by T. L. Quinn
I reach my hand in my purse trying to find my keys. Dean doesn’t even pull into his garage, and he is out of the car so fast I don’t even have time to get the door open.
“Caroline! Wait! Let me explain.” I can hear Dean running toward the door.
I finally get the door unlocked and push it open as I call over my shoulder. “I don't want to talk to you.”
It’s too late through. Dean has caught up to me and grabs my elbow gently. “Please, let me explain.”
My anger gets to the level that it is outweighing my rational side. I turn to him and throw my hands up in the air. “Explain what! That you have a wife? That that wife is Brian’s mom?” I let out a frustrated scream with my mouth closed. “It doesn’t matter anyway! This was never going to work. It’s too complicated!”
Dean quiets his voice trying to calm me down. “Caroline...please. It’s not what it looks like. Just give me a second to get this straightened out. I don’t want to lose you.”
He reaches out and rubs his hand up my arm. I want to pull away, but I also never want him to stop touching me. I don’t have time to decide because just then Brian opens his bedroom door and starts walking down the stairs.
“What’s going on down here? And why is my mom mad at me for not coming to say hi at the fair to introduce my girlfr-.” Brian stops mid-sentence and looks to where his dad has his hand on me. He just stares for a moment and then says, “Did you guys go to the fair together?”
There is accusation in his voice and even though he has no right to be mad after what he did, I still don’t want him to know.
Dean looks over to Brian and stenly says “Brian, can you give us just a minute.”
Brian just scoffs. “Why would you need a minute with my girlfriend? What is going on here?” Brian’s voice is raised higher than when he first came down.
I look between the two of them and am about to say something when Dean starts talking again. “Brian, we just need a minute. Why don’t you go back to your room and ignore Caroline and hit up Maddison. Isn’t that what you usually do anyway?”
My mouth drops open. I cannot believe he just said that. I need to stop whatever is going on here before it gets worse. I turn to Dean. “Mind your own business Dean.” I grit out with my teeth clenched together.
Dean is pissed. His face is getting redder and his eyes are so dark, it is almost scary, but he doesn’t back off. “No. I need to talk to you.”
Brian buts in again “What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”
Dean turns towards him again. “I don’t know Brian. Why don’t you tell us what you were up to on Caroline’s birthday? Or better yet. How about on Friday?”
Brian looks confused. “Her birthday? We weren’t even staying here on her birthday.”
He completely ignored what Dean was insinuating, which seems to make Dean even angier.
“I wouldn’t need a minute alone with her if you could just keep your dick in your pants!”
Brian looks over to me. When our eyes meet, I know he knows I know about what happened with Maddison. There is almost regret in his eyes, but then his eyes flash toward where Dean is reaching for me again, and I see in his eyes the moment it clicks what is going on.
Brian’s chest puffs out as he takes a deep breath. “What the-....ARE YOU FUCKING MY GIRLFRIEND?”
Before I know what is happening, Brian has made it the rest of the way down the stairs and is charging toward Dean. I scream out “Brian! Let me expla-” Wham.
Brian’s fist connects with Dean’s face. I scream again “Brian stop!” He doesn’t listen and tries to take another swing. Dean is much bigger than him, so this time he avoids the punch and grabs Brian’s arms and holds him down against the wall. “Calm down Brian.”
Brian just screams out. “My dad is fucking my girlfriend, and I’m supposed to calm down!”
Dean lets him go and falls back a couple steps.
I can tell Brian is going to go at Dean again, so I jump in between them.
“Brian. Stop.” My voice is firm, and Brian pauses this time to look at me, so I continue.
“Go upstairs. Now. We need to talk.” Brian takes a deep breath like he is going to argue, but then he relents and starts heading upstairs and I go to follow him.
Dean tries to stop me. “Caroline-.” but I cut him off.
“No Dean. I can’t deal with you right now. Just let me go.”
Dean looks like he is going to protest but then stops and just nods his head at me. I take a deep breath and march up the stairs.
I walk into our room and shut the door behind us. Brian is sitting on the bed with his fists curled in the blankets. After a moment he decides against it and stands up and begins pacing back and forth.
I am silent for a moment because I don’t know where to begin. Should I tell him about my birthday and how we knew each other before I knew he was his dad? Or just keep it simple and tell him it happened after I found out about Maddison.
Brian speaks first. “You slept with my dad?” The question comes out almost as disbelief like he thinks now that we are alone I might contradict it. I take a breath and then just quietly say. “Yes.” I don’t give him any more details. He looks angry at me at first, but then I tilt my head to the side and raise an eyebrow at him. He looks down to his feet ashamed now that he remembers I know about Maddison. “How did you find out?”
I let out a noise of disbelief. “Does it matter?”
He shuts his eyes for a minute. “No, it doesn’t matter.” Then he walks over to the bed and sits down. He pats the spot next to him, so I go over and sit next to him.
“I want you to know I never meant to hurt you, and I still care about you.”
I don’t know if I should believe him or not. I’ve never had a boyfriend cheat on me before. Maybe this is standard protocol to apologize, so they don’t feel bad about themselves.
Surprisingly, I am not screaming at him, calling him names, throwing his shit everywhere. We are both pretty calm. Maybe it’s because of what just happened downstairs or maybe it’s because deep down I knew we weren’t going to work out.
“I want to believe you, but what you did hurt me.”
Brian closes his eyes again. “I know.” He turns toward me and grabs my hand.
“Nothing happened between me and Maddison until your birthday.”
I look to his eyes and I think he is being sincere. He continues. “We kissed that night before your birthday.” He sighs and then goes on. “It seemed like things weren’t working out between us, and Maddison was having a hard time and I wanted to comfort her. After it happened, I told her I couldn’t do that while I was with you, so I planned to talk to you the next day. I felt guilty though. I kept saying nothing was going on between us and then suddenly there was. That’s why I was late picking you up that day, and then you turned your phone off and I didn’t know where you were. I just sat at your place thinking all night, and I kept feeling like I was such an asshole for letting this happen. And then when you came home that night, I felt even worse. I remembered how much I cared about you, and I wanted to try to make it work.”
The last part surprises me a little. “But you kept seeing her?”
Brian shakes his head. “No. Not at first.”
I’m surprised again. I thought for sure he was with her the whole time we were together. He continues. “Once we moved in together, things weren’t the same as they were before. I don’t know if it was what happened on your birthday that changed things or if living together just made us realize we weren’t meant for each other. I could tell you were pulling away. We hadn’t even had sex since we moved in together. Then this whole apartment flooding thing happened, and I know it’s not an excuse and we should have broken up before I did anything with Maddison, but I didn’t want it to be awkward. I didn’t think you’d want to stay here with me after we broke up and if I left, I didn’t want to feel like I was kicking you out.” Brian pauses and then raises his eyebrows at me. “Altho
ugh now I'm not so sure you would have minded staying here all alone with my dad. Huh?”
I cringe. “Can we maybe not talk about your dad?”
Brian lets out a small laugh. “Oh sure. So I have to sit here and apologize and you can just avoid the conversation all together.”
I roll my eyes and give a small laugh. “I’m sorry if finding out about me and your dad hurt you. That wasn’t my intention.”
He looks at me with a raised eyebrow. “Oh no? So you didn’t find out I cheated on you and you had the perfect opportunity to get back at me right across the hall?”
Luckily, Brian’s tone doesn’t sound as serious as he was downstairs, and I think now that the shock has settled and he is thinking about it rationally, he isn’t as upset.
I think about the night I saw the video of Brian and Maddison and why I went over to Dean’s room that night. Sure, I wanted to get back at Brian, but if Brian’s dad were someone else I never in a million years would have pulled a move like that.
I shake my head. “No, it wasn’t exactly like that.”
Brian looks at me like he wants me to elaborate. “I mean, yes, I was hurt and angry and I wanted to get back at you, but I wouldn’t have chosen your dad to get revenge with.”
Brian gives me a small smile. “Then why did you?”
I let out a breath not knowing exactly how much I want to tell Brian, so I just keep it vague. “I”ve met your dad before. Like before we moved in. I didn’t know he was your dad at the time and we just clicked you know?.”
Brian looks shocked by my confession. “You’ve been seeing my dad since before we moved it?”
I quickly shake my head. “No! That only happened after I found out about Maddison. We just have met before, and well, I just mean I didn’t sleep with him to get revenge on you.”
Brian looks like he wants to hear more about how I know his dad, but he just nods his head in understanding. He looks at the ground and blows out a breath. “So what now?”
I shake my head. “I’m not sure. I’m going to go stay at Ally’s place tonight. I already have an overnight bag packed. Can we figure out the rest tomorrow? It’s been a long day.”
Brian nods his head. “Sure.”
He leans over and gives me a small hug. Then he pulls back and looks at me.
“Caroline. I’m sorry how things went down. I really do still care about you, and don’t go breaking your back sleeping on Ally’s couch. You know you can stay here until you find your own place?”
I need to figure things out with Dean before I make any kind of decision, and I don’t think I can do that tonight. “Thanks Brian. Friends?”
He smiles at me. “Friends.”
“Oh and Brian?”
“Yeah?”
“Don’t be too mad at your dad. I know he was being an asshole down there, but he loves you. The whole situation was just too complicated.”
Brian just nods. “I’ll try.”
◆◆◆
I have my overnight bag thrown over my shoulder, and I texted Ally that I was coming over. I start walking down the stairs and see Dean just sitting on the entryway step waiting for me. He has his face in hands, and when he hears me coming down, his eyes snap up to mine and he stands up. He opens his mouth to say something but I stop him.
“Dean…” His eyes are searching my face trying to figure out what I am going to say, but even I don’t know yet.
“Can we not have this conversation tonight?”
He eyes my bag over my shoulder and concern comes across his face, so I continue. “I’m going to stay over at Ally’s tonight. I want to talk, but just not tonight. I need to sort through some things first.”
Dean nods and looks down toward the floor, but then he looks back up at me.
“But promise you’ll let me explain. I don’t want you to just sneak out of here without giving me a chance.”
The thought did cross my mind. It would be easier if I just came and grabbed my things while Dean was at work and tried to forget all about him, but the second his eyes reach mine, I know I can’t just walk away from him. He’s made me feel like I’ve never felt with anyone else before. I nod my head and softly whisper. “Okay.”
We both just stand there awkwardly for a second and then I go to leave, but before I walk out the door, I pause and turn around “Dea-.”
Before the words are out of my mouth, Dean pulls me in close and slams his mouth against mine. I don’t know if he wanted this kiss in case it’s the last time we get to kiss each other or if he is trying to convince me to come back to him. Either way I give in and kiss him back. The kiss is different than the ones we’ve shared before. Maybe it’s because we both know this isn’t leading to sex, but it feels like he is trying to tell me how he feels about me with his mouth and his tongue. After a few moments, he pulls back and leans his head against my forehead. “I’ll see you tomorrow?”
I give a small smile and just nod my head. “Bye.” I whisper, and then I walk out before I do something I'll regret.
Chapter 12
I knock on Ally’s door, and she opens it right away. “Oh honey.” She pulls me into a hug.
“C’mon. You just need some girl time. I was just opening a bottle of wine. Jessica will be here in about an hour. I dug deep in my closet and found my collection of chick flick DVDs.”
I set my bag next to the couch and laugh. “Do you even have a DVD player?”
“The Xbox plays them. Good thing I dated that gamer dude back freshmen year huh?”
I laugh again. Ally has dated so many guys in college that I don’t even remember a gamer one. “You are probably the most diverse person I know just because of all the different types of guys you’ve dated.”
Ally takes a pretend bow. “Thank you. Thank you.”
I laugh again. I’m so glad I’m here. I needed to just take a break and breathe. There’s never any drama with me and Ally. That’s why we're best friends. “Speaking of men you’ve dated. Who are you seeing these days? I saw you were hanging out with Doug again.” I wiggle my eyebrows at her. “You hitting that again?”
Ally gets the biggest grin on her face. “A lady never tells.”
We both burst out laughing because I know more details about her sex life than most of the guys she was having sex with.
We head into the kitchen, and Ally grabs a couple of wine glasses and fills them. She hands me mine, and I pretty much down the whole thing in one sip.
Ally smiles at me when I set my glass down, and she doesn’t miss a beat refilling it.
“Want to talk about it? Or do you just want a distraction while you process it?”
I think for a second. “Can I have both?”
Ally laughs. “Of course! Duh.” She grabs the bottle of wine.
“I’ll just take this with us. C’mon I was about to do my nails. You can pretend I’m a spa therapist.”
We head to the living room and sit by the coffee table where she set her nail stuff out on. I start taking off my old polish when Ally says. “Alright I’m ready. Spill your guts.”
“Oh man. I don’t even know where to start.”
“Well, last I heard, you were heading off on your big date with Dean and were going to tell that dickshit Brian off.”
I laugh. Ally still hates Brian and don’t get me wrong, I’m still mad about what he did, but after our talk I just don’t care quite as much anymore.
“The date was wonderful. Probably the best date I’ve ever been on.” Ally beams at me and then I add. “Until we ran into his wife.”
Ally’s smile drops from her face and she shakes her a head a few times. “Wait what? He’s married? How did you not know that?”
Now I shake my head and throw my hands up in frustration. I really needed to vent to get all my feelings out there in the open. “I have no idea! She obviously doesn’t live with him. You haven’t even heard the best part. His wife is Brian’s mom.”
Ally covers her hand over her mouth. “What? No.
How is that possible? Brian never said his parents were married, did he? Have they been married this whole time? Maybe when they turned eighteen? How come Brian didn’t live with his dad if his parents were married?”
The questions will probably keep coming so I stop her. “I have no idea. I didn’t exactly talk to Dean about it yet.”
Ally looks even more confused now. “What, so you just ran into his wife and then you just ran away and didn’t ask him about it?”
I cringe and Ally notices. “Oh my god! That’s exactly what you did, isn’t it?”
“I mean not exactly. She was asking about where Brian was and I was already freaking out about how Dean was married. I lied and said Brian was getting the car for me, and I took off and called an Uber.”
Ally’s mouth drops open. “You didn’t! Oh my god, so you haven’t talked to Dean at all yet?”
“Well kind of.” I let out a sigh. “You’re going to love this part. Pretty much the most drama you can think of happened next.”
Ally rubs her hands together. “Oh sounds juicy. What happened after you ran away? Did he come after you? Did he tell his wife he’s leaving her for you? Oh did you-.”
“Ally!”
She laughs. “Oh sorry, go ahead.”
“He must’ve ran back to his car because he pulled into the driveway when I was trying to unlock the front door. He ran after me begging me to let him explain.”
Ally stops me. “I thought you said you didn’t know why he was married. Did he not explain it well?.”
“I didn’t let him explain.”
“What? Why not?”
“Because I was pissed at him for lying to me about being married. I hadn’t even broken up with Brian yet, who was literally upstairs. I couldn’t deal with everything at once.”
Ally shrugs. “I mean technically he didn’t lie. Did you ever ask him if he was married?”
I just glare back at Ally. She laughs. “Okay! Okay! Sorry. So what happened next?”
