My doorbell rings, breaking me from my thoughts. I turn from my windows with a frown, knowing it’s too soon for my girl to be here, plus I gave her a key before I left her this morning. I guess it could be Owen, or one of the other guys, but that’s pretty much it for my social circle. No one I’ve worked with even knows I’m home.
I’ve learned my lesson from the attack, and I look through the peephole, freezing when I see who’s out there. What the fuck are my family doing here? And more importantly, why is Brooke with them? I want to quietly tiptoe away, but I know them well enough to know if they’re here today, they’ll just come back later if I don’t answer.
“Hi Mother, Father,” I say, opening the door. I don’t acknowledge my Uncle Tyler, or Brooke, since I don’t like either one of them. I don’t really like my parents, either, but I’m alive because of them, so I try to be civil.
My mother immediately starts in on me once they’re inside with the door closed. “Where have you been? You haven’t called in the last two weeks, and we came by yesterday, but you weren’t home.”
“I haven’t called weekly since I was in boarding school, and as an adult, I can come and go as I please,” I tell her, crossing my arms over my chest as I lean against my fireplace. Something is up, and I already know I won’t like it.
“Don’t talk to your mother like that, Bodhi. She worries.”
Hearing my name come from my father’s prim and proper mouth almost always makes me smirk. My mother was hopped up on every drug they would give her when I was born, and while Daddy Dearest was off making a phone call, she said “Bodhi” instead of “Brantford” when they asked for my name. After, they decided it would be less embarrassing to keep the name than go through the process of changing it. So, no numbers behind my name, and no end of amusement for me when my father is forced to address me by my name. Usually, I only get “Son”, but sometimes I push too far, and he graces me with the honor of speaking my name when we’re in private. Times like now, apparently.
“What exactly are you worried about, Mother?”
“Your engagement, of course.”
“I’m not engaged.”
“And that’s the problem,” Brooke says, finally speaking. She walks towards me, and I move, hiding behind my couch. Yeah, I’m dodging a brunette debutante who weighs no more than a hundred pounds, and no, I’m not ashamed. I narrowly escaped her claws once, and she’s been trying to sink them back into me ever since. “We should be engaged by now.”
She actually stomps a foot, and I fight the urge to laugh. There’s nothing funny about this, especially because the only person I want to put a ring on is Harlow, but with this group, laughter is the only thing that gets me through in most situations. “We broke up years ago, Brooke.”
“You didn’t mean it,” she pouts, her big eyes tearing up, which doesn’t affect me at all. I know this woman, and she could win an Academy Award for tears.
“I did,” I say, trying to be kind, although after five years of saying it, my patience is beyond thin. “You need to move on.”
“Have you?” she sniffles.
“Yes.”
“Who?” my mother asks, narrowing her eyes.
“Her name is Harlow.”
“You have a duty to your family,” my uncle says. “Have your fling, but you’re marrying Brooke.”
“No,” I say, as the woman in question begins wailing. I look to the ceiling, asking for help. Any help…just something right now.
My door opens, and we all turn to see Harlow walking in. I say a prayer of thanks, because there’s no better help than her. Her blond hair is in a messy bun, and she’s wearing a tank top and yoga pants that emphasize all of her mouthwatering curves, causing me to silently curse my family even more for being here right now. She stops short when she sees everyone, and her smile dims slightly. Not everyone would notice it, but I do.
“Hi. I didn’t know you had company, Bo.”
I walk to her and pull her in for a hug. “I wasn’t expecting them,” I whisper in her ear.
“Introduce us to your friend, Son,” my father says.
I sigh, placing my arm around her waist. “This is my girlfriend, Harlow. Low, these are my parents, Uncle Tyler, and um, Brooke.”
“Who are your family, Harlow?” my mother immediately asks, and I tighten my grip on her waist.
“No one you’d know.”
“Of course not,” my uncle mumbles.
“I know you,” Brooke says, walking closer.
“Yes,” Harlow says. “I gave you a lap dance once. You came into the club I worked at, and your friends bought you the dance, because you said you wanted to see what it was like. I even let you feel the girls here.” She motions to her breasts, and I want to sink into the floor.
The blood drains from my mother’s face and I’m sure I’m not looking much better. Harlow isn’t ashamed about her past, and I’m trying not to be either, but my parents aren’t going to accept this. And yuck. I can’t believe my ex-girlfriend felt up my current girlfriend.
“It was a bachelorette party, and I was drunk,” Brooke says.
“You seemed pretty sober to me,” Harlow tells her.
“I wasn’t!”
“Whatever.” Harlow isn’t bothered at all by any of this, and that’s one of the things I love about her.
Unfortunately, my family all look like they might pass out. My father recovers first. “You’re a stripper?”
“Ex-stripper,” Harlow corrects him.
“Did my son meet you at this club?”
“Yes.”
“I see,” he says, and I don’t like the way he says it.
I want to speak up, but my mouth isn’t moving. I walked away from the money they tried to control me with, but standing up to them about anything else has never been something I’m good at, which is why they brought Brooke here. They thought I’d cave to their demands, and if I wasn’t in love with Harlow, I probably would. Standing with her, and standing up for her, are two different things, and I’m failing at the second one.
“Are you joining us for dinner?” Harlow asks, standing up for herself, and letting them know she’s not scared of them.
“We planned on having a family dinner,” my mother says, looking me in the eye, and willing me to say what she wants. Not this time.
“I’m eating with Harlow. You’re welcome to join us, of course.” It’s a small thing compared to what’s going on here, but it’s something. Probably not enough.
“Bodhi.”
“Mother.”
“We’ll be back, Son. This is not over,” my father says, moving to the door.
The rest of the group follows, with Brooke stopping to look Harlow up and down with a sneer. Harlow smirks when Brooke’s gaze lands on her breasts, causing Brooke to rush out. My uncle is the last to leave, and he sends me a look over his shoulder. So much is said to me in that one look, letting me know I better toe the line. I look away, and hear the door close as Harlow pulls away from me.
18
Harlow
“What the hell was that?”
“My family can be…um, stuffy?”
“Stuffy? You threw me to the wolves, and you’re calling them ‘stuffy’?”
“Come on, Low. It wasn’t that bad.”
“Is that why you didn’t defend me?” I ask, knowing I’m letting the hurt I’m feeling be heard loud and clear in my voice.
“I didn’t think it was worth a fight.”
“I’m not worth the fight, you mean.”
“You know that’s not true,” he says, but he’s not looking at me.
“Your mouth seemed to be working pretty well this morning when you were eating my pussy, yet you couldn’t use it to say something? Anything?”
“I told them I was eating with you, and not them. Isn’t that enough? Things are complicated.”
“No. Either you’re with me, or you’re not. That’s not complicated. As for your half-assed attempt at standing up t
o them, it didn’t happen until you realized I wouldn’t cave to them. I can’t believe I thought we had something, yet you just want me as your dirty little secret!”
“Really? Because last time I checked, you have a whole life I can’t tell anyone about.”
“Don’t turn this back on me. I did nothing wrong here.” My hurt is turning to anger, and I’m trying to rein it in, but it’s hard. Damn hard.
“Nothing wrong? You said you’d given Brooke a lap dance!”
“I did give her one!”
“You didn’t need to tell them that!”
“You know I’m not ashamed of my past.”
“There’s a difference between being ashamed, and throwing it in people’s faces.”
“I’m going to leave now before either one of us says something we can’t come back from.”
“Don’t go,” he says, grabbing my elbow, and rubbing his eyes with his other hand. “I’m sorry. They make my crazy, and I didn’t behave the way I should’ve. I know that, Low.”
I turn and look him in the eye. “It hurt. You not standing up for me; that hurt.”
“I know. I never want to hurt you.”
“I need you to have my back, Bodhi. Whether it’s to some stranger who recognizes me, or your family who thinks I’m not good enough for you. I need to know I’m not alone.”
“I do. You’re not. I swear it. I love you, Harlow. All of you.”
“Then please show it. Pretty words are just words.”
“I will. I’m so sorry.”
He looks contrite, and my heart overrides my head, letting me be pulled into his kiss. It’s sweet, and sexy all at the same time, and I can feel him pouring his emotions into it. I make him wait several seconds before I kiss him back, and he sighs in relief. I stop him from taking things further when his hands start to wander, and we both pull back, searching each other’s eyes.
“I’m not going to have sex with you after what just happened. At least not right after.”
“Yeah. Okay. I get it.”
“Okay. Thanks for understanding that I wanted to stay in tonight.” Going back in to the C&C building was harder than I expected it to be, and I’m exhausted.
“You know I’m happy to spend time with you anywhere I can. I still want to take you out, but we can do that whenever you want.”
There he goes, taking care of me again. “You’re making things better already.”
“Good. What do you want for dinner?”
“Chinese?”
He nods. “Combination fried rice, and crab rangoons?” he asks, naming my usual order.
“Yes, please.”
“I’ll order, and you can get comfortable.”
That’s not as easy as it sounds, since I’m still struggling with what went down a few minutes ago, even as he makes me feel cared for. I won’t be forgetting that anytime soon, but I smile, and kick off my flip flops before curling up on Bodhi’s couch. I’ve only been here the one time, after he was attacked, so I look around the open space of the living room, dining room, and kitchen while he talks on the phone.
It’s bigger than my current apartment, although I know I’ll move into a custom apartment of my design once I make it through training. The room is modern, with lots of light, although it’s not your typical bachelor pad. The walls are covered in art, and there are splashes of color mixed with the gray color scheme. His TV is big, and I see several different gaming systems on the stand underneath it, but not a lot of movies.
I want to get up and see what’s behind the closed doors, but I’m still feeling a little shaky because I had a long day, followed by a confrontation I wasn’t aware was even coming. I didn’t know Bodhi’s family was wealthy, and I didn’t expect him to just stand there as they sneered and looked down at me. I believe he’s sorry, but I meant it what I said; if he can’t stand up for me, there’s no future for us.
“The food should be here in 45 minutes,” he says, handing me a bottle of water as he sits down next to me.
“Great.”
“Do you want to watch a movie? I have Netflix and Hulu.”
“Okay.”
“Harlow, don’t shut me out.”
“I’m not. I just need to wrap my head around all of this.”
“My parents?”
“And that woman.”
“We dated years ago, but I broke up with her years ago, too.”
“Why was she here?”
“They want me to marry her.”
“Oh.”
“I’m not going to.”
He says that, but I’m not so sure. He couldn’t stand up to them, and they have to know it. “Have you ever stood up to them before?”
He closes his eyes, and then opens them again. “I walked away from the money, and I don’t let them control small things, but I usually give in on bigger things if it’s something I can live with. I don’t like fighting with them.”
“So, you’ll marry her.” I don’t ask it, because he’s basically told me he’s going to say yes.
“No. I couldn’t live with that. Not when I’m in love with you.”
“If I wasn’t in the picture?”
“I think I would still say no.”
“But you’re not sure.”
“It doesn’t matter. You are in the picture.”
For now. I feel a little bad about not being able to trust that he’ll stay with me over them, but I can’t help it. “I don’t think they’re going to take it well.”
“You let me worry about them, okay?”
“Okay.”
He takes my hand. “You know, I’ve told you I love you twice in the last several minutes, and you haven’t said it back. Have your feelings changed since I left you this morning?”
“No. I love you, Bo, but what just happened here scared me. You’ve never talked about your family, and I didn’t expect anything like that.”
“I was going to talk to you about them soon. They blindsided me today, and I wasn’t ready. I’ll tell you anything you want to know.”
“They’re obviously rich, so I’m guessing you knew Owen because of that, and not because of your shared interest in art.”
“Yeah, I met Owen because my father was trying to do business with his father. I didn’t see him often, because I was at boarding school during the year, and also because Gary Griffin doesn’t like my father.”
“I’m a little surprised by the boarding school confession, but not about Gary disliking your father. The Griffins are the most accepting family I’ve ever met. Well, except for the Corrigans, of course. I guess that’s why the two families are so close.”
He laughs. “Yes, my father thinks he’s superior to most everyone because of his money, and he’s not.”
“How did you turn out so normal and down to earth?”
“Boarding school, actually. I may have had a lot of money, but I was still a nerdy artist. I was called a lot of names for wanting to spend time in the art studio, especially when the other guys realized I wasn’t there to check out the girls—not that I didn’t take advantage of the ones who hung around.”
“Ooh, I bet they liked seeing you covered in paint.”
He rolls his eyes. “We both know you like it.”
“Most definitely.”
“Anyway, between art and the advanced computer classes my father insisted on, I was pretty much an outcast. I started hanging out with the scholarship kids during the school year, and the Griffins during the summers, and here I am.”
“Your family business is computers?”
“Not exactly, although that’s what my father wants. We’re an electronics dynasty, but he wants us to be more involved in programming. He was sorely disappointed when I turned out more like Owen than Scott.”
“Well, I appreciate the computer skills, but I love my artist boyfriend the most.”
“That’s good, because I’d like to paint you again. With clothes on this time, while you pose for me. I want to do an abstract paintin
g of you.”
Oh. I feel like he must hear my heart melting right now. “I’d like that, too. Right now?”
“How about tomorrow? Tonight, I just want to relax with you, and make sure you know I love you.”
“I was going to introduce you to X tomorrow, but we can work all that out later. Relaxing with you tonight sounds perfect.”
And it is. We eat our food, pretend to watch some movies while we make out on the couch, and make love in his bed for hours. When the sun is coming up, I give him one last kiss, and head home to get ready for my classes. This night with him was just what I needed, and I can’t wait to pose for him later.
Bodhi
I’ve been ignoring the texts and calls from my family—and Brooke—since they started coming in last night. I have nothing to say to them right now, although I know I should. I should tell them I love Harlow, and they can’t change my mind. I should tell them I won’t stand for them disrespecting her. And I should tell them I’m not going to be a pawn in their games any longer. I should tell them all of that, but I don’t. I’m too much of a coward. I know it, but I don’t know how to overcome it.
Right now, I’m working on the graphics for another game. It’s for a different company that contacted me a few weeks ago, and they specifically asked for something different than the other one, which is giving me a challenge I didn’t even know I needed. I love immortalizing Harlow, but now that she’s all mine, I’m not sure I can keep sharing her through my art. The commission I did made me think I could maybe do a whole range of abstracts for a show, and I’m thinking of asking some of the more famous members of the Society, and the Studkateers to pose for me.
The doorbell ringing has me tensing up, thinking it’s my family again. Thankfully, it’s Owen instead. “Hey, Owe. What’s up?”
“I hear your parents made a surprise appearance last night.”
“Word travels fast.”
“How bad was it?”
“That wasn’t discussed?”
Harlow (Society Girls #7) Page 14
