Page 99 of Kissed By the Trillest Thug 2

Mrs. Browne shook his head.

“Dealing with him, this is going to be the longest pregnancy ever.”

The backyard filled with laughter all over again. I smiled as I watched Mr. Browne make his way around the yard, hugging family, shaking hands, and thanking everybody for coming.

He looked happy and not just because they were having a son but because he was surrounded by people who loved him.

When he made it back to Ty, they laughed about something before pulling each other into a quick embrace. While watching them, I couldn’t help but think about Ghost. I wondered what he was doing. He was probably sitting in that apartment by himself. He was probably thinking I was too caught up in my own life to reach out. The thought settled heavy on my chest. For two months I’d carried the truth around, convincing myself I just needed more time. More time to process it. More time to figure out what I was supposed to say. More time to prepare for the moment that I knew would change everything.

The truth was that there wasn’t a way to prepare somebody for something like this. I reached into my pocket and pulled out my phone. Ghost’s name stared back at me from my contacts. I took one slow breath before pressing call. The phone rang twice. On the third ring… he answered.

“Yeah.”

His voice was flat. It was like he was almost irritated.

“You busy?” I asked.

“Nah. I’m at the house.”

I nodded to myself.

“I’m about to slide through.”

There was a brief pause.

“For what?” he asked with this annoyance dripping from his tone.

“I need to talk to you.”

“About Ryan?” he said eagerly.

“No.”

There was an awkward silence, and then he sighed.

“Aight. I’ll be here.”

He said before the line went dead.

I slipped my phone back into my pocket and looked around the backyard one last time. Laughter still filled the air. Kids were still running through the grass, and music still played from the speakers. Everything around me felt light, but the conversation I was about to have when I left here was anything but.

Chapter 19

Ghost

The knock came about an hour or so after we got off the phone. I already knew who it was, but I looked through the peephole anyway. Trigga stood on the other side with his hands shoved into the pockets of his white jeans. I’d seen on his Instagram story earlier that he was at his girl’s folks’ gender reveal, and he still had on the same all-white outfit. I unlocked the door and stared at him for a bit.

“You gone let me in?”

“I guess.” I stepped back a bit to give him room to get in.

He walked past me, and I shut the door behind him. The apartment immediately fell quiet. That alone told me something was wrong. Normally, when Trigga came over, one of us would’ve already been talking trash before the door even closed. Instead, he stood there looking around the apartment like he’d forgotten why he came.

“You good?” I asked finally to break the silence.

“Yeah,” he nodded.

I studied him for another second before shaking my head.