22

Thanksgiving dinner was great; I talked to my dad while I was feeding Ryder after we’d eaten. I understood where he was coming from when he explained it, putting Hunter and I in the position of him and Mom. He needed to protect his family, especially his baby girl. I got it; my need to protect Ryder was something I could barely put into words.

All of the girls made lists of things we needed to get while we were out tomorrow morning. Hunter and Mason said they’d get everything packed and ready to go, so that when Hailey and I got back we could leave. Mom and Dad were going to take Ryder for the weekend - everything was taken care of and I was really looking forward to this getaway.

Shopping was great until we were leaving Macy’s and ran into Brittany. Hailey tried to cover up the fact that we’d both noticed her and act like she hadn’t even seen her. That was until Brittany approached us.

Both of her eyes were black and blue and she was glaring at Hailey. “You really need to put a leash on that thing.” She looked my friend up and down in disgust.

“Do we need another round bitch? You’re not ruining shit for anyone else.” Hailey seethed.

I couldn’t believe she’d actually had the balls to approach us. If I did what she’d done I’d move across the god damn country.

“I’m not ruining anything. Ms. Thing here,” she looked in my direction, “is ruining everything. By the way, be sure to tell Hunter I said hello.”

Before I could even respond and ask what the hell that meant, she turned on her heel and left. I tried to go after her but Hailey stopped me. “Let her go, she isn’t worth the air you breathe.”

I knew she was right but why’d Brittany say that? “I can’t believe she’d actually come near me after what she f**king did. I thought that maybe I should speak up and say something, I wanted that shit in the past, but damn, not if she was going to act like that.”

“Well if it makes you feel better, I gave her the black eyes.” Hailey said proudly.

I gawked at her, “You did that?”

She nodded, “She’s lucky that’s all I did.”

I snorted, “You crazy bitch. I love your ass.”

She glanced behind her, “Yeah, I love my ass too.”

I laughed, “You bitch. Alright let’s get the hell out of here.”

Hailey and I went to go meet up with Jaylinn, Chloe, Mom and Hunter’s mom in the food court. We grabbed some lunch before we went home. I planned to pick Ryder up from home and drop him off with my parents, then make our six-hour drive.

When we made it home, Mason, Hunter, and Ryder were all sound asleep on the couches. I normally would’ve tried to scare the shit out of them, but Hunter had Ryder sleeping on his chest and I didn’t want to scare my poor baby.

I grabbed him from Hunter and he woke up. “Sorry. I’m going to go change him and then run him over to Mom’s. How come nothing is loaded up?”

Hunter sat up and rubbed his hands up and down his face, “Ryder woke up after you left and cried for two hours straight. Mason came over and he calmed down for a little bit. I got some packing done,” he yawned, “I just have to put it in the truck.”

“Awe, poor Chunky Monkey,” I kissed his little cheek and he took a shuddering breath. “Should we take him with us?”

“Hell no,” Mason said, I scowled at him. “Mom and Dad will be just fine with him. I love that kid, but damn he’s got a set of lungs on him.”

“He’s right, just the four of us.” Hunter said as he stood up and slid his shoes and hat on.

“Fine,” I pouted. “I’m going to change him, then run him to Mom’s.”

I ran upstairs and changed Ryder. Then I started to grab everything he’d need for the weekend, bottle, bibs, wipes, and diapers, but I looked on the bed and his bag was all ready to go. God I love that man. I grabbed the bag Hunter had packed and went downstairs to get Ryder’s car seat.

I was in the dining room when I heard Hunter say, “She did what?” I heard Hailey mumble something and Hunter responded saying, “Fuck! I guess Brittany knows now.”

Brittany knows what? What am I missing here? I settled Ryder into his seat and went to find out what was going on.

When I walked in, Hailey was on Mason’s lap and Hunter was pacing the floor. Both Hailey and Mason froze when they saw me and stopped to look in my direction.

“What does Brittany know?” I asked them.

Hunter looked over at Hailey and Mason who were both looking down at their phones.

Hunter’s phone rang, “Hey Mom.” He looked up at me then walked towards the kitchen.

“What’s going on?” I asked the other two while I had them alone.

Both shook their heads, Hailey shrugged her one shoulder. Something’s going down again, I can feel it. “Fine, I’m going to Mom’s to drop Ryder off, I’ll be back.”

I didn’t know what was going on with the three of them, but someone had better start speaking up soon. I was getting really sick and tired of always being in the dark. I’m sure Brittany knew that I was fine, I’m sure she was still stalking the shit out of Dominic. After this weekend, I was going to give them all one more chance to come clean before I demanded that they tell me what’s going on.

As soon as CC left I walked back into the living room, “Thanks for the call. That was f**king close.” I sighed in relief.

Mason and Hailey both gave me dirty looks.

“Look, I know alright. I’m telling her when we get back. I can’t wait anymore.” I confessed.

Hailey climbed off Mason’s lap, “What are you waiting for anyway?”

I sat on the couch, elbows on my knees, hands folded in front of me. “I didn’t want to tell her that Jason was back. I don’t want her involved with him at all after the shit he put me, Mom and Jay through.” I shivered thinking of the bad dreams I used to have. “And now that I know Brittany’s my half-sister, CC’s going to freak the f**k out.”

Hailey sighed, “I think you need to give her more credit, Hunter. Yeah, she’s going to be pissed about the Brittany thing, but it’s not like you can help it. She loves you more than she should,” she gloated. “Kidding. She loves you, just tell her the truth. Everything will work out. The longer you wait, the worse this is going to get.”

Mason spoke up, “She’s right dude, and it’s time. Kenz is stronger than we all give her credit for.”