Trisha
Krit pulled up to an apartment complex and put Fandora’s car in park before looking at me. “Before we get out, I want to talk to you,” he said.
When he had woken me up this morning and asked me to get dressed and go somewhere with him, I hadn’t imagined this was where we would be going. I knew he wanted to move in with Legend, who was a year older than me and seemed to have a good head on his shoulders. But if he was showing me the place to talk me into letting him move out, he didn’t have to do that.
If he wanted out, then I was ready to let him go. I’d survive somehow. I was sure Fandora would kick me out, but I could figure somewhere else to go. I didn’t want to hold Krit back because of me. He hated living there. He hated her.
He didn’t deserve to live in hell to keep me safe. He looked like a man, but he was just a boy with so much potential. “Yes. If you want to move in with Legend, then yes. I want that for you,” I told him before he tried to sell me on the idea.
Krit frowned and tilted his head to look at me. I waited on him to say something. When he finally looked pissed, I wondered if I had said the wrong thing. “You mean that shit.” He shook his head and let out a hard laugh. “Dammit, Trisha. Do you think I’d do that to you?”
I realized I had made a mistake. Crap. I had to fix this.
“I just meant . . . I just want you to be happy, Krit. I thought bringing me here to an apartment meant you were going to try to talk me into letting you move out. I don’t want to hold you back. I want you to have it all. You deserve happiness.”
He ran his hands through his shoulder-length hair and slammed them on the steering wheel. “What about you? You’ve sacrificed more than anyone. You took f**king beatings to keep me safe as a kid. If I moved out and left you to that bitch, what would that say about me? It would make me a motherfucking ass**le who didn’t deserve to live. So, no Sis, I’m not asking you to let me desert you. I would sacrifice my soul to protect you. Don’t you know that? I only love you. I have never and nor will I ever love anyone else. Bitches can’t be trusted. You’re the only woman on earth I could love.”
Tears burned my eyes and I blinked them away. “I’m sorry. I thought . . . I just . . . I was wrong. I know you want to keep me safe. We’re family. We have each other. Always.”
Krit nodded. “But you have Rock now. And I am thankful you have him. He’s a big dude with scary-as-hell arms and a chest like a wall. He can keep my sister safe, and he loves you. Like I’ve never seen a man love, ever. That makes him worthy of you. He has the world’s finest treasure and he knows it.” He let out a laugh and shrugged. “I might need to correct something I said before. I think I love him, too. I love him for loving you the way you deserve to be loved.”
This time I let the tears burning my eyes free. I sniffled, then brushed the tears off my face. “I’m sorry,” I said, smiling. “You just don’t normally say things like that, so I wasn’t prepared for it emotionally.”
He smirked. “Before we can get any mushier in here, I just want to tell you that I am thrilled about what you’re going to see in a minute. It’s every dream and wish I’ve ever had. It makes me so f**king happy. Not just for you but for me, too. So know that when you start worrying about me.” He opened the car door and stepped out before giving me a chance to ask him what the heck he was talking about.
Krit closed the door and walked up to the entryway to the stairs, then looked back and waved for me to come on. I had no idea what he wanted to show me, and my mind was envisioning a million different scenarios. I made my way up to him, but he didn’t say anything. He just nodded and turned to the stairs. “Second floor.”
We walked up the one flight of stairs, then turned right and walked down three doors. Krit stopped outside 204. Then he knocked.
We were meeting someone?
The door opened, and Rock filled the doorway. He gave a Krit a nod, and then he turned to look at me. “Welcome home,” he said with a smile, and held out his hand for me.
“About moving in with Legend, yeah, I’m doing that tonight. Love you, Sis. Go live your happily ever after you deserve.” Then Krit bent down and kissed my cheek and whispered, “This man moved heaven and earth to make this happen. It’s one of the reasons I know he deserves you. Be happy.”
I started to say something, but Krit straightened and walked off the way we had come.
I watched him walk away, then turned to look back at Rock.
“I’m confused,” I finally said, still trying to piece everything together.
Rock stepped out, scooped me up in his arms, and carried me inside before putting me back down and closing the door behind him. I took in my surroundings. The sofa I remembered from the Falcos’ living room sat against the left wall with their coffee table and a black recliner I didn’t recognize. A small television sat on a table in front of them. I shifted my gaze to the other side of the room to see a small Formica table with fresh flowers in a vase in the middle and four matching chairs around it.
On the wall in a frame was a picture taken by Tabby Falco after a football game one night. Rock was standing behind me with his pads still on and his arms wrapped around me as we both smiled at the camera.
“This is ours.” I said the words just as a sob broke free and the realization sank in.
Rock had talked about getting a place of our own, but I thought it was a dream to help us get through the tough times. I never imagined it would happen so soon. Or at all. I had only hoped we would get this one day.
“Yes, it is,” he said, pulling me into his arms and kissing the top of my head as I continued to take in everything.
“How?” I asked in awe.
“Lots of nights and overtime,” he said with pride in his voice. “It’s paid up for the year.”
The year? Oh my God. This was real. We had a home.
Krit’s words in the car came back to me, and I burst into tears as I realized what he had been trying to tell me.