Page 18 of Protecting Tiffani

“Dick. Your phone?” I whisper.

“Why do you need my phone? What the hell is going on?”

“Call Emilee.” I point to what I think is his phone mounted to the truck’s dash, but I can’t be sure because it’s dancing around.

“It’s almost ten at night, Adam. Is everything okay?” Emilee’s worried voice comes through the speaker. She’s going to make a great mom, and I’m an ass for making him call her so late. But I need her help.

“Em. Come… Tiffani, help need… laundry mat.” I shut my eyes because I can’t take the shimmy the phone is doing. When did phones get the ability to fucking dance?

“What’s wrong with Tiffani? Levi? Levi?” Her voice fades out slowly.

Before I pass out, I’m able to say one more thing, and it’s the only thing I say correctly, but it confuses my siblings even more. “She’s the one percent I need, but she hates me.” With that, the world goes black.

The sound of a slamming door sends, what feels like a metal ball pinging around in my brain. Sitting at the dining room table, I groan and squeeze my head, begging the ball to stop hitting the sides of my skull so the throbbing has a chance to stop.

“Well, I guess it takes more than three-fourths of a bottle of whiskey to kill you.” It sounds like my sister is screaming at me.

“Do you have to scream at me first thing in the morning?” I groan.

The chair beside me scraps the floor, making that damn little ball take off again. “I’m not screaming, Levi, and it’s two in the afternoon. That, little brother, is called a hangover. If you can’t deal with it, don’t fucking do what you did last night.”

Pulling my head from my hands, I look at my sister. She looks concerned, and for the second time, I feel bad for my actions last night. The first time was when Mom woke me up crying, telling me how worried she was when she couldn’t reach me. “I’m sorry, Sissy. You didn’t have to come down just to check on me.”

“You don’t remember forcing Adam to call me last time?” She grabs my hand.

My memory of last night is all a little fuzzy. The only thing I remember clearly is the look on Tiffani’s face as she screamed about how I never cared about her. After that, it’s like I’m trying to watch a channel, and a storm is coming in. The pictures flicker in and out, but nothing I can make out. I shake my head and instantly regret it.

“I didn’t think you would, but you called me last night talking about Tiffani and how she needed help,” Emilee says, while she stands up and heads into the kitchen.

“Oh shit.” What the fuck did I do? Tiffani is going to be even more pissed at me. “Did you..”

“I love you, Levi, and you are one of my best friends, but what I did, or didn’t do, last night is none of your business. The only thing you need to worry about is getting food in your stomach to help soak up what whiskey is left in there. I can still smell it on your breath. Did you not brush your teeth when you got up?”

The thought of eating makes my stomach flip, and I groan, laying my head down on the table. “No thanks. You sound just like her, you know?”

“Who?” I hear the sound of eggs breaking and the toaster being pushed down.

“Tiffani. She told me the same thing. That what was happening with her wasn’t any of my business, but it is. She has always been my business.” I whisper the last part. Neither of us speaks as Emilee moves around the kitchen, cooking a feast by the sounds coming from there. I rack my brain trying to figure out how to fix everything with Tif. The easiest way is to tell her the truth about what happened, but I can’t do that. It would destroy her to know what her father’s capable of doing. But by the looks of her place, she’s already at the receiving end of his cruelty. I left, so why is she living like that? I kept up my end of the fucking deal, but it seems he broke his.

A plate is placed in front of my face, and the smell coming from it makes me gag. “Sissy, I can’t eat this.”

“You can and you will.” She sits down and starts eating the same thing she’s trying to force me to ingest. “I promise you will feel better. The first time I got truly wasted, Parker forced me to eat. I was sure it would all come back up, but I kept it down. I started to feel better shortly after that. Well, that and the hot round of…”

I throw my hand over her mouth, “Do not finish that sentence. I’ll eat, but you have to shut up aboutthataround me.”

She giggles as I remove my hand. “Mind-blowing sex.” She speaks so fast it sounds like one long word.

“For the love of god, Emilee,” I groan before stuffing my mouth full of buttered toast. I don’t have to look at my sister to know she is studying my every movement. “Ask your question.”

“You love her again, don’t you?” She places her fork down on the plate. I do the same and turn to face my sister.

“That question implies that I stopped loving her, which I never did. She is the only girl in my world. Besides you and Mom, of course. Always has been, and I’m afraid she always will be. Just because we can’t be together doesn’t mean I don’t want to be with her.” I start eating again, my stomach feeling better with each bite I take.

“You never…”

“No, Emilee. I haven’t been with anyone else since the last time I was with her. I tried to date, believe me. But after the third time I saw her face, instead of the woman I was supposed to be on the date with, I gave up. My heart, soul, and body only want her, no one else…” I swallow the emotions down and continue. “She is the one percent I need.”

“You said that last night as well. What does that mean?” she asks.

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