Page 65 of Silent Betrayal

“Next time, if you hear something that upsets you, confuses you, or frustrates you, I want you not to panic. You are to ask us about it first. Even if you have to pull one of us aside to get clarity, you do it. If you want to yell at us, do that. I don’t want you ever getting upset like that again. And no matter what, you never give up like you did and stop breathing. Kitten, you almost gave me a heart attack,” I chastise her.

“You almost gave all of us heart attacks,” Gideon adds seriously.

She looks around the room at everyone with tears in the corners of her eyes as she tells us, “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. It won’t happen again. Please, please don’t be mad at me.”

She looks at me with the biggest puppy-dog eyes I’ve ever seen, and my face softens. I stroke her face as I stare down at her lovingly.

“I could never be mad at you, Kitten. Now, why don’t you say bye to the four that need to head to school?”

I let her crawl away from me as she moves to the end of the bed, where the twins and Tucker are. She sits up on her knees, and Jasper pulls her into a hug. He pulls back and gives her a quick peck on the cheek. She repeats the same thing with Max and Gideon.

When she turns to Tucker, he takes her hand and asks, “will you come out in the hall with me for a minute?”

“Oh, sure,” she says, climbing off the bed and letting him lead her out of the room. Right before he steps into the hall, he turns around and gives me a wink.

That action tells me everything I need to know. He’s tired of waiting, and he’s ready to start groveling to our girl. I couldn’t agree more.

Chapter twenty-eight

Tucker leads me a few steps from the door before he pulls me to a stop and steps in front of me, so we’re facing each other.

“Sugar, I know we have a lot to fix between us, and I’m ready to start building that bridge. Will you go on a date with me tonight?” His words sound confident, but I can see the worry on his face. Is he worried I’ll say no?

My eyebrows raise with surprise at his question, I didn’t expect that. I open my mouth to respond, but nothing comes out. I’ve been so mad at them, felt so betrayed, but how long could I hold that grudge? I gave myself a panic attack over that thought of living without them. I owe it to myself, and to them, to try.

So I take a deep breath, lift my chin, and reply, “yes, I will.” His smile is huge as he pulls me in for a hug, kissing the top of my head.

“I’ll pick you up right after school. Be ready to go at three-thirty. Wear something comfortable and warm enough to spend a few hours outside. See you later, Sugar.” He gives my head another kiss before he turns and heads towards the stairs. I watch him walk away, and the other three also leaving for school pass me with warm smiles as they all head downstairs.

A set of arms gently wrap around my shoulders as I’m hugged from behind.

“Is this okay, Mina?” Ben asks near my ear.

Am I okay with him touching me? I didn’t want him to stop, so I guess, once again, my heart was way ahead of my head in terms of forgiving and moving on.

“Yes,” I reply, my mind thinking about a million things at once.

“Why don’t the three of us do something relaxing today? We could watch some movies, or how aboutThe Office?”

“Yeah, I’d like that,” I tell him honestly. A low key day on the couch is just what I need.

“Are you sure I look okay?” I ask Ben, as he leans in my doorway, watching me stare at myself in the mirror.

“Princess, Tucker will love you in anything. Wear what you feel comfortable in.”

“It’s just… I’ve never been on a date before, I don’t want to mess it up.” I look up at him with worry and he smiles at me with an understanding look on his face. He steps towards me and takes my hand with both of his, kissing my fingertips.

“He’ll be honored to be your first date, and don’t worry, just be yourself, you won’t mess anything up. Just go with the mindset of having fun and getting to know each other. There are no expectations for you to act any certain way with him, or with any of us, you understand? You don’t want him to hold your hand, kiss you, hug you, then all you have to do is tell him that.”

“Won’t he be disappointed if I don’t do those things?” I ask with a frown.

“It doesn’t matter. You don’t have to do things because of what anyone else expects or desires. It’s about whatyouwant. He might be a little sad if you don’t want him to touch you, but he’s not going to treat you any differently, or stop trying to show you how much he cares. None of us are. Now I think I can hear their trucks pulling up, are you ready?” He steps back to let me check myself over in the mirror again.

Giving myself a final glance, I nod in approval. I’m wearing a pair of dark blue skinny jeans paired with brown boots that come up above my calf. They don’t have any heels, but they are surprisingly comfortable. On top, I’m wearing a loose fitting light green blouse covered with tiny pink and white flowers.

To complete the outfit, I found a cute cropped light washed denim jacket. Luckily, it’s not too cold today, so I should be good all evening in this outfit. I try to soothe my wavy hair down and decide it’s as good as it’s going to get.

I follow Ben out of my room and downstairs, just as the twins and Gideon come in the front door. I watch them all take off their shoes, and when Max looks up and sees me, he tosses his bag at Jasper’s chest, telling him, “hold this for me, would ya?”

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