a majority of details because they don’t need to know, and I don’t want to tell them.

“Dumont and McQuaid are my teammates, and Chandler is someone I’m kind of seeing, and I think I like her, okay?”

“Why did your teammates spend the night?” she interrogates.

“Because we all went to a charity event last night.”

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