Rush

by Gina Gordon

  I made my way down the stairs to the front foyer and breathed in the sweet aroma of cookies. I had already stolen a few for Max and me before I’d started studying.

  My smile immediately disappeared when I pulled open the door and my parents stood on the other side.

  “Everly, dear, you didn’t look through the peephole,” my mother said. “You have no idea who could be on the other side.”

  How the hell did she know I didn’t look through the peephole? It wasn’t the middle of the night and this was a good neighborhood, but it didn’t surprise me. Mother always knew best.

  “What are you doing here?” I didn’t mean for it to come out so rude, but this was my house now. Legally mine. They couldn’t just show up out of the blue.

  “We were in the neighborhood,” my father answered. He was in his usual spot, standing behind my mother.

  They were never in the neighborhood. They hated this area. Which was why my grandmother insisted she live here as long as she could. There was nothing my grandmother loved more than making her daughter squirm.

  I suppressed my giggle. I missed her so much.

  Without an invitation, my mother pushed past me into the foyer. With a timid smile, my father waited for me to gesture him inside.

  I closed the door behind them and heard the disgust in my mother’s voice. “This house needs to be gutted.”

  Granted, the place hadn’t been redecorated since probably the 1980s, but that didn’t mean it had lost its charm. If I weren’t so damn busy trying to become a lawyer, maybe I’d spend some time fixing it up.

  My mother waved her hand in a flippant gesture. “Now, that doesn’t mean you should be spending your time on manual labor. Graduate, then we can talk about fixing this place up.”

  Like hell was I letting my parents get involved in any type of renovation. This was my house now.

  “Although…it would probably be money better spent if you just sold this house and bought a new place. You’re living here out of convenience because it’s closer to school. Once that’s done…” She waved off the last of her comment. Besides, she didn’t need to say anything else. I’d gotten the gist loud and clear.

  I was well aware that my parents only let me live here because it was closer to school. They had also tried their damnedest to keep my grandmother from having any kind of influence. She was a free spirit who’d hated the amount of time I spent studying. Which was exactly why she’d wanted me to complete that bucket list. I loved my grandma. If I was honest, I loved her more than anyone—but Gram could be flaky. No matter how much I tried, she never understood my dedication to becoming a lawyer. She had died trying her best to get me to loosen up. I’d never listened. I knew if she’d had the opportunity to meet Max she would have loved him. She would have loved him even more if she’d found out what he did for a living. She wasn’t a stupid woman—surprisingly intuitive, considering she’d guessed what Grace did on the side. Which was also why she’d agreed to Grace moving in six months ago and taking over the third bedroom after her parents had kicked her out of the house when they’d found out she was working as an escort. Just to make sure she stays safe, Gram said.

  My mother headed to the kitchen with my father close behind. “Late night study food?” She held up the plate of cookies.

  “Grace made them.”

  My parents had no idea what Grace did for a living. As far as they were concerned, she was a university student just like me.

  I walked in and slid onto one of the four oak chairs around the round kitchen table.

  My mother did what she always does, and ran her finger across the beige laminate countertop. Her dark hair was pulled up tight in a bun, her usual hairstyle outside of lawyer events and dinners. She wore a classic, black pantsuit and sensible two-inch heels. My father, on the other hand, was casual, in khaki pants and a button-down shirt, tucked in. Every time I saw him I had the urge to grab his shirt and pull it out of his pants. But it wouldn’t do any good, so I never bothered.

  “How is your new roommate…Sadie?”

  “Great.” I reached across the table and stole a cookie from the plate. “We get along well.”

  My mother wiped her hand across the wood seat then sat, her bottom right at the edge. “She’s a little old to be living with young people, isn’t she?”

  “She’s only twenty-eight, and I don’t blame her. It’s much cheaper to split rent than to do it all on your own.”

  And Grace had vouched for her. That was all the endorsement I’d needed.

  “And what would you know about that, dear?” My father pulled an envelope out of his pocket and placed it on the island. “Here is your allowance.”

  I got an allowance every month. I hated taking it, but considering my parents wanted me to focus on school and not have a part-time job, an allowance was the best solution. But the low blow wasn’t appreciated. I barely spent it. I had saved up a substantial chunk of change since I’d started law school. Living like a hermit didn’t take much money.

  “You didn’t just come here to visit.” I folded the envelope and stuck it in the back pocket of my jeans. “Or drop off money. So tell me why you’re really here.”

  “How are your studies coming along?” my mother asked casually.

  Of course. They were here to check up on the fact that I was studying. Making sure that all I did was study. Never mind having a life. Never mind having fun. Never mind trying to figure out what the hell I wanted to do with my life.

  But you already know what you want to do with your life. You’re going to be a lawyer.

  “Only a couple of weeks until your exams. Are you prepared?”

  Hell, no, I wasn’t prepared. Not anymore. I’d been too busy having multiple orgasms to worry about contract law.

  But before I had the chance to answer…

  “Hey, Evs, are there any more cook—” Max stopped short in the entrance to the kitchen, “—ies?”

  A rush of embarrassment spread through my body. Shit. Shit. Shit.

  He stood there in his boxer briefs. And nothing else. My eyes lowered to his crotch. Thank goodness for small favors. At least he didn’t have a hard-on.

  “Everly, dear…” My mother’s voice was shrill. “Who is this?”

  “Mom, Dad…” I gestured to my guest. “This is my friend Max Levin. Max is helping me train for a two-kilometer run in a few weeks.”

  Exasperated, my mother blurted, “You don’t have time for running, Everly. You should be spending every spare minute with your nose in a book. Daddy and I didn’t work this hard so that you could slack off.”

  My mother wanted nothing more than for me to follow in her footsteps. My father, too, but he wasn’t as vocal about it.

  “It’s exercise, and it’s good for my concentration. I can’t spend twenty-four hours a day cooped up inside.”

  “Well…” My mother didn’t have a response for that. Shocking.

  The four of us stood there in silence. Max stared at me with his eyes wide, no doubt unable to make eye contact with my parents. I couldn’t blame him. I probably should have warned him not to come down, but they never failed to tune me up and I’d totally forgotten he was here.

  My parents were having a silent exchange. I recognized the signs. My father had made his way to the kitchen table and stood to my right, nodding his head for no particular reason. My mother rubbed at the side of her neck as she glared at him. It was the same routine every time I had disappointed them.

  Max let his hands fall and clasped them together in front of his body. When he cleared his throat, my mother was the one to finally break the ice.

  “I expect Mr. Levin has some clothes…somewhere in the house,” my mother said with an upturn of her nose. “We should go to dinner and get to know one another.”

  Like hell!

  “No, Mother, you were right.” I straightened in my seat. “I need to study.”

  There was no way I was subjecting Max to my judgmental and pretentious pare
nts.

  My dad swooped in for the kill. “I think you could spare two hours to make your old dad happy.” He leaned in and kissed my forehead, a gesture that caused my mother to roll her eyes. He whispered in my ear, “It’s not like you’d be studying if we left you here anyway.”

  My father eyed Max sideways.

  Fuck. My. Life. Was this really happening?

  “Dinner sounds lovely, Mr. and Mrs. Parker. I have some clothes in my car that would be suitable for dinner.”

  I mouthed the word no at him from across the room. He simply shrugged and smiled. It was only fair. I’d met his dad. Although, his dad was cool. My parents were…

  I let my head fall with a thunk to the table. This was going to be a nightmare.

  My parents took us to the golf club for dinner—and I knew it was on purpose. They wanted to show off, to show Max exactly the type of people they were. Good thing he had more money than my parents could ever hope to make in two lifetimes and he didn’t give a shit about any of this. But the closer we got to the front door of the club, the more I noticed the tension in his shoulders. The tightness in his jaw.

  “Are you all right?” I leaned in and whispered low so my parents, who walked in front of us, couldn’t hear.

  He seemed to relax with the sound of my voice, and it made me feel special, needed. I knew I should shake it off, but I didn’t want to.

  He looked down, pulling me closer to his body, and smiled. “I got this, babe.”

  We were seated at a table on the enclosed patio, overlooking the sixteenth hole. The greens were pristine. The foliage and trees surrounding the patio were alive with spring. The soft music humming from the speakers and the low murmur of conversation around us served as a nice backdrop. Considering it was the only sound being made. We all sat, silent once again, until our drinks were delivered, then the conversation took the turn I was dreading.

  “Mr. Levin, are you in one of Everly’s classes?” my mother asked as she sipped her red wine.

  Her drink of choice. I hated how it always made her teeth and tongue purple.

  “No, I’m not in law school.” Max sipped his beer.

  “Regular undergraduate classes, then?” she pried.

  “No, I didn’t go to university.” He took another sip. “I work in the family business.” Another sip, this one more of a gulp. I should probably order him another one.

  “Honorable,” my father said as he looked at my mother with sigh of relief. “What does your family do?”

  Max hesitated, and stalled by taking another gulp of his beer. With a clear of his throat, he mumbled, “Films.”

  Oh, God. This was it. I had put Max into a situation where he was going to have to defend himself, and his family. All because my parents were judgmental prudes who just wouldn’t understand. All they would see was the sex. They didn’t realize there was a whole business behind it that had nothing to do with penises and vaginas.

  “Interesting.” My father sipped his scotch. “In my early years, I once prosecuted a film company for tax evasion.” He looked at Max curiously. “Which company?”

  “White Lace Productions.”

  Both my parents contemplated his response.

  “Is that European?” my mother asked, as she leaned in closer. She was genuinely curious. I could see it in her eyes. “Are your parents from overseas?”

  “No, ma’am. They were born right here. We…” I placed my hand over his where it sat on his thigh. He looked over and with a deep breath, he straightened his shoulders and said, “We make adult entertainment films.”

  My father’s face scrunched up. “Like…pornography?”

  Max nodded.

  “I’m sorry.” My mother laughed, a hysterical hyena-type laugh. “I thought you said pornography.”

  Max looked at her with the most serious face I’d ever seen on him. “I did.”

  I squeezed his hand. “Max’s dad is the largest producer of adult entertainment in the country.” The least I could do was talk him up. “Max has single-handedly doubled their online subscription members over the last four years.”

  This time it was him that squeezed. I didn’t look over, so I wasn’t sure if it was in thanks or a plea to stop.

  “You can’t be serious.” My mother glared at me. “Everly, this is who you are spending your time with. No wonder you got a C in insurance law.”

  I recoiled. “How do you know that?”

  She waved me off. “I called your professor.”

  As if it was no big deal. As if butting her nose into my school business was par for the course. Absolutely not.

  “It is none of your business who I spend my time with.” My voice had risen a few octaves and it had taken on a shrill tone I’d never heard from me before. “And you have no right to call my professors to check up on me. Don’t you trust me?”

  She looked Max up and down. “I thought I did.”

  “Have we had time to look over the menu?” Our server, Brian, sidled up to the table with much too big a smile. “I’d be happy to answer any questions you have about the specials.”

  His hair was perfectly sculpted with enough product to prevent even a stiff breeze from rearranging it. He was probably on scholarship and worked at the club because it was the closest he’d ever get to being a member, at least until his education proved worthy and he became a banker or real estate broker. I bet his chest was waxed, too, but that was just my first impression.

  He glanced at each of us, the smile fading a little more as he looked from one to the next.

  “Brian, dear, we still need a few minutes, please.”

  “Of course, Mrs. Parker.” He bowed, actually bowed at my mother, and then walked away. No wonder she liked it here so much.

  When he was far enough away, I leaned across the table and kept my voice low. “I’m still finding time to study. I’m still working hard.”

  “Studying male anatomy does not benefit your knowledge of corporate tax law.” She pointed her wineglass at me when she spoke.

  How did she know? How dare she assume that all we did was get naked.

  Max was nearly naked when they met.

  For the last few weeks, male anatomy was about the only thing I’d wanted to study, but that didn’t mean I had to put up with her ignorance and rudeness toward my friend.

  “I can assure you that Everly is working hard. I make sure we don’t do anything fun until she finishes her work. I’ve even helped her study.”

  “You helped her study?” My father eyed him with disbelief. “And why would you do that?”

  The walls were closing in on me. I was suffocating. That’s what they did to me. Can we say anxiety attack?

  Max took offense to my father’s comments and jerked back in his chair. “I know how much finishing law school means to Everly so I would do anything to help her achieve that.”

  Cue the pitter-patter of my heart.

  Even though my parents were being complete assholes. Even though they had not welcomed my friend with any kind of grace, Max had met their ignorance with kindness.

  I looked over at him, a weak smile curving at the side of my mouth. I did my best to blink away the tears that wanted to stream down my cheeks.

  Max had just proved he could hold his own with my parents. And I’d just learned that no matter what I did, who I was friends with, it was never going to be good enough for them.

  I waved my hand at Brian and beckoned him to our table.

  “Let’s eat. I worked up quite the appetite today.”

  Max choked on the sip of beer he’d just taken.

  I was done accommodating. I was done bending over backward to live on someone else’s time line.

  I was wasting my life. So maybe it was time to pursue other interests.

  Chapter 19

  Max

  Last night, on our way home from dinner with her parents, Everly had asked me to play hooky from work today. There was no question I would accept. Even when I was knee deep in f
inalizing production schedules and had to postpone a meeting with my father.

  Although, I had no idea when I’d agreed that I would spend two hours buying paint and home decor items to redecorate her living room.

  I walked through her front door, dropping five bags in the foyer.

  “Shouldn’t you have your nose in a book?”

  She walked by me on her way to the kitchen. “I should.” She re-emerged with two bottles of water. “But last night I realized no matter how much I study it’s never going to be good enough. So why am I busting my ass for something that I might not even—”

  She stopped abruptly. I could guess what her next words were going to be. The question was whether I was going to call her on it.

  I had an inkling she didn’t want to finish law school—that she didn’t want to be a lawyer. I understood. It was hard to give up on something when you were predestined to become it. I knew all about family pressure. Although, I had to admit, Everly’s parents were a little more…intrusive than my father. At least he respected me. I didn’t get that feeling from her parents last night. Which was why, despite it not being my place, I came to her defense and told her parents just how hard she worked. I couldn’t stand the look in her eyes every time they criticized. Every time they questioned her dedication. I never wanted to see that look in her eyes again.

  “I just need to do something that isn’t stressful.”

  “And redecorating isn’t stressful?” I cocked my head. “This isn’t even my house and I’m worried about screwing up your walls.”

  “It’s only paint. It can be fixed.”

  Despite wanting her to be happy, Everly had to figure out her future on her own. I wasn’t going to be the one to guide her in a certain direction, she’d had enough of that her whole life. Besides, I had my own decisions to make.

  She ran upstairs to change her clothes. I had followed her instructions from last night and wore clothes that could get dirty.

  She’d already packed up the room, so all that was left was to cover the furniture with the same plastic sheets she’d spread out over the carpet. As she changed, I opened up the cans and poured paint into the two trays we’d purchased.