Bad Dad

by Sloane Howell

  “So it was our fault for not preparing you? For doing too much for you?”

  I gritted my teeth. God, I thought we were getting somewhere and then she twisted my words. Heard what she wanted to hear. “That’s not what I said.” I let go of her arm. I needed to change the subject. “How did you know I was dating someone?”

  I was pretty sure I knew already, but I wanted to be sure. Desire was a gossip haven. Typical small-town America.

  “Virginia Hastings is apparently telling people. Blanch Caldwell heard it from someone else and told me. Said she’s saying the guy you’re dating is and I quote, ‘A belligerent meathead.’”

  I covered my mouth and laughed. “Some things never change around here.”

  “People like to talk.” She nodded. “But it doesn’t change the fact that you need to be careful. So, if anything, just think of it as me passing off information to you and not preaching. Is that okay?”

  I smiled. “Yeah, that’s fine. Thank you.”

  Her mouth creased in the corner. It was like a grin was trying to peek through her stone-serious face. “So, who is he?”

  I’d just found out myself and the question hit my stomach like a sack of rocks. Everything I knew now. How would I explain that? What would I tell people if they asked? Landon and I hadn’t discussed that. He’d probably tell me to not say anything. But they were my parents. I figured as little as possible was the best. “I want you and Dad to meet him, and I want to tell you about him. I’m just—we’re trying to keep it private until the school year is finished.”

  She glared, and I wanted so badly to please her this one time. But I had no idea who she talked to or who else would receive any information I gave her.

  “In fact, we’re kind of on hold right now. Taking things slow until summer.”

  “Oh, because of his son. I see.” She nodded. “That’s smart. It’s what I’d have suggested, so maybe we’re not all that different.”

  I wasn’t happy with how I’d lied to her, but the chance to please her just once—I don’t know why, but I wanted it. Her approval. “I’ll see if we can figure something out where you two can meet him before then. No promises though, okay?”

  “Thanks.”

  I reached out and gave her a hug. I pulled her in tight so she couldn’t get away.

  “Oh. Well—” She gave me a couple of awkward pats on the back.

  I knew my parents wouldn’t change. I didn’t expect them to. They were who they were.

  Maybe they’d turn over a new leaf and see me as an adult, though.

  I PULLED UP THE DRIVEWAY to the Lane residence. Landon and Joe stood in the front yard—shirtless of course. It was pretty cold outside. Why would they be shirtless? It didn’t make much sense, but who was I to complain about two giant, gorgeous, muscle-bound men fighting half-naked in the front yard? Then I thought about what Landon had said. A volcano near Antarctica. It made sense that they’d be acclimated to just about any kind of weather.

  They looked like twins. The only way I could tell them apart was by Landon’s tattoos. God, they were gorgeous, and rough, and dangerous. Three skulls snaked from shoulder to wrist. It was all black ink with ornate swirls between that made them blend into his right arm. My legs clenched at the sight of his body. His thick arms and broad chest. Chiseled abs that looked like pieces of a puzzle, and sharp angles at his hips that formed a vee that pointed down below his waist.

  When I made my way up the driveway I noticed half of Landon’s face was swollen and purple. Like Joe’s bowling-ball-sized fist had decked him.

  I barely got the car into park before I jumped out and ran over to him. “What the hell?”

  My fingers raked through his hair and Joe snickered.

  Landon stared back at me. Shook his head and glanced at my car. “I open the door for you.”

  “I’m more worried about your face than the door.”

  Janet walked out front. “Landon, I’m not your damn secretary.” She handed a phone over to him.

  He put it to his ear. “Next week? Okay.” Landon handed the phone back to Janet.

  She glared at him and wiped his sweat off the screen.

  Landon turned to Joe. “First fight is next week.”

  Joe looked up at the sky in contemplation. “They want to get one out of the way fast.”

  Landon nodded. “So they can build as much publicity as possible.”

  “Have you told Logan yet?” Janet crossed her arms over her chest and tapped her foot. “He may want to know his daddy’s about to be famous.”

  “Not yet. He’ll have more questions.”

  Janet whipped around and stomped toward the door. I couldn’t blame her.

  I glared. “You need to tell him.”

  His eyes darted toward me and his brows narrowed a little.

  I held my hands up. “Sorry, just saying.” I was still settling into some kind of role. Had no idea which boundaries to cross. What to say to people.

  Landon and I wanted to talk about it, but things had been so damn busy. He reached out and took my hand. “There’s a lot going on. We’ll all talk soon.”

  Joe stared out at the road. “Screws fall out all the time. The world’s an imperfect place.”

  I glanced at Joe. Then turned to Landon. “Was that The Breakfast Club?”

  Landon shrugged. “I don’t know. He’s been watching movies in his free time.”

  Joe looked at Landon. “Great movie. I like that Bender guy. He’d have done well on the island.”

  Landon ignored him and stared at me. “As soon as we’re done here, we’ll talk. We’ll talk to Logan too.”

  I grinned. “Joe, try not to tape his butt cheeks together.”

  Joe fist pumped the air like the football field scene. I didn’t know what to make of him. He was odd to say the least.

  I sat down and decided to watch them for a little while. It started out normal. Them circling each other with their fists up. Adrenaline pumped through my limbs. It was kinda hot watching guys train to fight. Joe did some kind of head fake and his fist slammed into Landon’s jaw.

  I grimaced.

  Landon went to a knee. Joe smiled.

  Thank God they wore padded gloves.

  “You had best square your ass away, Private Pyle!”

  I covered my mouth and laughed into my palm. Joe looked serious as could be. Complete deadpan delivery, only it wasn’t comedy. He wasn’t joking. He was legitimately using movies to communicate, like he was adapting to the world through Hollywood.

  Landon hopped to his feet.

  Joe threw a few more punches and Landon dodged them. “Better Private Pyle.”

  Landon threw another punch that would’ve killed a human being. Joe sidestepped it like he was about to yawn.

  I couldn’t help but watch Landon’s muscles flexing and shimmering with orange sunlight. They had about two more hours before dark. The sun was on the horizon and cast dancing shadows of the two giants across the field.

  As they progressed, Joe’s strikes came faster and harder. Landon dodged and juked. I’d never seen anyone move as fast as them.

  I glanced over and caught Logan in his window. He was mimicking Landon.

  Boys want to be just like their dads.

  I smiled for a second then wondered if Landon would want Logan watching him. I walked inside and went to Logan’s room to at least offer a distraction. He protested at first, but he couldn’t resist playing with spaceships on the floor.

  Half an hour later the giants barged into the house.

  We walked out of Logan’s room and Joe had a big shiner on his left cheek.

  “Finally got him.” Landon smacked a hand on Joe’s sweaty shoulder.

  “Wanna go again?” Joe smiled.

  Landon stood there.

  Joe’s face twisted into some kind of Dirty Harry impersonation. “Well, feel lucky, punk?”

  Landon shook his head. “I think we’re good for today.”

  “You’re not g
ood ever. Three seconds.”

  I stood there. “Huh? Three seconds?”

  Joe turned to Landon. “That’s how long you’d last right now.”

  The blood drained out of Landon’s face. I put a hand on Logan’s shoulder.

  Landon glanced over to us. He looked at my hand and then at Logan. “Right. Let’s go in the bedroom.”

  The three of us walked back. I hung behind, unsure if Landon wanted it to be a father-son moment or not. He reached back and grabbed me by the wrist and pulled me into the room. My heart came alive.

  Logan sat down on the bed and Landon next to him. “I have some news, buddy. There’s a reason Uncle Joe is here.”

  Logan stared. “What is it?”

  “I’m going to fight. On TV.”

  Logan’s eyes shot open. “On WMMA?”

  Landon nodded.

  “Whoa!” He tackled Landon and fired off a hundred questions in ten seconds. “When? Who are you fighting? Can I watch?”

  Landon held up his hands. “Easy. Easy.”

  Logan sat up straight. His smile disappeared. “Are you going to fight that new guy?”

  Landon looked away. “Not at first. But in a few months, yes.”

  I walked over and sat down by Logan.

  Landon finally turned back to him. “I have the best trainers though. Uncle Joe out there. Uncle Gus.”

  “Zach at school said everyone he fights gets hurt really bad.”

  My heart pinched for Landon. I knew he was a big strong man, but I definitely wasn’t. He didn’t want to disappoint Logan. He didn’t want to lie to him either. I watched him struggle with his words.

  “He does hurt people.”

  “Can you beat him?”

  “I didn’t last time.” Landon wrapped an arm around Logan.

  “You know him?”

  Landon nodded. “When we were kids. Around your age.”

  Logan kept smiling away at Landon.

  Landon nudged him with his elbow. “What?”

  “You’ve never told me about when you were a kid.”

  They hugged for a second and Landon looked like he never wanted to let go of him. “I know, buddy.” He paused. “Someday I’ll tell you everything. I promise.”

  CHAPTER 19

  Landon Lane

  I GAGGED ON THE SALTWATER spray that kicked up from a strong wind gust. The heat from the magma churning behind me threatened to char the backs of my legs while my ears felt like I might have suffered from frostbite.

  Sid walked around the corner. I heard the cadence of his footsteps before I’d even seen him. He always walked at the same speed, same amount of force with each step, like his feet shoved him up from the ground.

  He rounded the corner of the barracks and locked onto me with his stare. His eyes and body were pale, like a corpse. We were the same size even though he was six and I was eight. The spotlight cast a redwood-sized shadow behind him that stretched to the igneous rocks in the distance. His skin looked almost ceramic and rock-hard. It lit up with a sheen when one of the spotlights hit it. He never smiled and never frowned. I wondered if he could bleed.

  My chair shot from under me and rattled down the hallway. I landed with a thud in the hallway outside Logan’s door and my head flew back into the wall.

  “Let’s go for a jog, asshole.” Joe stood over me with sunglasses on.

  I looked around. It couldn’t be later than four in the morning. It was still dark outside.

  I nodded and got to my feet. He was already out the door. Nothing got the blood pumping like a jog in the dark of morning.

  When I caught up he kept a steady pace out to the fenced-in area of the yard and then stopped and stared off at the sky. “You need to put on nine pounds of muscle to be at optimum weight.” He turned to face me. “You’re too slow. Too human. And too stupid.”

  “Thanks.” I breathed in the cool Montana air. The moon sat huge right above the mountain peaks and a few stray clouds scudded across. I could still smell the salty ocean mist from my dream.

  “You’re welcome.” Joe paused for a second, and regarded me with a confused look. He was still slow at catching on to sarcasm. “Why do you love this place?”

  “I love my son. We’ve been safe for a long time here.”

  “You’ve never been safe.”

  “Well, I had an illusion that we were.”

  “Illusions are for idiots.” He stared at me and scratched his head. “I don’t understand actual people.”

  “It takes a while. You get used to them. The way most people live.”

  “They’re idiots.” He sighed. “You’re an idiot.”

  “Well tell me how you really feel.”

  He stared, dumbfounded. “I just did.”

  I shook my head. “Why’d they send you? To train with me? Why didn’t they just have you fight him?”

  “To train you.” He corrected me.

  “I don’t understand what they’re doing.”

  “I’m not privy. Compartmentalization.”

  I sighed. “Yeah, they do that.”

  “People don’t make any sense. They’re not natural.”

  I laughed at the irony. “We’re not natural.”

  “We’re efficient and logical. I’ve observed. If two men walk by an apple tree with one apple hanging down, the stronger man gets the apple. That’s the way of nature. But people, like you’ve become, make up rules on how to divide it up so that everyone gets a piece.”

  “Yeah?”

  “You’ve handed your power to the rules, instead of keeping it for yourself. The stronger man should get the apple.”

  I laughed.

  “What’s funny?”

  “Are you here because you want to be?”

  “No.”

  He realized what I was getting at. “I see.” Joe didn’t argue my point, only seemed to log it away somewhere in his brain to process later.

  We both stared out at Montana and the moon.

  “Can I beat him?”

  Joe shook his head. “Theoretically impossible.” He turned to me. “No.”

  “Still leaves us with the question of why me?”

  Joe sighed, and a vein bulged on his thick, corded neck. “I heard things. They think you’ll be more likable in front of the camera because you’ve been interacting with people. Ingrained in society is what they said. There is a degree of perception versus the most logical choice. You were the best fighter out of team one, Project Leonidas. Edmon thinks you’ll put up the best fight. I’m to see to it that you’re back at peak performance levels within the three months.”

  “Why are they fighting MMA at all? It makes no sense.”

  “Agreed, asshole. Not even Edmon knows, and I sensed that it frustrated him.”

  I glanced over at Joe. He was warming up to me. That was good. I needed him on my side. I could tell from his reaction that he was hesitant to give me that information. “Why did they send you specifically?”

  “To keep you from running. Keep you at ease and relaxed. I was closest to you on the island.”

  “Where do your loyalties lie?”

  He took a step forward and laced his fingers together behind his head. “I like your son.”

  “Me too.”

  “I like movies.”

  WE NEVER DID ACTUALLY RUN after meditating. Knowing Joe, it was all planned in advance. He had questions for me. I’d gotten some answers from him. It was productive. I drove over to Cora’s house. I wanted to see her before she went to work, and I wanted to get back in time to take Logan to school. Janet had done it the past few days and I missed the ritual. I missed Logan and Cora.

  I knew training would be grueling, so I wanted all the time I could get with both of them. I strolled up to her porch with my hood on and knocked on the door.

  “What the hell?” Her voice came from behind the door.

  She answered the door and nearly shrieked. “We have to get you a cell phone.”

  “Not gonna happen.”
I shook my head, walked in, and pulled my hood back.

  She wore nothing but a long tee shirt and panties. Her hair was disheveled. Fuck, she was gorgeous.

  The sun peeked through her rear windows and the light haloed around her brown waves of hair. It took all I had not to kiss her fully awake. A cup of coffee sat on the table and steam swirled up from it.

  I took her in my arms and planted a kiss on her forehead. “Wanted to see you before you go to work.”

  “I guess it’s a pleasant surprise.”

  She managed a tired smile, despite her hatred of mornings.

  “I have to leave in a few days.”

  “I figured.” She chewed on a fingernail and sat down in a recliner.

  I dropped my face into my palms.

  “What’s wrong, babe?”

  “The next few months will be tough.”

  “I’ll be here. I’m not going anywhere, remember?”

  “I know.” I shook my head. “And I don’t know.”

  She got up and sat next to me. Her arms went around my neck and she nuzzled into my shoulder.

  “You’re going to see things. If it gets to be too much, you have to let me know.”

  She turned my head to face her. “I’m not going anywhere.”

  She didn’t know what she was saying. I didn’t like what was coming. Our future. Storming down the tracks like a freight train.

  She adjusted herself next to me and blood rushed into my cock. Being next to her while she wore nothing but panties and a tee shirt—fuck. I kept glancing down to her smooth, bare legs tucked underneath her. I wanted between them. Wanted to spread them. Wanted to feel her thighs quiver against my face and her knees buckle while I ate her for breakfast. Then I’d fuck her senseless, until she came on my cock and I marked her again.

  It was all I could think about as she pleaded with me about how she was in this. In it for good. Nothing could keep her away from me. I pulled her up onto me and her legs straddled my lap. Her eyes lowered when she felt my hard cock stroke across her heat.