His Wasted Heart

by Monica Murphy

  “Yeah, I bet it would be,” Park murmurs under his breath, making Trent almost snort his drink out his nose.

  Dad sends Park an irritated scowl while Diane appears ready to spit nails, she’s so annoyed. “You know what I meant. I don’t mean actually have Jensen for Thanksgiving dinner. I meant we could have her over for dinner.”

  “We know what you meant, Dad,” I tell him, hoping like hell he’ll stop this particular conversation.

  Jensen remains quiet, picking at her dinner. Park sends me a look over her bent head, his expression smug.

  I look away, focusing on my food. I want out of here. I want to go back to my house, lock ourselves away in my bedroom, and get naked with Jensen. At least the night would end positively.

  After we’re done eating, Addie pushes away from the table and stands. “I’m going to the restroom. Jensen, you want to go with me?”

  Jensen looks over at me and then at Addie. “Um, sure.”

  The moment they’re gone, Park’s in Jensen’s chair, his voice extra low as he starts to talk. “I know your girl.”

  “What are you talking about?” Unease washes over me. I don’t like where this is going.

  “Jensen. I recognize her from somewhere, and it’s been driving me crazy all damn night,” Park says with a growl. “Where does she work?”

  Fucking great. Does Park go to City Lights? No way am I telling him Jensen works there. “We go to school together. And she cleans offices at night, so I don’t think you’d have a chance to run into her.”

  “Weird.” Park frowns and stares off into the distance. “I swear I’ve met her before.”

  “She seems like a nice young woman,” Dad tells me. “Is she coming to Addie’s party Saturday night?”

  “I’m sure Addie will convince her to go.” Not that I’ve mentioned it yet. One step at a time with this one.

  “I meant what I said about having her over for Thanksgiving dinner. I’d rather encourage your relationships with nice girls.” Nice girls, ha. Dad would shit if he knew Jensen is a topless waitress. “Though I wish Park was the one getting serious.” He sends Park a pointed look, who’s moving back into his own chair.

  “It’s not serious, Dad. We’ve really only just met,” I tell him, but I’m kind of full of shit. I don’t want to think of anyone else. I don’t want to see anyone else. I’ve ditched all my friends, my frat brothers. I haven’t gone to a party since I’ve met Jensen. Only the bachelor party for Emmett, and thank Christ I went to that, or else I might’ve never seen Jensen again.

  Yeah, this will get serious. As long as she’s straight with me, I can see this working between Jensen and me.

  “She looks at you with adoring eyes,” Dad says, chuckling.

  “No, she doesn’t,” I start to protest, but Park interrupts me.

  “Yeah, she does. It’s kind of disgusting.”

  Trent laughs, but otherwise doesn’t say anything. He’s nice enough, but not much of a conversationalist.

  “Don’t laugh, dude, Addie looks at you in the same way,” Park tells him, pointing a finger at Trent.

  “I look at Trent in what way?” Addie asks as she and Jensen returns to the table. She slips into her chair and so does Jensen, who flashes me a soft smile when our eyes meet.

  “Like you think he’s the fuckin’ shit,” Park says, purely for shock value.

  Addie laughs. Trent grins. Dad is scowling.

  “You shouldn’t speak so rudely to your sister,” Diane says.

  Diane defending Addie, that’s a laugh.

  “Well, you shouldn’t treat Addie so rudely either,” Park returns with an arrogant smile. “If you’d had your way, we wouldn’t be at this crap restaurant celebrating your stepdaughter’s birthday in the first place. Am I right?”

  Daaaamn. I can’t believe he went there, yet I can. But he usually saves those insults for when we’re at home versus in a restaurant.

  Diane doesn’t say a thing. She just rises to her feet, throws her napkin onto her chair, and storms off.

  “You should go apologize to Diane,” Dad tells Park the second she’s gone.

  “What? Right now?” Park shakes his head. “Hell no.”

  “Hell yes.” Dad points at him. “Go find her and apologize. That insult was uncalled for.”

  “But so scarily accurate, don’t you think?” Park drawls.

  We’re all quiet, even Trent. Especially Jensen. I swear she’s trembling once more, and I’d bet big money she never wants to come to a family outing with the Montgomerys ever again.

  “Park.” Dad says his name as a warning, though he doesn’t disagree with Park’s statement.

  Telling.

  “Fine. I’ll go find her.” Park stands, shaking his longish dark hair back. We look a lot alike, my brother and me. But he’s shorter, with broader shoulders, and an almost-but-not-quite unkempt appearance to him. Like he just doesn’t give a damn.

  Which describes Park’s personality perfectly.

  We make small talk while Park and Diane are gone, and our server appears, asking if we want dessert. Addie and Trent both do, but my appetite is long gone. And when Jensen declines the cheesecake offer, I lean in close to tell her, “Order a slice to go.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yeah, you mentioned you might want an entire cheesecake, right?” I smile, trying to lighten the moment.

  “I was joking.” She rolls her eyes, but at least she’s smiling. “And you’re the one who suggested I order an entire cheesecake.”

  “True. You’re right, so go ahead and pick out a slice. Whatever you want.” I crack open the menu. “I’ll order one to go too.”

  Park and Diane are gone so long, Dad starts calling both of their cell phones, but there’s no answer. “I refuse to referee their arguments,” he proclaims with a grunt. “I’ve been doing it for too long, and they both know it. I’ve told them before they have to learn how to work out their differences.”

  “I’ll go look for them,” Addie volunteers, rising to her feet.

  “No, sit down, birthday girl. I’ll go find them.” I leave the table and wander the restaurant, but they’re nowhere to be seen. I go back by the bathrooms, even go into the men’s room, but nothing.

  Weird.

  I send Park a simple “where are you?” text and head outside, checking out the small groups of people standing around, waiting to get in or chatting before they go their separate ways for the night. Diane and Park aren’t there either, and I’m starting to get worried.

  What the hell is going on?

  Heading around the side of the building, I find a small alcove, created for smokers, maybe. And that’s where I spot them. Park.

  And Diane.

  In each other’s arms.

  Their mouths fused together.

  I stand there completely frozen for I don’t know how long. It feels like hours, but was probably only a few seconds, and Diane is the first one to open her eyes.

  Diane is the first one to actually see me.

  “Rhett!” she shrieks, causing Park to spring away from her. “What are you doing here?”

  I can’t find my voice. I’m in too much shock.

  “Hey.” Park whirls around, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, a rueful smile on his face. The fucker got caught, and he knows it. So how’s he going to get out of this? What’s his excuse, his explanation? I think he can tell by the expression on my face that I’ve seen a lot more than they ever wanted me to witness. “This isn’t what you think.”

  “What is it then?” My voice is so calm, I surprise myself. Inside, I’m a jumble of nerves. Shock. Disbelief.

  Park freaking hates Diane. Like, hates her with all he’s got. And Diane has been our so-called mother since Park was nine and I was five.

  So what they’re doing right now is totally fucking crazy.

  And an absolute betrayal.

  Deciding I’m not going to wait any longer to hear his bullshit answer, I turn around and
head back for the restaurant.

  Instead of going straight to our table, I return to the men’s room, where I can wash my hands and splash water on my face, like that will help me unsee my big brother kissing our stepmother.

  Like, what the actual fuck is happening right now? Is this for real? Because it’s just too crazy to comprehend.

  Park enters the bathroom minutes later, slamming open the door with a loud bang when he strides inside. “Let me explain,” he starts, stopping directly in front of me.

  I dry my hands, crumple the paper towel into a ball and toss it into the wastebasket. “How the hell are you going to explain what I saw, Park?”

  “It was a one shot deal.”

  “My ass. You two were gone for a long time. You were kissing her. God knows what else you were doing while you were gone.” I step closer to him, my gaze never leaving his. His eyes are a dark brown, just like mine. And they are deceptive, I’m realizing. He’s a liar.

  I’m surrounded by liars.

  “It’s nothing.”

  “It’s definitely something, Park, considering how stressed out you look right now. You’re sweating,” I emphasize, pointing at his forehead. “Here.” I hit the lever and crank out a sheet of paper towel, ripping it off and handing it to him.

  He goes to the mirror and dabs at his face, his gaze meeting mine in the reflection. “You can’t tell Dad.”

  “Yeah, don’t worry about that. That’s the last thing I want to do.” I’m not going to be the one who breaks the news to Dad.

  But what am I supposed to do now that I know?

  “You’ve put me in a real shitty position, you know,” I tell Park.

  He turns to face me. “You didn’t have to chase after us. We were on our way back to the table.”

  “When? After your make-out session? Jesus, Park!” I roar. “You were gone for fifteen minutes. Dad called you both. He was mad, said he was done refereeing your fights. Looks like he needs to keep doing it, since clearly you two need a chaperone.”

  “Fuck off. You don’t know what you’re talking about.” Park starts to exit the bathroom, but I grab hold of his arm, stopping him.

  “Are you fucking her?”

  He’s breathing heavily, his nostrils flaring, his mouth thin, but it’s his eyes that give him away. They’re swirling with guilt.

  “You are, aren’t you.” It’s not a question, though. I realize without a doubt they are totally fucking each other. “Goddamn, Park! Why?”

  He shrugs. “Why the fuck not? I’m proving she’s a total whore. She’s been begging for my dick for years.”

  The last thing I wanted to hear. “That doesn’t make it right. Dad is going to lose his shit when he finds out.”

  “He’s not going to find out. You won’t tell him, and Diane and I certainly won’t tell him either. So don’t worry about it.”

  “Fuck you,” I spit out, leaving the bathroom before he can. I return to the table to find Diane already there, snuggled up against my dad’s side, batting her eyelashes at him as she talks in that annoying baby voice she sometimes uses. I can see from where I’m sitting she’s reapplied a fresh coat of lipstick.

  Right, because my fucking brother just kissed it all off.

  “Are you okay?” Jensen asks when I still haven’t said anything.

  Turning my head, I find that she’s watching me, her brow wrinkled. “I’m fine. It’s just…my brother,” I tell her, purposely vague. “He, uh, pisses me off sometimes.”

  She touches my thigh, her fingers way too close to my dick. “I’m sorry. He’s kind of—volatile, isn’t he?”

  “That’s one way to describe him.” I reach for my water glass and down it. I wish I had alcohol. Something to make me forget what I saw.

  “Are you all right, Rhett?” I glance up to find Diane watching me, her eyes a warning but her face schooled into a pleasant expression, like she doesn’t have a care in the world. Not a trace of guilt in sight.

  “I’m fine,” I bite out.

  Her smile is extra pleased, which leaves me extra pissed. “Good. So very glad to hear it.”

  No one is paying attention. No one else caught that subtle statement but Jensen. She’s looking from Diane to me and back to Diane again so many times, she looks like she’s at a tennis match.

  Park returns to the table, all flustered and out of breath, like he just ran a fucking marathon. “Sorry, got a phone call that stressed me out.”

  “What about?” Dad asks.

  “The Latham deal.” Mergers and acquisitions is my father’s business, and Park works for him as well.

  Me? I have no interest in that. Though I don’t know exactly what I’m going to do with my life once I graduate.

  They start talking business, and Park is so damn smooth, you’d never know he was just tonguing his dad’s wife in public only minutes ago.

  “Addie invited me to her party on Saturday night,” Jensen says, knocking me from my disturbing thoughts. “But I don’t think I can make it.”

  “Why not?” She has to be there. No way do I want to be alone at the birthday party so I’ll have to listen to Park’s excuses, or Diane will try to corner me and explain her way out of what I witnessed.

  “I have to work. I work every Saturday night,” Jensen answers.

  “Call in sick. Or trade shifts with someone,” I suggest.

  Jensen smiles. “Addie said the same thing, calling in sick. She told me she wanted me there.”

  “I do, so give the birthday girl what she wants,” Addie says with a nod. “Please say you’ll come.”

  “Yeah, Jens. Please.” I settle my hand over hers, which is still resting on my thigh. I drag her hand up, so it’s settled over my cock, and I get even harder at her innocent touch.

  Yeah, I’m pissed as hell, and for some reason I want to work it out sexually. As in, get Jensen back to my place and fuck her brains out.

  She gives me a squeeze, her sparkling eyes full of mischief. “I’ll try my best.”

  “Yeah, well, try harder,” I tell her, and she squeezes me harder, just like I requested.

  I look over at Park sitting on the other side of Jensen, blatantly staring at us, watching Jensen stroke me through my jeans. And I’m so disgusted with myself, I push her hand off me, so suddenly that she cries out, but not loud enough for anyone else to hear.

  Except for Park. The asshole.

  “Looks like you’ve got yourself a little firecracker,” he tells me later, after Dad’s paid the dinner bill and we’re all exiting the restaurant. He falls into step beside me, Addie talking to Jensen a mile a minute as they walk ahead of us. “Giving you a handjob while at dinner with your family—nice.”

  “Shut the fuck up, Park. She wasn’t giving me a handjob,” I say irritably.

  Park raises his brows. “Looked like it to me.”

  “Listen, you’re not allowed to talk about her. She’s off limits,” I practically snarl.

  He’s fuming. He doesn’t like that I told him what to do, but he can’t say a goddamn word. I now know his deepest, darkest secret. I wish I didn’t. I wish I never saw what happened today, but I did. And now I can’t unsee it, no matter how hard I try. That image is burned in my brain, just like his confession is too.

  “You don’t understand,” he tells me, his tone casual, like we’re discussing the weather. “My relationship with Diane is…complicated.”

  “I’ll say. Far more complicated than I want to think about.”

  “Look.” Park stops me with a touch of his hand on my arm, while the rest of them file out of the restaurant. “I need you to keep quiet about this.”

  “I already told you I’m not telling Dad.”

  “Yeah, but I don’t want you telling your little girlfriend either. We don’t know her. What if she has a big mouth? What if she talks?” Park shakes his head. “I can’t risk it, Rhett. If this gets out, I’m fucked forever.”

  “You sure as hell are.”

  He sends me an irrit
ated look. “And I can’t have that. He’s going to retire soon, and he’s going to leave me in charge. I can’t mess this up.”

  “You should’ve thought of that before you stuck your dick in our stepmom’s vag.” With that statement, I hurry out of the restaurant, catching up with Jensen, Addie and Trent with ease. “Where’s Diane and Dad?”

  “They already left.” Addie wrinkles her nose. “They were all lovey-dovey and acting like they’re going back home to hook up or whatever. It was gross.”

  “You can’t hook up if you’re married,” Trent tells her.

  “Whatever, it was awful to witness. Like I need brain bleach,” Addie says with a little laugh.

  If Addie had witnessed Park and Diane together, she’d probably need something even stronger than bleach. I turn to my date. “You ready to go, Jensen?”

  She nods and hooks her arm through mine as we make our goodbyes. And then we’re finally in my car, driving away from the Cheesecake Factory and one of the worst nights on record. Like this is top five shit.

  “Did you guys have an argument?” When I send her a confused look, she says, “You and Park.”

  “Oh. Yeah. I guess.” I know I’m being kind of a dick, but I can’t help it. I can’t wrap my head around Park and Diane’s relationship. What sort of ratifications will this have if they’re exposed? What will Park do? What will Dad do?

  And what about Diane?

  “What happened between you two? You seemed so angry earlier. You still do.” She hesitates, twisting her hands together in her lap. “This has nothing to do with me, does it? You weren’t disappointed in how I acted tonight, right? Your dad was really nice to me, though Di—Diane wasn’t very friendly toward me. At all.”

  Statement of the century. “She’s not nice to anyone.” Well, except my brother, probably.

  Disgusting.

  “She was totally rude to me. I mean, what did I ever do to her?” Okay, there’s some of Jensen’s attitude back. And I’m glad to see it. Being with my family tonight made her meek and quiet, and I’m not used to Jensen acting like that.

  “Nothing. She’s an equal opportunity rude bitch,” I say, my voice bitter.

  “And she never did explain where she was when she up and disappeared earlier,” Jensen continues.