Page 38 of The Brat Tamers

12

EPIPHANY

It’s been nine days since Lee dropped me off at the house. Leti and I have spent a lot of time together, reconnecting and telling each other stories about our lives. Embarrassingly, she knew a lot more about me than I knew about her because she followed me online. I had to explain to her more than once that what she saw and what really happened wasn’t always the same thing.

I’m not surprised by how sheltered Leti has been, but I feel horrible by how alone she’s been over the years. Our paths took such different directions, and we dealt with the loss of our mother in such different ways. But the past is the past. All we can do now is to forge a relationship for the future, which we are both eager to do.

Our father wasn’t kidding about wanting to grab some father-daughter time. We’ve had dinner with each other nearly five times in the last nine days, which is more than we have in the last four years. We’ve had some interesting heart-to-heart conversations, and although it’s too late to save our childhoods, I think the three of us as adults can establish some healthy boundaries as we let each other into our lives.

In the last nine days, I haven’t heard from Lee, Case, or Porter, but to be fair, I haven’t reached out to them either. I honestly didn’t think I would have to. I never have before. Part of me wants to drive down to the abandon building in the middle of an industrial neighborhood and shoot paint balls at the monochrome structure. The other part of me wants to do something crazy and get myself in trouble so they’d have to come rescue me.

I can’t believe they haven’t called me.

I grab the mail as I walk into the main house to meet my sister for an afternoon of lunch and shopping. Amongst the myriad of junk mail is a sleek black envelope with silver trim addressed to Leti.

I find her in the kitchen drinking a cup of coffee.

“You’ve got mail.” I hand her the envelope, super curious about the contents.

She frowns and opens it, her cheeks turning rosy as her gaze skims down the card stock, ingesting the contents.

“Is it a party invite?” I grab my cup of coffee and sit across from her.

Folding the card and sliding it back into the envelope, she bites her lip and looks at me. “You’ve been all around the world. Can I ask you a crazy question?”

“Of course.” I reach across the table and rub her hand. “You can ask me anything.”

“No judgment?”

I laugh. “Absolutely.”

She chews on her lip, her eyes bouncing around the room. “Have you ever heard of a woman dating more than one man?”

“Sure.”

“No, I mean, dating them at the same time. Like together.”

“How many men?”

“Let’s say three.”

My mind goes instantly to Lee, Case and Porter. “It’s not common, but not unheard of either. Some people call it a reverse harem, some people call it polyamory. What they call it really depends on the group’s dynamics in and out of the bedroom. Why?”

Her eyes go back down to the sleek black invitation. “Promise you won’t tell anyone?”

I squeeze her hand. “You’re my sister. Your confidence is mine to keep, and vice versa.”

“Something happened with Reese, Caiden and Soren.” She blurts out, her cheeks turning a shade of fire engine red.

Temporarily shocked, I stare at her with wide eyes. “What?”

She shakes her head and drops her gaze to the lap. “Nevermind.”

Tightening my grip, I pull her hand across the table so she has no choice but to look me in the face. “Did you want something to happen with them?”

“Yes.” A stray tear falls from her eye. “I know it’s wrong, and I know I’m weird, but I think I love them.”

I can’t help it. A matching tear falls down my cheek and drips onto our clasped hands. “It’s not wrong, and you are not weird, and I completely understand because something happened between me, Lee, Case and Porter.”

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