Page 49 of Tripp

“You can, and you will,” our VP gritted out. “Enough is enough. This shit’s gotta stop. Today.” Placing his hand on Marek’s shoulder in return, he leaned in and whispered something in his ear, our president’s face falling even more before he reluctantly nodded.

“Let’s do this in Chambers,” Trigger suggested. “Just in case some of the other guys show up.”

All of us agreeing, we entered our sacred meeting place, shut the door and took our seats.

Tripp

“I swear to Christ, if someone doesn’t say somethin’ soon I’m gonna lose it,” Jagger blurted, pounding the table in frustration.

“Calm down,” Trigger berated him, quickly glaring at him before turning his attention back to Marek, who was leaning back in his chair with his head tilted and looking up at the ceiling.

All concern was focused toward our leader, preparing for the results to be bad but hoping for the best. The envelope in Stone’s hand was still sealed, indicating he himself didn’t even know yet. We were all in limbo.

The tearing of the envelope made me shudder, but my reaction was nothing compared to Marek’s. Forcing himself to his feet, he kicked his chair behind him with as much force as he could muster.

“I c-can’t fuckin’ do th-this,” he stammered, the reality of his predicament sobering him slightly. “I can’t,” he mumbled before heading toward the door. Stone jumped up from the table and rushed forward, stopping Marek before he turned the handle.

Flinging the results toward me, our VP shouted, “Just open it.”

My fingers trembled slightly as I pulled out the folded piece of paper. I scanned the document but had no idea what the hell I was looking at. There were multiple columns with a bunch of numbers.

“Well?” Stone shouted over his shoulder, pinning Marek against the wall to ensure he finally faced what he’d been running from ever since Psych fucked with his head.

Stone had given Adelaide Psych’s DNA as well as Marek’s, both in their own baggie. He feared if he labeled one ‘Father’ and the other ‘Child,’ she might’ve been a bit more suspicious, and that would’ve opened up a whole other can of worms. Instead, he just asked that they be tested to see if the two samples were related.

“I don’t know what the hell I’m lookin’ at,” I grumbled, trying to read over the piece of paper once more. “Give me a sec.” Starting from the top, I searched for anything that made a lick of sense to me. It wasn’t until I reached the bottom, after all the bullshit columns, letters and numbers that I came to the fields I needed.

Probability of relation . . . 0%

I read it again just to be sure. Releasing a breath, one I hadn’t even realized I held trapped in my lungs, I looked over to Stone and slowly shook my head, making sure to accompany the gesture with a grin.

“Oh, thank God,” I heard Ryder say under his breath, understanding quickly spreading to Jagger and Trigger as well.

The rustle of Stone’s cut bristled in the silence. I saw his grip on Marek’s shoulders tighten. “She’s not your sister, man.” Marek raised his head. “Psych wasn’t your ol’ man, which means Sully is not related to you.”

I thought Marek would’ve been elated, but instead he crumpled to the floor and the eeriest sob escaped. “Motherfucker. I can’t . . . can’t believe I push . . . pushed her away,” he cried out, knocking his head against the wall a couple times. Stone sank to the floor beside him and threw his arm around his shoulder before looking to us and jerking his head toward the door. We understood right away, all of us disappearing from the room so they could have some privacy.

If anyone had any chance of consoling Marek, it was his best friend.

Reece

The next several weeks passed way too quickly for my taste, but at least Tripp had remained in my life. Even after everything with Rick happened he stayed true to his word and stuck around, insisting I stay at his place with him.

“I want to talk to you about something,” I said, tugging on the hem of my nightshirt as I walked toward the bed.

He swung his legs over the side and reached for his phone. Quickly checking a text, an annoyed expression passed over his face before he placed the device on the nightstand. “If this is about you paying for shit, I told you I don’t want your money.” He leaned back on his elbows, his nakedness completely distracting me. The way his muscles flexed with any simple movement entranced me. The man had the most amazing body, and I knew he was using it to sidetrack me. “My eyes are up here,” he joked when he saw I’d been staring at . . . well, all of him.

“Very funny, but I’m serious.”

“Then if you’re so serious stop gawking at me like I’m a piece of meat.” With one sudden movement, he hopped off the bed and picked me up off my feet, hooking my legs around his waist before I even realized what he was doing. “Or maybe some meat is exactly what you need right now.”

“I told you we can’t do that. Not for the next couple days.” A mischievous grin appeared on his gorgeous face. “What?”

“There’s always the back door.” I gave him a blank stare. “You know . . . anal,” he clarified, just in case I’d been confused on what ‘back door’ had meant, which I wasn’t.

“Are you serious?”

His only response was to wriggle his brows.

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