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He didn’t divulge much more, so I pressed. “What does that mean?”
He turned to look at me and let out a breath that had his upper lip moving in a sort of wave.
“Well, where do I start?” He laughed. “Ah, hell, the best place to start is with the juicy bits.”
He cleared his throat. “Well,” he continued. “My father finally grew some balls, and my mother wasn’t happy about it. My father got the case thrown out today,” he said.
Spinning around to look at him, I wanted to celebrate but wasn’t sure if I was allowed to show my joy. So, I repressed it, nodding at him while thinking about Tiffany and how happy she must be right now and how much I wanted to see her.
Shaking my head in disbelief, I asked him, “Why?”
“Well, Tiffany, Mario, and Jared fought for their lives in court the past couple of days,” he said, tipping his head. “Kind of seems like you should’ve been there too to carry your weight.” He turned his eyes upon me as if he were… reprimanding me? What in the world was happening?
“She was brilliant, wasn’t she?” I asked, my eyes lighting up in memory of the text Jared sent me earlier today. It popped up in my notifications on the drive over here.
“Yeah.” He nodded, looking down in what seemed to be shame.
His cheeks turned a subtle shade of pink which must have meant he felt a hint of embarrassment. His and Tiffany’s skin were like mood rings and if he were beating himself up, he’d look like a strawberry. But he was definitely feeling a sense of guilt, however much he might have been trying not to.
“You missed a lot,” he continued, raising his head but failing to look at me. “But I guess you have them to thank for convincing my dad and basically everyone else in court today that whatever all three of you share with my sister is consensual and real,” he said.
“Was real,” I responded as my own sense of guilt slapped me in the head and gut like I’d just tried to walk through a transparent door. “I’ve been avoiding her since this whole thing came between her and her family. It felt like if I continued to see her, I was betraying you and destroying her chances to patch things up,” I started.
“That ship’s already sailed, man,” he interrupted, huffing before finally turning to look me in the eyes.
“Look, it’s obvious that you guys care a lot about each other and as I said, it has nothing to do with me. Don’t try to make me feel guilty for getting upset over my friends going behind my back and disrespecting our friendship in so many ways,” he sighed, as if the magnitude of how many ways I messed up and managed to hurt him was too colossal to even fathom.
“I already apologized for punching you and getting in the way of your relationship, but I won’t apologize for how I felt and expressing how your betrayal made me feel. Your decision to not show up for Tiffany wasn’t on me. That was on you,” he said, rolling his hand in a fist that strained at his knuckles before relaxing his fingers and sighing heavily.
“I wasn’t trying to make you feel guilty; I just wanted you to know that I cared about hurting you. I still care, man. We were like brothers,” I started.
He scoffed, rolling his eyes. “Don’t say that. Because that would make Tiffany your…”
“Ugh, you’re right. But you know what I mean,” I rushed. My words faded as it hit me that if we were to really become a thing, Tiffany and I, then he and I could still be brothers… in law. But well, there was no need to mention that now, was there? Because that would involve a higher level of commitment that none of us were ready for. I wasn’t ready for marriage, but I was ready for something deeper with Tiffany.
He nodded, turning away from me again to stare ahead of him. We sat in silence for a while, ordering a few drinks before I turned to him and confessed.
“I just lied to you again,” I said.
He turned his entire body around, crooking his head while staring at me as if he thought I was out of my mind.
“It’s still real. What I feel for Tiffany. But I will not act on it this time without your blessing. I want you to know that. I’ve been avoiding her and even if it hurts, I’ll continue to avoid her if you want me to,” I said.
He seemed to release a relieved breath before turning back around on his stool and waving his hand. “Look, I already told you, it’s not my business. As long as you guys consent to each other, I don’t want to be involved. Your relationship has nothing to do with me,” he said.
My heart burst open like poppers on New Year’s Eve, and I couldn’t believe my luck. “Does that mean you’re giving me your blessing to date your sister?” I asked. “That’s if she still wants to date me.”
It became clear to me that in my hopeless state, I may have sabotaged everything between us by not showing up for her when she needed me. Maybe she didn’t even want to be with me again. It was the least I deserved for everything. Chris’ forgiveness was far more than I’d ever hoped for. And another chance with Tiffany? That would mean everything to me.
“Yes, Anthony. That’s basically what I said,” Chris sighed, rolling his eyes before taking another sip of his beer.
Hope was renewed, and joy rushed through my veins like a shot of adrenaline. Grabbing his arm in pure gratitude for another chance I didn’t think I was worthy of, I shook him. “Thank you, man. Thank you so much!” I said, trying to restrain myself from hugging him.
Clearing my throat, I rested my dancing hands next to my mug. “What about us? Think we could ever be friends again?” I asked, taking yet another chance.
His response was immediate, and he shook his head so fast, he could’ve had whiplash from the movement. “Hell, no,” he said.
Oof, that one hurt. It hit me like a numb thud in my heart center. “Never?” I asked.
