“What the fuck does Emerson have to do with this?”
“Her best friend is dating a guy who loses his shit if another guy so much as breathes in her direction,” he pointed out. “You don’t think Linnie wants to feel special like that, too?”
I could feel my scowl. “After what happened to Emerson, I lose my shit if some guy gets too close to her, Deke. So do you,” I reminded him.
He just rolled those demon-green eyes of his. “That’s different, Liam, and you know it. Quit purposely acting dense to get out of the responsibility of Linnie’s emotions.”
Fucker.
“Every day she sees her best friend being…uh, courted by a guy who makes it known to all and sundry that he’ll kill for her,” Deke continued. “That’s all Linnie wants. Hell, that’s all any girl wants.”
I gawked at him. “Courted? Sundry? What the hell? Did you, suddenly, fall out of a thirteenth century time warp?”
This time, Deke flipped me off. “Look, asshole,” he said wryly, “I’m trying to help you out here.”
I cocked my head side to side to try to ease the tension in my neck. “Look, I get it, but it’s not the same, Deke,” I replied. “After what we did to Emerson,” I glanced over at Ramsey, “-not throwing shade-” then looked back at Deke, “Ramsey should never let Em out of his sight.” Ramsey snorted, but didn’t deny it. “If she made a break for it, even now, no one would blame her.”
For as long as I live, I will never forget that day in the hallway at Windsor after Ramsey thought he caught Emerson cheating on him. I hadn’t been sold on the fact that she had cheated, but my loyalty was, and would always be, to Ramsey and Deke. And so, when Ramsey put that day’s plan in action, I stood by him as he shredded Emerson to pieces in front of the entire school.
Only she hadn’t been reduced to shreds.
Emerson had proven to be tougher than the three of us put together, and when the truth had come out, Ramsey had gone after her, and begged her to forgive him. Luckily, she did, or else Ramsey would probably be dead or in prison right now.
“First of all, assholes,” Ramsey butted in, “I was fucked where Emerson as concerned the night I first met her. She was always going to be mine, and she was never going to be out of my sight.”
This time, I rolled my eyes. “The point being, is that what have I ever done to Roselyn to make her doubt my feelings for her?”
“Nothing, other than share her with your best friend, asshole,” Deke deadpanned.
Ramsey let out a deep breath. “I hate to say it, Liam, but I think Deke has hit the nail on the head here,” he added. “Girls are funny about shit like that. They want to feel and believe that they’re the only ones. They want to feel special.”
“Roselyn is the only one,” I argued. “I haven’t even looked at another girl since we started up. Sure, I’ve flirted and shit like that to keep up appearances, but she knew the score. She knew Deke and I only did it so no one would find out about us and crucify her. Hell, even she pretended to have boyfriends from other school to pull off the ruse. But she knew-she knows she’s the only one.”
“Maybe she thinks she’s the only one because she’s the only one willing to let two friends fuck her at the same time,” he suggested pointblank.
“Bullshit,” I spewed. “Everyone in this fucking town knows most of these girls would kill at the chance to get fucked by one, two, or all three of us at the same time. We’re not surrounded by blushing fucking virgins, Ram.”
Ramsey leaned forwards with his elbows resting on his knees and his hands clasp together in front of him. He eyed me and Deke. “Let me ask you guys something…”
“Shoot,” Deke replied.
He cocked his head. “If Roselyn agreed to be your girlfriend, Lee, but said she still wanted Deke to stop by every now and again, for old time’s sake, what would you guys do?”
The basketball bounced across the court floor as Deke threw his hands up in a surrender fashion. “Not happening,” he said. “There’s no way I’d be able to get it up now knowing they were taking the steps to happily-ever-after. It would feel…weird. Liam sharing her is one thing. Liam claiming her is another.”
Ramsey gaze shot to mine. “And you?”
I shook my head. “I’ll bring in toys, porn, roleplaying, whatever to mimic what a second partner can do for her, but there will never be another person in our bed ever again,” I vowed. “Deke’s right. It was one thing when we started this without any feelings involved. This started out as a precaution, a way to help protect Roz from that asshole stepbrother of hers. Now that feelings are involved, and she got the ball rolling on wanting a serious relationship, there’s no way that’s happening again.”
Ramsey sat up. “You need to find a way to make her see that, Lee,” he replied.
“No shit, Ram,” I barked out.
He laughed. “What I mean is…you’re going to have to actually sit her down and explain that shit to her. Telling her she’s yours, end of discussion, is not the way to go about this.”
The surprise on my face was real. “Are you seriously telling me this?”
“He’s got a point, Ram,” Deke interjected. “You’re probably the last person to give a guy advice against the caveman route.”
He shrugged a shoulder. “Emerson knows she’s too good for me,” he said simply. “She knows the only way I can keep her is to force her. Neither of us is confused on that score.”
“So, you’re saying Roz doesn’t think she’s good enough for me?” I asked.
“Look, I’ve never shared a girl before, so I really have no clue what you guys are going through, but maybe you need to worry less about the sex and make Roselyn know she matters in other areas of your life. Make sex secondary to loving her.”
I thought about those words and wondered if that would work. Was this simply a case of Roselyn thinking she wasn’t good enough? That if she was good enough I would never have shared her to begin with? Maybe it was time to tell her about Brandon.
Chapter 13
Roselyn~
The rest of the school day had been miserable.
Emerson and I had skipped fourth period as I spazzed out in the girls’ restroom and Emerson stayed with me. She had received a text from Ramsey while we were in there telling her that he, Liam, and Deke were ditching the rest of the day. But even without Liam there, things had been tense. After Liam caught everyone’s attention by slamming his fist against the locker, speculative whispers were everywhere I went. Telling Todd Liam was my boyfriend proved to be a truth, after all.
Once again, I was alone at home, with Brandon off wherever it is he goes, and those random pangs of loneliness started to resurface. They didn’t assault me often, but when they did, I realized just how much I missed my mom.
Forgetting my homework, I grabbed my phone and went and laid on my bed. My mom answered on the third ring. “Hey, Mom.”
“Rose,” she cooed. “Oh, honey, it’s good to hear your voice.”
I had to blink the sudden tears away and clear my throat so she wouldn’t suspect something was wrong. “How are you doing?”
“Oh, I’m fine, honey,” she answered happily. “Joseph continues to spoil me terribly.”
I smiled, and it was genuine. I’m glad my mother found someone who cared about her after what my dad did to her. “That’s great.”
“As a matter of fact,” she gushed, “he spoils me so much, I was actually going to call you tomorrow and share the good news.”
“What good news?”
“Joseph is flying you and Brandon over this Friday for a family weekend,” she announced, oblivious to the fact that we weren’t a real family.
“Wh…what?”
Her voice softened as she said, “I miss you, Roselyn. I know…I know you say you’re okay being on your own with Brandon…” I cringed at my lie. “…but, I still miss you.”
“I miss you, too, Mom,” I told her honestly. “I really do, but I’m happy for you and everyth
ing you’re experiencing with Joseph that you couldn’t with Dad.”
“Even without the money, Joseph treats me a million times better than your father ever did,” she said softly, but then she seemed to catch herself. “Oh, Rose, honey, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t badmouth your-”
“Don’t, Mom,” I said, stopping her. “You badmouthing him is not going to lower my opinion of him. Trust me. I know exactly the kind of person he is without you saying anything.”
She shook off her unhappy memories and went back to being happy. “Well, I’ve been missing you and Joseph thought flying you kids over would be a wonderful way to fix that. Plus, you kids are going off to college soon. We really would like to spend some time with you guys.”
My stomach dropped and a small part of me wished I could tell her about how horrible Brandon was to me. I wanted to tell her that I didn’t want to travel anywhere with Brandon. I wanted to ask her for just some mother/daughter time away from Joseph and Brandon.
But I couldn’t.
I didn’t want to be the reason for her unhappiness and she really fed into the whole family thing. It’s the very reason I’ve never told her how horrible Brandon’s been to me all these years.
“I know it’s kind of short notice, but…well, frankly, it’s the only time Joseph could carve out. He’s so busy, you know,” she explained.
“No, it’s fine, Mom,” I easily conceded. “I…I’d love to see you. Really.”
“Well, I know we don’t see each other much, Rose,” she went on, sounding guilty and sad. “And, well, now that you’ll be graduating soon and then heading off to college…” She paused. “Well, you’ll be living your grownup life before you know it and we really will be short on time.”
“Oh, Mom,” I whispered, “we will always talk. Grownup life or not, you will always be my mother.”
“I know, Roselyn,” she replied. “I know that. It’s just…well, life has a way of taking over. For instance, all I know about you these days is that you have a new best friend named Emerson.”
I chuckled. “Mom, that’s all there is to know,” I assured her. “My life is pretty boring.”
Not.
At least, it used to be boring before Liam McCellan lost his goddamn mind. Granted, sleeping with both Liam and Deke had never been boring, but I couldn’t exactly tell my mother that.
“Oh, that just can’t be,” she refuted. “You have college coming up. You’re in your senior year of high school. I’m sure you have a lot of things going on.”
I wanted to laugh.
“Oh, sure, Mom. I have a best friend who is dating a psychopath, and I’ve been sleeping with both his friends for about a year now. I let them pop my cherry, and it was ménage at least three times a week after that. Of course, I’d fuck them separately at times, also, but for the most part, I’ve been their fucktoy for a year. Except, now, I want a boyfriend, and ménage partner number one has lost his goddamn mind and insists it should be him. I’m also hiding out at home this evening because he threated to kill me earlier at school. But other than that…yeah, super fun times.”
I didn’t say any of that though. I went with what wouldn’t make her hop on a plane and come home. “Mostly just busy with college, and…stuff…” I mumble lamely.
“Well, Joseph is going to call Brandon and inform him of our plans,” she prattled on. “Oh, Roselyn, it’s going to be a great weekend.”
“Where exactly are you flying us to?” I asked, suddenly, aware I rarely knew where my mother and Joseph were.
“We’re in Florida,” she answered. “We’ve been here for about a month. We’re due to fly back to New York in a few weeks. But we’re hoping to be back in California around graduation.”
That was still a few months away and, suddenly, seeing her this weekend felt important. “Well, I can’t wait to see you, Mom. I’m sure it’ll be fun. I’ve never been to Florida before.”
“You’re going to love Belle Isle,” she insisted.
“I’m going to love seeing you, Mom,” I told her. “I don’t care where we’re at.”
“Me, too, Roselyn,” she replied. “So, I’ll send you all the flight information once Joseph talks with Brandon and I’ll call you to confirm on Thursday, okay?”
“Okay,” I agreed. “I’ll talk to you later, Mom. Love you.”
“I love you too, Rose,” she replied then hung up.
I dropped back on my bed, stared at the ceiling, and wondered how teenage life could be so damn stressful. I was supposed to live a life with both my parents, where my only worries were test scores and a boyfriend who would rather play video games than go shopping with me.
My father wasn’t supposed to break up our family, thrusting me into a life beyond my imagination. A life where I’d be so lonely I’d lose my virginity in a ménage. A life where, said boyfriend wasn’t a boyfriend at all, but a certified lunatic. My best friend wasn’t supposed to be dating a psychopath and Mom wasn’t supposed to be off traipsing the world leaving me to deal with a stepbrother who hated me.
My phone chimed, and I picked it up to see that I had a text.
Either b on time or Im leaving u
I shook my head as disgust danced across my skin. Once again, Brandon was blaming me for Joseph marrying my mother.
Dnt worry. I’ll b on time
Joseph must have been on the phone with Brandon while I was talking to Mom. It’s the only reason I could think of that had Brandon already knowing about the trip.
It was none of my business, but I asked anyway.
R u taking Tiffany?
I got an immediate response, which surprised me.
Dad said no
I let my phone drop back on the bed and wondered if I should brush up on my acting skills. I had no idea how Brandon and I were going to be able to convince our parents that we got along without Tiffany there as a buffer.
This fucking sucked.
Chapter 14
Liam~
Ramsey and Deke were long gone and, for once, I wish I wasn’t alone in this goddamn house.
After our heart-to-heart, Deke and I played a couple of more games of one-on-one while Ramsey announced that he’d been away from Emerson long enough and headed home.
Ramsey had moved her into his house the very weekend she had forgiven him for being a jealous asshole. And, while he was still a jealous asshole, he was a jealous asshole who trusted her completely now. I didn’t pretend to understand their weird relationship, but I did know enough to know that Ramsey would kill anyone who tried to come between them.
Once Deke left, I had taken a shower and then logged onto Windsor’s online site and pulled up all the work I had missed from ditching today. I wasn’t worried about not graduating, but I needed something to keep my mind off Roselyn and my need to drive over to her house and demand she come to heel.
And, as much as I tried, schoolwork wasn’t distracting me from my conversation with Deke and Ramsey. Did Roselyn really think she wasn’t good enough to be my girlfriend just because she slept with both me and Deke? Was it really as simple as that?
My phone rang, and I was so distracted, I answered it without looking, and I really, really should have looked, but I swiped it mindlessly. “Yeah?”
“Liam.”
Motherfucker.
I stretched my neck from side to side and sat up straighter in my chair. “What do you want, Dad?”
“Seriously?” he replied. “A little respect would be nice, Liam.”
“Yeah, well, isn’t respect earned?” I countered.
“You’re going to take over for me one day, Liam,” Elmer replied. “I think that’s enough respect earned, don’t you think?”
I ignored his comment, because I wasn’t going to tell him to shove his money and his company up his ass until Ramsey, Deke, and I had a concrete plan on how we were going to proceed after graduation. The only thing that was solid at this time, was Ramsey was marrying Emerson as soon as we were done with school. Everything
else, we were fine tuning.
“What did you call for?” I repeated, not wanting to waste any more time on this jackass than I had to.
He cleared his throat and got to the reason he called. “I’m going to need you to fly out during Christmas break,” he announced. “Possibly, Spring break, too.”
What the fuck?
“What on earth for?” I mean, it wasn’t going to happen, but he had my curiosity piqued.
“Jesus, Liam,” he swore into the phone, “why do you fucking think? You’ll be taking over soon, son. You need to start showing some interest in how all of this works.”
I snorted. “I know how everything you do works, Dad,” I said, contempt dripping from every word. “You cheat, lie, steal, bribe, extort-”
“That’s enough, Liam!” he barked. “Don’t forget everything I do makes your lifestyle possible.”
“My lifestyle?” I laughed. “You have no idea my lifestyle, Dad. You and Mom would have to make more than an annual appearance in my life to have any idea of my lifestyle.”
“You’re not starving,” he pointed out. “You’re not walking anywhere. You’re not going to public school. You’re not living in suburbia.”
This asshole.
“I’ll give you starving,” I granted, “but there’s nothing wrong with having to walk, going to public school, or living in fucking suburbia, Elmer.”
“Do not call me that,” he snapped. “I am your father, Liam. I will not let an entitled snot-nosed punk disrespect me!”
I could feel ice forming in my veins. His insult did nothing but prove my words right. He didn’t know anything about me. If he did, he’d know I wasn’t a punk. I wasn’t all words with no balls to back my shit up.
“Be careful who you talk to like that, Dad,” I warned. “I’m not who you want me to be or who you think I am. I’d be careful if I were you.”
“Are you threatening me?” he squawked.
“No,” I bit out. “I’m telling you if your future rests on my shoulders, you better learn how to give that respect you’re commanding, and talk to me like the grown motherfucking man I am today, and not the child you left with the housekeeper years ago.”
The Enemy Series Page 26
