by Eden O'Neill
He had his focus on me and continued to keep it. He opened his hands. “Now, December. Please. Tells us everything about you. Tell us what my son apparently wanted to keep quiet.”
Dishes clanked awkwardly around me, all but Ramses’, who had so much heat coming off him I thought he might punch a wall. I might just punch him after this was over.
So much for a night off faking.
Twenty-Three
Ramses
I pressed my head back to the seat of my Mercedes, barely able to look at December let alone talk to her. I folded a hand over my eyes. “God, I’m so sorry.”
My dad interrogated her tonight, asked her everything about herself short of her blood type. At one point, I thought he’d actually ask to get a test of that.
“Just want to know who you’ve been seeing, son,” he’d stated, all nonchalant about it like he wasn’t all up in her business. “Nothing wrong with knowing how our son is spending his time…”
Only except for the fact that he’d never given a shit about it before. But now, it seemed to be open season on, of all people, my fake girlfriend. The kicker had been when he had asked about December’s college plans—newsflash, she hadn’t had any. Nothing wrong with that, but when Dad had found that out, he’d asked if she would be staying in town, and once she’d said yes, he’d asked her why, why like that was any of his business at all. He seriously couldn’t grasp the concept why someone might want to take both a break from life and/or school and just be.
Especially someone who’d been through as much as December.
The whole thing had been a disaster, seriously messed up. I begged help from my mom and got zip, nada, and nothing. She wanted to know stuff too, like friggin’ everything, and was there along for it with my dad. By the end, I had to peel them away from her, the both of them completely out of line.
Maybe if I’d brought more girls over, things wouldn’t be that way. But after all that shit that went down with my last relationship, my girlfriend cheating on me in AZ, I’d been gun-shy to get invested in anything, let alone take someone home. December got to pay for that tonight, and I turned my head, looking at her. Her eyes were currently out the window, the pair of us parked in her dad’s driveway. We’d been sitting there for several minutes. I sighed. “He’s seriously never like that. I don’t know what got into him, my mom.”
Things had been getting into him since the fight. He laid into me after we got in the car, like seriously lost his shit. I hadn’t understood it. He never cared before.
I guess he did now, this stupid fucking ring on my finger. He was proud of me or some shit, invested. I guess, in the end, I’d done that to myself.
December didn’t say anything, playing with the necklace around her neck. It was the necklace I’d given her. She faced me. “It wasn’t so bad.”
She was being nice as hell right now and definitely not what she should be. I told her I’d have her back tonight. I frowned. “My dad was being an ass. He’s never leaned in so hard before. I think it’s this ring. It’s doing something to him.”
I held it up for emphasis, the influence of this, and that had to be what tonight was about. I existed to my dad now that I’d earned my way into the Court. I existed where I hadn’t before, legacy.
December continued to play with her necklace, and noticing me staring at her, she let it go. “I guess it’s a good thing I wore this, then. I don’t usually take it off.”
She didn’t? Never? I watched her play with it more. I’d had serious reservations when I gave it to her initially. I knew she agreed with the plan in the end, but giving her that necklace normally meant something.
And she never took it off?
I guess I was glad she’d thought to be prepared when I hadn’t. I let her go to the wolves tonight, and if it hadn’t been for my dad’s pushy-ass chief of staff, Liam, bugging him about politics from time to time during the interrogation, Dad would have been all over her all of the night and not just some of it. “I should have protected you. He’s ridiculous.”
She raised a shoulder, her dark hair sliding over her shoulder. The fact that she’d been so uneasy about the way she looked tonight blew me away. I’d told her once she was a bombshell, and I didn’t retract from those thoughts. December didn’t even have to try like most girls, just be herself.
Sitting back and away from those thoughts, I watched her face forward. She sighed. “At least with him you know what you’re getting into. My dad is just—” She paused, shaking her head. “My dad is so hot and cold. He asked me like a million questions tonight before you came to pick me up. Questioning me like he cares and so phony about it.”
“Phony?” I asked.
“He doesn’t care about me, not really. I think he cares about you and the fact I’m hanging out with you, the mayor’s son.” She folded arms over her fluffy coat. “I haven’t told him about our fake relationship, but it wouldn’t surprise me if he’d heard something like your mom.”
In this town, I wouldn’t be surprised either. I sighed.
December frowned. “Needless to say, he was pushing me to go out the door tonight. I just wished he’d care about me. Like actually care.”
That last bit I barely heard. She whispered it, and I turned my head on the seat again, just watching her. There was so much trauma between us both, hurt inflicted by both our fathers. I’d learned to deal with mine head on after dear old Dad shipped me away to boarding school. That’s just how things were in my world and this crazy-ass town, but I hated she had to deal with her own shit. Things were so much worse for her. She’d lost her sister, which made me hate what we’d been doing together even more. Every day we continued the ruse of our relationship, it made her relive the hurt of her sister and the reasons behind it. It was one of the biggest regrets I had for even suggesting the whole plan of a fake relationship to her in the first place.
Well, one of a few.
Thinking about some new information I’d received today, I stared at December. I had made a lot of selfish decisions when it came to her. I’d put myself and revenge first, but all that got me was this. A girl and a fake relationship.
My chest caved. “Maybe he does care,” I said, being honest. “You never know until you let him.”
Her dark lashes flashed up, her head shaking. “I don’t have time for it. Time for him.”
And I guess that would be up to her, but I still thought she should try. We didn’t all have fathers that actually cared, ones whose care wasn’t tied to ambition or motive. My dad may have expressed interest in me now, but he never had before. Not until I’d done what he wanted and how. I folded my arms. “I get what you’re saying. And what you choose to do is entirely up to you. When it comes to my dad, I know what I’m getting. I know he’s an elitist snob who only gives a shit if it suits him, so if some reason out of the blue he gave any inclination or even an iota of thought about me that came with zero ties or personal objectives… If he showed he actually cared and gave effort to show that care?” I laughed. “I’d be thanking my lucky stars for a chance to do something with that.”
I let all that slip out, and I knew the moment I captured that dark gaze of hers, her irises so big and bright like the stars above. They were a light in this town that wasn’t deserved, not by anyone. Even me.
The glow of it far too hot, I faced away, tapping my steering wheel.
“I have an idea.” I started up the car, my Mercedes humming. “Strap in. Neither of us want to go home, so let’s do part two of this night.”
“Part two?” she asked, and though she questioned me, she sat up, belting in. “I was barely able to get through part one.”
Something I was about to correct now. The both of us strapped in, I used the rearview camera to back down the driveway. In the street, I placed the car in drive, then pulled away. I promised her a night of no faking.
Especially since this was most likely our last night.
Twenty-Four
December
&nb
sp; Ramses had been way too secretive, but for whatever reason, that made me more excited than scared. It put me at ease in a way it shouldn’t when everything in my life was all over the place. The stuff with his dad seriously hadn’t been that bad. Compared to the other crap I’d been dealing with in my life, it’d been a breath of fresh air and a night gratefully away from my own home and under my dad’s eye. Ramses allowed me to escape tonight, and that continued when we drove out into the boonies. I didn’t really recognize the route or anything else with all the farmland and it being so dark, but when we pulled toward a familiar building in the night, I sat up.
I recognized Maywood Heights Community Recreation Center well. I worked there for all of a minute. It’d been another one of my dad’s heavy-handed maneuvers he made when I first arrived here. He had me so hard under his thumb initially, got me a job I didn’t want to do and under people I didn’t want to be under. LJ had been my manager of all people, worked me to the bone, and for whatever reason, Ramses was pulling us into the parking lot.
The wide lot was basically empty, a far cry from the days I worked there. People were coming in and out of the place like someone cried fire it’d been so busy. Parking right up front, Ramses turned off his car, then got out his cell phone.
“What are we doing?” I asked, this guy being so secretive. He merely grinned before putting away his phone. Going outside, he opened my door for me, and I eyed him.
He rolled his. “Just go with me on this, ’Zona. I promised you a night off from our double life, so will you let me give it?”
Still unsure, I sat there for a moment. I think the only reason I got out in the end was because he was outside with no coat on, still in his sweater and dress pants. He probably thought he was just going to drop me off real quick and then come home. I got out. “Okay. I’m out, so what’s going on? Why are we here?”
He grinned again, closing the door before guiding me to follow him. He pushed hands into his pockets during his strides. “A guy in there owes me one. I’m going to collect, and you are going to reap the spoils of those benefits.”
Ramses was seriously talking like a mob boss right now, but I guess I trusted him. I had to take two steps for every one of his, and when we got to the doors, they were surprisingly unlocked. I assumed the place was closed with the lot so empty, and escaping the chill, I realized they were starting to close down for the night. People in familiar red uniform shirts were sweeping, cleaning up, and passing them, I grabbed Ramses’ arm. “The guy who owes you isn’t LJ, is it?”
Like stated, I’d worked here and worked with him for a time. I highly doubted with how things had gone with Royal he’d want to see me, and shaking his head of rogue curls, Ramses stared down at me.
“No, and come on, ’Zona. You wanna ruin the surprise?” He flashed his big ole eyes at me with a pout, seriously looking like Hershey on her best cutesy days.
Lifting my eyes to the heavens, I let him take me into the crystal palace that was the community rec center. Like all things in this town it was flashy and exuberantly grandiose. It had a couple levels, and though I’d cleaned most of it during my time there, I hadn’t been to where Ramses was taking me. He opened a door, and crisp air made me happy I still wore my coat. His surprise turned out to be the ice-skating rink, and when we went over to the wall, no one was out on the ice. Only a clear, flawless sheet was out there now, ready for the next set of skaters, and I looked at Ramses.
“An ice rink?” I questioned, eyeing him. “This is your surprise?”
Chuckling, Ramses shifted and lounged against the rink’s barricade. “Not an ice rink, ’Zona. Ice-skating? Ever heard of it?”
I shoved him a little. “Of course I have, but we can’t skate. Clearly, the rec center is about to close.”
“Not for us. We have the place for the next hour. I took lessons here as a kid. The guy who runs the Zamboni I’m cool with.”
As if he knew, a guy came in across the ice, waving at Ramses and asking if he needed anything. Ramses denied the help, waving his friend off, and when Ramses turned around, he clasped his hands together. He nudged me with his shoulder. “What do you say? I seriously need to make up for what happened tonight. Please. Please. Please.”
He begged me once again, but before he could get on his knees this time, I got a hold of his arm.
“I don’t know how to skate,” I confessed, all of this completely a bad idea, and not only did that not phase Ramses, he put out his hand. He put it out for mine, waiting.
“You won’t have to,” he said, gripping my hand when I allowed him to take it. He smiled. “You have me.”
I did have him, had him this whole time, and I hadn’t forgotten that. Ramses had been there in moments when no one else had, even out in Arizona when I’d been more than sketchy and given him every reason not to trust me. Even still, he’d been by my side, and when we finally got out on the ice, the same.
“Now, take small steps, ’Zona. Small steps,” he coached, already out there himself. He looked like an Olympian skater with his easy glide on the ice. He even took it one further and did a few turns before skating back to me.
I currently gripped the wall like a lifeline, shaking my head. “Uh…”
“Oh, stop. Come on. You won’t fall. I won’t let you.”
I gave him my hands, easier since I’d taken off my gloves. I’d done the same with my coat too since it wasn’t as cold in here as I’d believed it was when we first came in.
I took baby steps, looking as awkward as a baby deer on new legs. I paid more attention to that than my own feet, feeling stupid, and Ramses tugged at my hands.
“Look at me,” he said, making it easy to. He was so focused on me, everything about me in his eyes. He wouldn’t let me fall, bracing my hands with a smile. “Good. You’re doing it.”
I was, standing up even. From somewhere holiday tunes started to seep into the rink, and Ramses had a good chuckle at that.
“Probably the last time they’re going to get to do that for a while,” he said, acknowledging the music. Meshing our hands, he guided me close and kept me upright. “No one wants to hear Christmas music after December.”
I nudged him since I did like Christmas music after December and to my ultimate regret. I stumbled, taking him down with me, but not only did he catch himself, he caught me.
He braced me, chuckling as we both hovered over the ice. “Hey, that’s cheating,” he said. “Trying to make me drop you.”
I wasn’t trying to make him drop anything, what I’d done stupid.
Kind of like this moment.
I knew because, when he tugged me toward him, I didn’t pull away. At least not at first. I let him close his eyes and even brush our noses together. I let him get that close because things were easier with him. There was no heartache, no work, and that was easier. Being with Ramses Mallick would be the best thing for me…
So why did I push a hand between us?
His breath clouded the air when he opened his eyes, and righting me, he just held my hands. He didn’t say a word, just looked at me.
“It’s not me,” he eventually said, staring away. He put space between us, and when he started to skate, I let him guide me away. He got quickly to the side of the ice, and after helping me back on stable ground, we sat together on the benches.
The silence deafened between us, me feeling guilt for pushing him away and whatever was going on inside his head.
“It’s not you?” I asked, referencing what he’d said, and he nodded.
“It’s not. Never has been,” he said, glancing at me with a little smile. It didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Never has been, has it?”
It took me a second, a harsh one, to realize what he was saying. Ultimately, I couldn’t admit the answer to his question, though. I didn’t want to hurt him, nor did I want to be foolish myself. Wanting to be with anyone but him was illogical. He was perfect, more than. Ramses had his flaws, yes, but so did anyone. He was a good person, made me lau
gh.
I gripped arms around my body, really fucking stupid. I made myself think things were a certain way between us, probably ignored things a time or two when I shouldn’t have.
You idiot.
I sighed. “Ramses…”
Instead of letting me talk, he reached into his pocket, pulling out his phone. He scrolled until he came across something.
“I want you to see something,” he said, turning his phone over. “You need to see something.”
I didn’t understand what I was being shown at first, two columns on a sheet of paper. It was a picture of a sheet of paper, the first column with a few dozen tally lines. The other had only four. I shook my head. “What am I looking at?”
“All the people who hate me,” he said, his laugh cynical when he said it. He pointed a finger. “You’re looking at a vote, two options for hazes proposed by the membership. Column two is the haze you ultimately found me at, me shivering my shit down in the woods. The first column, the first option, is something else.”
I panned, facing him.
His eyebrows narrowed. “They basically were going to whip me, hand my ass to me pretty hard. The first column is that whipping. I mean, I thought I pissed people off pretty bad with who I was back in the day, but really, these guys hated my ass.”
The first column had all the votes, all but the four on the other side. But from what I knew about what went down that night, this vote I was seeing now didn’t make sense.
I gave him back the phone. “How did you find this?”
He took the phone. “I found out today when I was asking about your sister. We were in the locker room, real candid talk and just chewing the fat. I guess I was trying to warm some of the guys up before asking, and this slipped out by one of them, this and what they were going to do to me.”
“What they were going to do?”
Ramses messed with the phone again. He scrolled until he found another picture, another set of columns and a new vote. This time all the votes were on the other side, not the first column. His lips parted. “I honestly didn’t believe it when they told me who fought for me. Who challenged that vote.” He scrolled the phone again. “But maybe I do now.”
