Lovely Trigger Read Online Free PDF Page B

panting.   I could see by her hurt eyes that I’d made my point.   There’d been no clearer way to show her that I could not be interested in her, of all people.  
    “You’re a beautiful girl.   Sweet and kind.   You need to let go of this idea.   It will never be what you want it to.   It’s holding you back.   I’m here for you, as a brother, as a friend, and you know I’m here for Jack.   I love that boy like he’s my own blood.   But I can’t be more for you.   I hope you understand now.”  
    She nodded, her lips trembling.   “How can you still love her so much?   She won’t even talk to you.”  
    “Because that’s how love works.   It doesn’t die, even when you don’t feed it.   That’s just the way it is.   I wouldn’t change it, even if I could.   Loving her has become a part of who I am.”    
    “It’s so unfair,” she said sullenly, taking a big step away from me.  
    That it was.  
    I found myself calling Adair that night, though the thought never fully formed of what I was doing before it blurted out of my mouth.   “You know Dahlia’s kid, Jack?” I asked him without even a greeting.   I hadn’t talked to him in ages, and the band had been broken up for years.  
    “Dean’s kid,” he mused back, unfazed by the rude start.   “Nice to hear from you, Tristan.   I was just talking to Kenny the other day.   We talked about the four of us meeting up again, seeing if we still had it.”
    That gave me pause, but I continued.   “I’ve had my suspicions, but I just found out that Dahlia wasn’t a willing participant in the conception.   Did you know anything about this?”
    “God, no!” he answered quickly and with conviction.   I believed him instantly.   He was a good guy, though he suffered from addiction, as well.   He’d done his own stint in rehab about a year after I had.   As far as I knew, he’d stayed sober, too.   “That fucker.   I should have known, but I honestly thought he’d suckered her into hooking up with him.   I didn’t know he was a rapist, man.   I wouldn’t have worked with him if I’d had a fucking clue, you can be sure of that.   I always knew she was too fucking innocent for him.   Fuuuuck, that messes me up.”  
    “Yeah, it’s hard to take, that we were there and didn’t stop it.”  
    “Yeah, it is.   I can guarantee Cory and Kenny were clueless, too.   None of us would have let a thing like that slide.   You have to know that.”  
    I had.   I’d just needed to hear it out loud.   “Ignorance is no excuse.   We owe that poor girl, Adair, and that kid doesn’t have a father.   The least we can do—“
    “I couldn’t agree more.   I’ll call her today.   I just, I don’t know, I thought there was something between the two of you.   I know she always had a thing for you, right from the start.   Didn’t want to step on your territory.”  
    “She’s like a kid sister to me.   I have no claim there.   Not my territory.”  
    “So you don’t mind if…?”
    “You can ask her out.   But treat her right.   I would take it real personal if you put her through more pain that she’s already been through.   You understand?”
    “Yes.   I’m not how I used to be, man.   I’ve grown up.   I’ll treat her right, if she’s interested, I swear.”  
    That suited me fine.   Dahlia needed to find a new focus for her infatuation.  
      

    THREE YEARS AFTER THE ACCIDENT
    DANIKA
    The stars had aligned, and Bev threw a huge neighborhood BBQ in her backyard during one of my business trips to Vegas at the same time that Dahlia was visiting her least favorite town on the planet.
    I got to spend the afternoon in the pool with Mat, Ivan, and little Jack.   It was a charmed day, and so rare that I knew to savor every second of it.  
    The boys were nine and eleven now, and I still saw them often, but every time I set eyes on them again, I couldn’t believe how much they’d grown and