But who would believe Leslie anyway?
What should've been a nice dinner turned cold and awkward.
Taking advantage of the Dillahunt brothers siding with her, Kiana pretended to be kind, saying, "Denver, Travis, don't blame Leslie. I'm sure she didn't mean it."
That just made things worse. Travis snapped, "If it wasn't intentional, then Leslie should apologize to Kiana. End of story."
Leslie slammed her silverware down. "Me? Apologize?"
'She's the one who started this! Not me!' she wanted to add.
To her surprise, Denver put his silverware down too. His voice was calm but firm.
"My love, you're in the wrong this time. What's so hard about saying sorry?"
Leslie looked at her fiancé in disbelief, only to be met with a cold, distant gaze.
It hit her then—whenever Kiana was around, no matter what happened, Leslie was always the one at fault.
She let out a bitter laugh. "Fine, I'll apologize," she said. "Sorry for upsetting Kiana and ruining your dinner."
Setting the napkin down on the table, she continued, "I'm done. You guys enjoy it."
Without waiting for a response, she got up and left the table.
Just then, Travis pulled out two basketball tickets from his pocket.
"This Friday is the college basketball league. I'm one of the starters for our school's team," he began. "You guys have to come to cheer me on!"
Leslie stopped walking and instinctively reached out for a ticket.
But Travis handed one to Denver and the other to Kiana instead.
"Sorry, Leslie. I only managed to get two tickets," Travis apologized half-heartedly. "Besides, you don't even know basketball, right? I'll invite you next time."
He smirked at her, obviously enjoying her discomfort.
It was true that Leslie didn't know much about basketball.
But because her fiancé's brother loved it, she had secretly looked up NBA and CBA games to learn more.
Although her chest tightened, she forced a casual shrug. "No worries. You guys go ahead."
Denver glanced at the date on the ticket and turned to Leslie. "My love, I have a meeting that day. Why don't you go with Kiana instead?"
And that's how Leslie ended up sitting next to Kiana at the basketball game on Friday.
The game was intense.
Travis's good looks and skills on the court made him the center of attention, especially for the girls in the crowd.
Watching him drenched in sweat as he played, Leslie couldn't help but think back to four years ago.
Back then, he was just a high schooler who always lost to Denver when they played basketball. The younger man used to pout and complain to her.
She would laugh, ruffle his hair, and tease Denver for not going easy on his younger brother.
Now, in the blink of an eye, Travis wasn't that kid anymore.
When the halftime whistle blew, Leslie grabbed a towel and a bottle of water and walked toward him.
Kiana followed close behind.
They both handed Travis a water bottle at the same time.
He glanced at Leslie but took the one from Kiana instead.
Before Leslie could react, the towel in her hand was snatched away.
Kiana stood on her tiptoes, using the towel to wipe the sweat off Travis's face.
"Wow, Travis, I didn't know you were such an amazing basketball player!" she said.
"Thanks," Travis replied, blushing and grinning like a kid.
Watching the two of them laugh and chat, Leslie felt an ache in her chest like something was missing.
One of Travis's teammates nudged him playfully, teasing, "Hey, Captain, with so many pretty girls around, why not introduce us to one?"
Travis's expression turned serious as he put an arm around Kiana's shoulders.
"Back off. She's my sister. Don't even think about it."
'She's like my sister…'
Not long ago, Travis had introduced Leslie to his team the same way.
