The Ties That Bind Read Online Free Page B

arranging my thoughts for our family meeting tomorrow, but mostly I have had something bumping around in the back of my brain. There is a pattern I am starting to see, but I don't have enough information to make sense of it.”
    "What's the pattern?”
    "It has to do with everyone in my life. There is the sudden ramp up of our relationship. We seriously went from zero to sixty in no time flat. I am not complaining mind you, just saying it is one of the pieces of the puzzle. By itself that normally wouldn't raise any flags, considering how we met and how intense everything was. But, add Vicki to that. First, she was just helping a friend. Then she was interested in me, but not in love with me. Now she is totally in love with me ... of course I feel the same about her. Then there is Tami. My relationship with her is much like with Vicki. It started out as one thing, but did a one-eighty into a pretty serious romantic connection.”
    "Then there is the fact that you girls are as into each other, as you are into me, even though some of you previously had no interest in girls. Plus there is the fact that all of you have no interest in girls or guys outside of our little setup, and you and Vicki actively wanted to add a fourth to our makeup.”
    "Add to that, Rachel, the other day. That was weird. She is totally into Jacob, and yet she was all over me. That came out of nowhere. And then there is Tina. From disinterested, to sisterly, to wanting to kiss me at your party, to standoffish and cold. All of those, singularly, could be explained ... maybe even a couple of them, but all together? No, I feel like there is something I am missing.”
    "Yeah, it is weird. I mean, I guarantee that I love you, and I know Vicki and Tami love you; but you are right about how we feel about each other, and how we feel about people outside of our group. I have thought about that since you asked about it the other day. I actually have no attraction to anyone outside of our group, which is strange I guess. I do think it is weird that both Vicki and I were very attracted to Tami and really wanted to add her to our relationship. I didn't at the time, it felt so natural, but laying here thinking about it logically, there doesn't seem to be an explanation for that. Also, speaking of Rachel, I do feel a little something towards her, too ... and, sorry about this, Tina. But that's it. Tina, Rachel, Vicki, Tami, and you are the only people who I find attractive at all.”
    "Yep, it's a puzzle. We need to go to sleep now. As it is, we are only going to get a couple of hours before school tomorrow.”
     
    As predicted, the next morning came way too soon. We checked on Mom, who was still feeling sick, and dragged our way to school. We showed up late to the morning run and Vicki, who was normally there with us, hadn't made it yet. I saw Tami had chosen not to run and was slumped on the bleachers. When I collapsed next to her, she leaned over to lie against me while Zoe took the other side. Amanda was smirking when she stopped running and jogged up.
    "You guys look like shit.”
    I shrugged, "Yeah, it was a long night.”
    "I bet.”
    Zoe opened one eye, "It wasn't like that. Mom got sick yesterday afternoon, and was rushed to the hospital. It was after three in the morning when she was released from the hospital. Cas, Tami and I were there all night, along with your sister.”
    "Oh, god ... I am sorry, I didn't know. Is she alright?”
    "Yeah, she is getting better. She is still feeling sick today and stayed home, but Cas thought we still all needed to come to school.”
    "I wondered what happened to Megan last night.”
    "She was nice enough to pick up me and Tami and bring us up to the hospital. Cas was already there and rode in the ambulance with Mom. She stuck around and drove us all home afterwards.”
    I nudged the now sleeping Tami and pulled her and Zoe to their feet.
    "We need to get in guys; it's almost time for class.”
    The rest of the day was a