Bender (The Core Four Series)

by Stacy Borel

  As Luke drew nearer, he appeared exactly the same way that he always did. I don’t know why I would have assumed he looked any different. It had only been a few weeks since the Halloween party.

  “Keegan, can we talk?” he asked, as he halted in front of me.

  I frowned. “No, I don’t think so. I have nothing to say to you.”

  He looked from me to Camden, then down to our joined hands. Camden still seemed calm and collected. “Wait, are you two an item now?”

  “Not that it’s any of your business, but yes, we are,” I answered.

  Luke shook his head. “Unbelievable. You went from me to Brooks, in let me guess, no time at all.”

  I was quickly unraveling. I had hoped I’d never have to see him again, but apparently the universe was feeling extra cruel today. Every word out of his mouth was serving to fuel the fire within me to throttle this asshole across campus. “For starters, it doesn’t matter how long it was until Camden and I began our relationship. And another thing, I’m pretty sure you lost any say when you decided to play me in your fucking little fraternity games.”

  He sighed a frustrated breath. Dragging his hands through his hair he said, “See, that’s why I wanted to talk to you. I need to apologize for what happened—”

  I held my hand up. “Save it. I don’t want to hear your shit excuses. You knew what you were doing from the start. It was like ‘oh let’s pick the vulnerable girl and see if I can make her fall for me’ wasn’t it?” When he didn’t answer, I shouted, “Wasn’t it!?”

  He looked down at the ground. “When I first spoke to you, yes.” He brought his familiar blue eyes up to mine. “But then I got to know you, Keegan. You weren’t at all what I was expecting, and I started falling for you.”

  I think I was possessed. I released Camden’s hand and brought it behind me in a swing so hard that when it connected with Luke’s face I felt the reverberations up my arm. Tears were forming in my eyes from the rage I was feeling. His head twisted from the blow, and he looked genuinely shocked.

  “No you weren’t, Luke. You were afraid of your little bitch of a girlfriend dumping you because you couldn’t win a bet. This was never about me, and frankly you could’ve cared less who you trampled on in the process. So fuck you, and fuck those assholes that you live with. People’s lives aren’t a game. Grow up.” I turned to walk away, completely blinded by the white hot anger rippling through me. Luke’s hand shot out and tried to grab my upper arm when Camden finally stepped in.

  Taking a hold of Luke’s wrist, Camden bent it at an awkward angle causing Luke to shout in pain. “Alright asshole, you’ve stated your peace, and now I’m going to state mine. That girl you chose to fuck around with and hurt,” he pointed to me. “She’s mine now. You so much as look at her, blink at her, breath the same air that she breathes, or attempt to contact her again, I will break you. There will be nothing that she says that will stop me from putting you in the ground. You feel me?” Camden leaned in close causing more tension on Luke’s arm. “And for the record, she was never yours. Whatever feelings you think you may have had…they’re gone now. You didn’t know a good thing when you had it, so run along to your little buddies and tell them that this goes for them too. This shit is done. If I ever hear of another party like this, none of you will survive it.” He released him and Luke cradled his wrist. “Oh and just so we’re clear, your gym membership…it’s been revoked.”

  Camden turned around and took several strides in my direction. Without so much as a backwards glance to see if Luke was still standing there, he cupped my cheek tenderly. I leaned in to his touch as his thumb swiped away a stray tear. I sniffled. “Sorry.”

  “Huh uh. Nothing to be sorry about, Blue. But this will be the last time I want to see you crying over him. He doesn’t deserve your tears.”

  “I’m not crying over him, I’m crying because of how I let myself feel. It doesn’t matter though, he means nothing to me. I have you, and I’m happy.” I tried to give him a reassuring smile.

  Grabbing my hand, I winced. “You gave him one hell of a slap. Do I need to get you some ice?” He smirked.

  I bit my lip trying not to smile at his playfulness. “Quiet, you. Just take me home.”

  “You got it.” He walked me the rest of the way to my car, officially closing the chapter that was Luke.

  Thanksgiving break was coming up in two days. Macie and Dodger were just at the apartment talking about our plans for the short break. Naturally I’d be spending it with Sarah at home, but I wasn’t looking forward to seeing my mom. I’d considered bringing her here so that I could just not deal with the added stress of being around my mom, but I knew she’d be upset if I didn’t come to the house. Macie and Dodger were going to his family’s house for Thanksgiving dinner since her parents were going to be vacationing in Cabo like they do every year. Mace usually tags along but after her and I talked, she was trying to give the relationship with Dodger a chance. Camden and I hadn’t talked about the holidays but, I figured we’d do our own thing and maybe I could talk him into doing some Black Friday shopping with me bright and early in the morning.

  Speaking of Camden, he just walked through the door and set his gym bag down. Coming straight toward me I felt like a deer caught in the headlights. How did I get so lucky again? His gym clothes were sweaty and clinging to his muscled body, his brown hair was spiked as if he’d ran his fingers through it a few times. But his eyes, those russet eyes that I loved so much, were looking at me like I was the piece of chocolate cake that he’d been craving all day and could finally eat. Oh yes, I enjoyed being his reward after a long day apart from each other. I had been standing in the kitchen washing some dishes from earlier when he plowed through the kitchen and lifted me up into his arms. Camden’s soft lips came crashing down onto mine, effectively stealing my breath away. Sighing I parted my lips and felt his tongue slip into my mouth. I let him lick and nip at me before I pulled away. He gave me the cutest pout.

  “Sorry, Sarah is over there in case you missed that.”

  He turned both of us since he was still holding onto me. He saw my little sister watching TV and doing her homework on the coffee table. “Shit, I didn’t see her,” he whispered to me.

  “It’s okay. You didn’t get too carried away.” I gave him smile. He set me on my feet, and I leaned against the counter. “You just missed your brother and Macie.”

  Camden unloaded some of his shaker bottles and rinsed them out in the sink. “Oh yeah, what were they up too?”

  “They wanted to know what everyone’s plans were for Thanksgiving. Macie is going to your parents’ place instead of her usual vacationing in some exotic location.” I fanned myself dramatically.

  He smirked at me. “And what are our plans?”

  “I figured I’d go to my mom’s and cook dinner, that way it keeps things semi-normal for Sarah, and you would spend time with your family.”

  He set his cups down and turned toward me. “You don’t want to spend the holiday together?”

  “Of course I’d love to, but I just assumed that you wanted to be with your family, and I can’t be away from my sister right now. My mom’s been in and out so much lately that I can’t trust that she won’t leave her alone to fend for herself.”

  “Would she really do that?”

  I tilted my head to the side and gave him an ‘are you kidding me’ look. “My mom has shown me time and time again that her social life is more important than spending it with her kids.”

  “Okay, then why don’t you two come to my parents’ house for Thanksgiving? They’d love to meet you, and my mom always makes more than enough food.”

  I giggled. “I’m sure she does. There are four of you boys aren’t there?”

  “Including my dad, there’s five.”

  I shook my head. “Your mom’s gotta be a saint.”

  He gave a heartfelt smile. “She’s amazing. You’ll love her.”

  Sighing I said, “Camden I can’t leave my mo
m alone. She’s already dealing with me moving out, and with all of these changes, I think our relationship is really feeling the strain.”

  My little sister came bounding into the kitchen, and she hugged Camden’s hip.

  “Hey kid, what’s shakin’?”

  “Stupid homework…stupid boys,” she said nonchalantly as she reached for a cookie on the counter.

  “Boys are stupid,” he said, teasing one of her curls.

  “Dodger’s not stupid though.” There was a pink tinge to her cheeks, and she looked down at her feet.

  My eyes shot up to Camden’s and his shoulders were shaking from trying to contain his laughter. How did I miss that my sister had a crush on Dodger? Well, couldn’t say I didn’t blame her, he was pretty cute. “No Dodger’s not stupid.”

  “Psh….”

  “Camden!” I stomped my foot at him and shook my head. Let’s not burst her bubble. He winked at me.

  “Alright back to what we were talking about. I think you and Sarah should just plan on coming to the house. We eat around noon, and you don’t have to make anything. After we eat and play ball I can drop you both off at your mom’s, and you can bring her food from my house.”

  “Play ball?”

  “Yeah, we sort of have a tradition that after every family dinner we go out to the field and play baseball. Since you two and Macie will be there, we’ll have a good little team going,” Camden answered simply.

  Sarah beamed at him, “That sounds like fun. Can we go Keegan?”

  “There’s no way my mom will be okay with me taking Sarah for the holiday,” I said.

  “Yeah she would,” Sarah’s little voice chimed in.

  “Why do you say that?” I asked.

  “Because.” She shrugged. “Mom was talking to someone on the phone yesterday, and I heard her say that she was going to her boyfriend’s house, but that she was trying to think of what to do with me. I think she was going to ask you if I could come over.”

  I gaped at her. “Mom said she was going to her boyfriend’s house for Thanksgiving?”

  “Yep!”

  This couldn’t be put off any longer. I’d talk to her when I dropped Sarah off. I was so fed up with her blowing us off. And during the holidays? It was not okay. I looked up at Camden, and he bent down to whisper something in her ear. She nodded her head and went back into the living room to watch TV. Coming over to me, he pulled me into his arms and rested his chin on top of my head.

  “My house?” he asked.

  I took a deep breath, feeling more upset than I should be. I’ve always known how my mom was. Age normally matured people, but in her case, she seemed to be digressing. I wanted to shake her by her shoulders and say, “Wake up Mom, you’re a grown woman. You got dealt a shitty hand in life but that doesn’t make Sarah and me objects who got in your way of living a good life.” I loved her. I loved her unconditionally, but sometimes I really didn’t like the choices that she made.

  Tipping my head back I looked up at his soft brown eyes. They were full of understanding, and I swallowed the lump in my throat. “Okay, your house. But I plan on contributing in some way. I can’t show up empty-handed. So could you call your mom and ask her what I could bring?”

  He kissed the tip of my nose. It was quickly becoming one of my favorite things that he did. “Yeah I’ll go call her right now and give her a heads-up that we have two more coming.” He swatted me on the butt and grabbed his phone before he walked over to the dining room.

  Oh boy, now was not the time to panic about meeting Camden’s family for the first time. I was sure that his parents were lovely. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to know that they had raised two great boys. The other two had to be just as wonderful. Holy crap two more Brooks brothers. I didn’t know if I was in for a treat, or if I should be worried. Camden and Dodger couldn’t be any more different from one another. One brother was serious and a hard ass, but with a sweet side he didn’t show often. The other was charismatic, funny, and easygoing. Both were drop-dead gorgeous. I was curious what their parents looked like. It had to have come from somewhere. Sighing, I went back to washing the dishes and tried to decide what I was going to say to my mom later this evening.

  “Blue, you got the pies?” Camden called from upstairs. I was loading the desserts I’d made the night before into the car.

  “Yeah, come on!” I shouted up to him. He was leaning over the railing and looking as delicious as ever. Who needed dessert when I had him?

  Locking up he came downstairs and we all got in the car. Sarah stayed the night last night since we were leaving kind of early. Turns out she was right about my mom wanting to duck out of the holiday festivities. We got into a pretty monumental fight over her leaving my sister at home by herself. She started crying and telling me that I was accusing her of being a bad parent. Maybe I was. But I hadn’t had the first clue how I could make her wake up and see just how destructive she was being.

  On the drive to his parents’ house, my nerves began to kick in. The only comfort I had going in to this was that Macie was going to be there too. Camden knew I was getting antsy because every few minutes he’d give my hand a squeeze. Looking over at him, he was ridiculously handsome. He was wearing dark jeans and a black thermal henley that molded to every curvature of his arms and chest. He styled his hair in a spiky mess, and he had on a cologne that was a deep woodsy scent. Between how he looked and smelled, he was a lethal combination. I wanted him. I felt like I wasn’t up to par with him, and I fidgeted with the hem of my shirt. I had on a pair of white skinny jeans, tan flats, and a loose fitted peach chevron design top. I’d put something in my hair that helped make the waves stand out more than normal and it hung down my back. Camden’s face when he saw me this morning was all the approval that I needed. I just hoped I wasn’t underdressed for his family.

  We’d been on the road for almost thirty minutes when we turned off into a nice subdivision on the other side of Athens. The homes weren’t necessarily brand new, but it was the type of neighborhood that had beautiful large trees, and well-manicured lawns. The further we drove, the bigger the houses got. My palms were sweating, but Camden never said anything about it. When he pulled into the driveway of a stately looking home, I looked up. It was a two-story colonial that could have been plucked right out of a Southern Living magazine. White columns adorned the front and the green shutters made the anterior of the home pop. Poppies, daffodils, lilies, and hedges were laid out around the front of the house and around a tree in the middle of the yard. This was certainly not what I imagined when I pictured Camden’s childhood home. Parking the car, he got out and came around to open my door. I saw Macie’s vehicle, along with a few others, and I felt a little relieved that she was already here.

  Sarah had already jumped out, and she was racing up the path to the front door. “Don’t touch anything!” I shouted to her.

  Camden put his arm around me and kissed my cheek. “It’s not a museum Keegan. My parents are cool, promise.”

  Just as he spoke, someone opened the front door. I was looking at a younger version of Dodger; black hair and bright caramel colored eyes. He was tall but leaner than both Dodger and Camden. He came walking down the steps with a broad grin on his face. He approached Camden, and they clapped hands and pulled each other into an embracing hug.

  “Hey little bro, good to see you.”

  “You too.” They both stood back and beamed. When those eyes shifted to me, I got a quick once over. “Nice arm candy, dude. You going to introduce me?”

  Camden rolled his eyes and shoved his shoulder. “She’s not arm candy asshole. Wrig, this is Keegan. Keegan, this is my youngest brother Wrigley.”

  I held out my hand, which he took. “So nice to meet you.”

  “The pleasure is definitely all mine.” He smirked and wagged his eyebrows.

  “Give it a rest little man. She ain’t interested.”

  “Says who? Seems good looks run in your family. Where’s the oldest brother,
I need to see my options,” I retorted.

  Camden narrowed his eyes at me. “Keegan,” he said in warning.

  “Well, I’m just saying… who says you’re the brother for me? Macie may have one of you but that leaves me with three—” I was cut off. Camden hoisted me over his shoulder and slapped my ass. I squealed, “Put me down! I can’t meet your mother like this.”

  “Sure you can, she’ll love you.”

  “But I’m upside-down. Come on Camden, my hair is going to be a mess.”

  “You’re still beautiful.” He strode toward the door. I heard Wrigley chuckling behind us.

  “Camden Mason Brooks, what are you doing to that poor girl?” a lovely sing-song voice chimed.

  “Oh hey Mom. I’m just trying to teach a lesson.”

  I was going to kill him. “Do you really have to be such a caveman? I swear you’re more like your father every day.”

  “That’s not a bad thing.” He seemed pleased with himself. “Mom, I want you to meet my friend and roommate, Keegan.” He spun me around so when I pushed up with my hands against his back I could look up at her.

  She nearly took my breath away. I was looking at a flawless porcelain doll. The boy’s mom was more petite that I would have imagined. Definitely shorter than my five-foot-three stature. She had long brown hair that she curled at the ends, deep brown eyes that matched Camden’s, and the softest features I think I’ve ever seen. Although it was kind of hard to tell from this angle. She gave me a welcoming smile that eased some of my discomfort.