Luke, the recipient reads.
Kass: Hey. We never got to go on that date.
Ten minutes later, my phone pings with a reply.
Luke: How’s tonight 8pm sound?
By the time I’m all prepped up and ready to go to Morgan’s for the day, it’s past eleven. Jogging down the stairs, I check my phone, still fuming at the thought of Zoey’s message. Fuck you, William Martins. I’m done wasting my time.
Turning the corner, I freeze at my mom’s voice and stretch my neck to see her roaming the kitchen, phone pressed to her ear. She doesn’t seem in the best mood, and by the looks of it, whoever’s on the other end of that call is to blame.
She keeps her voice down. “No, that’s enough, Nick. You need to stop harassing Kendrick.”
Nick.
She’s talking to my dad?
“Do you have any idea how hard it’s been to hide your calls? If your son wants to talk to you, he will.”
Wait, has my father been trying to contact us?
“No, I won’t talk to him for you. You’ve already said your piece. If he wants to meet you at Dale’s, he will.”
Dale’s.
My mind runs a thousand miles. Where have I heard that name before?
“And if you knew your son at all, you’d know he always gets hungry early. Seven’s way too late.”
I discern my dad’s muffled, barely audible voice but can’t make out what he’s saying.
“Goodbye, Nick,” she snaps, hanging up on him.
I immediately google Dale’s. The results trigger my memory, showcasing a restaurant downtown. A very fancy one at that. The kind of fancy where a glass of water costs fifty bucks. Shoving my phone into my back pocket, I pad into the kitchen, hugging my mom good morning and telling her I’m going to Morgan’s. And I am. For the majority of the day, at least. But I know where I’ll be at seven tonight…
Pulling into an empty spot at the restaurant and killing the engine, I peek at the time on my locked phone screen—6:59—and click on Will’s unanswered messages. He’s been texting me throughout the day, asking me what I’m doing.
Well, I sure know what he’s doing.
Or who.
I was in heaven when my mom called to tell me I could go pick up my car from the shop early. Let’s just say I wasn’t in the mood to crash my father’s dinner by bus. When seven strikes, I get out of my car and smooth down my clothes, collecting the little courage I have left with a spoon.
Breathe, Kass. You can do it.
I march toward the entrance with my head held high. I may look confident, but on the inside, I’m barely holding myself together. My outfit earns me a full-body scan from the ginger woman at the front desk. She raises her eyebrow, clearly thinking “Are you lost?” Can’t lie, she does have a point. I am definitely not dressed for this place.
“Hi, do you have a reservation?” she asks.
“I’m here to meet someone.” I hope to hell Kendrick didn’t change his mind and decide to show up at the last minute. I want my dad alone for this. “Nicholas Mitchell?”
Her eyes light up. “Of course. Follow me.”
I do just that, my pulse thundering in my neck. I only realize what I’m about to do when the waitress tells me, “Just a little further.”
I’m going to see him.
I’m about to see my dad for the first time in months and confront him. In a few minutes, I’ll know what truly happened that day. My fears multiply when I spot him in a wide leather booth at the back of the restaurant. He’s got his eyes locked onto his phone. He hasn’t changed one bit.
I frown when a woman comes up behind him, all smiles, and slides into his booth. My jaw crashes to the ground as a scene worthy of my worst nightmares plays out in front of my eyes.
No, it can’t be.
My hand flies to my mouth when she pulls on his face, plastering her mouth to his for a long kiss.
Finally, they pull away.
And my father sees me.
Panic twists his features. But he’s not nearly as freaked-out as I am. Because the woman previously eating my father’s face is not just any woman.
It’s Jenny.
Yes, Jenny, as in my twenty-two-year-old boss. Jenny as in the girl who cried in my arms about her boyfriend who has a kid. The same Jenny who told me she couldn’t stay away and had sex with him in his wife’s bed when the family house was empty. Jenny… is the reason my parents got a divorce.
I want to puke, scream, grab a plate off a waiter’s tray, and throw it in his face Frisbee-style. I want to unhave a dad. It all goes down in less than five seconds, but it feels much longer—like an excruciating eternity. Jenny takes notice of my father’s ghostly expression and follows his stare.
To me.
If my dad’s face is worth a thousand dollars, Jenny’s is worth a million.
“Kassidy, honey, let me explain.” My dad falters.
He has no idea how bad this is. He doesn’t know Jenny is my coworker. He doesn’t know she gave me explicit details about riding him in my mother’s bed and how much the forbidden aspect of it turned her on.
I think I might be sick right here on their expensive carpet.
“What’s going on here?” Jenny questions, seeming genuinely clueless.
My dad exhales. “Jenny, this is my daughte—”
“Don’t bother,” I cut him off. “She knows my name, don’t you, Jenny?”
“You two know each other?” my dad gathers.
That’s when I snap.
“Yes, we know each other, Dad. Want to know how? She’s my fucking boss.”
My outburst is quick to capture the attention of surrounding customers. Good thing I couldn’t care less.
“He’s the guy you told me about? My dad?” I yell at Jenny, who won’t even look at me, tears glimmering in her eyes.
Then it hits me.
The most probable explanation of how this all started. I always wondered why he quit his job as a college dean.
“Oh my God. Is she…” I almost gag. “Is she one of your students?”
Gasps run across the room.
My father looks mortified, which is how I know that I’m spot-on. This is why he quit. Because he didn’t want to get caught. It isn’t lost on me that Jenny altered her story, careful to exclude the dean/student details of the relationship, and said he only had one kid to make herself look better.
“How could you? Cheat on mom with a student? Dad, she could be my sister. My fucking sister.” My voice splits.
“Kassidy, that’s enough!” he barks.
“Is she the reason you’ve been gone for months? Why you gave up on us?”
It’s my father’s turn to snap.
“I didn’t! I didn’t give up on you. I’ve been calling your brother. Why do you think I’m here? I want him to meet her. The love of my life.”
Tears burn my eyelids. I’ve always suspected Kendrick was his favorite, but hearing him say it to my face still hurts like hell.
“Why not me?” I choke.
“Because you’re judgmental, Kassidy. You always have been. Just like your mother.”
That’s the dagger in the heart I can’t take. I begin to bawl, right there in the middle of a restaurant full of strangers.
“Don’t worry. I’m done looking at you.” I wipe my face with my sleeve. “I never want to see you again.”
I barge out of the building, hyperventilating. As if this day wasn’t shitty enough, I bump into someone entering the restaurant on my way out.
“Kass?”
I look up, barely recognizing my big brother through the tears. Looks like he changed his mind, after all.
“You knew?” I yell so loud he jumps.
Guilt fills his eyes. “Kass, please, calm down.” He goes for my arm, but I fling it out of reach.
“Did you fucking know, yes or no?” I belt.
He gives in. “Yes, of course I knew. I’m the one who told mom.”
This is why
he was running out that day. Why he was so pissed. Why he and my mom were whispering for weeks after Dad left.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” I try to punch him, but he dodges every blow—downside of attacking a trained fighter.
“I wanted to, Kass, I swear, but he was always your hero. I… I couldn’t do that to you. I wanted him to tell you himself. You have to believe me. I only came here to tell him to fuck off and stop calling me. I don’t want to meet his toddler girlfriend.”
“You mean my boss?” I huff out a bitter laugh.
“What?” His eyes grow. “No way?”
“Yep. My store manager is the one fucking dear old Dad. Isn’t the world small?” I speed walk to my car, Kendrick on my heels.
“Kass, wait. Let me take you home, you can’t drive like this. You’re too emotional.”
I ignore him, dropping into my passenger seat and locking the doors before he can drag my ass out like the overprotective brother he is. I reverse out of my parking spot, Kendrick’s words haunting me as I drive away.
He was your hero.
He’s right.
He was my hero.
Until the mask came off and I realized heroes are just villains successfully hiding their sins.
Will
“I knew you’d come back.” Callie’s chuckle rubs me the wrong way. When did her laugh become so fucking annoying? Lying on her bed, I watch as she locks her bedroom door, stripping off her dress and revealing dark red lingerie.
She looks at me with that pout that used to turn me on. See anything wrong with that sentence? Used to. That’s what’s wrong. God, I’m so fucking bored. Bored with the way she moves, the way her tits bounce as she crawls to me on all fours. Where’s the adrenaline? Where’s the itch to toss her panties to the side and jam myself inside her? I want more.
I want my dick to strain in need.
I want something that’s not happening right now. Kneeling by my side, she grips me through my pants, leaning forward for a kiss I deny her so fast even I’m surprised.
“No kissing,” I growl, reminding her of my only rule.
“Why not?” She pouts some more. “We did before.”
She’s right.
I did kiss her.
Once.
Long ago.
I remember that day vividly. I’d driven to Callie’s place after mentioning my dad to my mom for the first time in five years. I wanted my mom to drop the act, to finally admit to me that he was nothing but a sick man. A poor excuse for a father, no more, no less.
Instead, she’d fed me more lies about how he planned on doubling the cash he’d stolen and come back to us that night. After all this time, she still couldn’t tell me the fucking truth. I was miserable, wrecked, angry at the world, and… in desperate need of a distraction.
I can still picture it: Callie writhing beneath me, legs over her head as I pounded into her. Seconds before I shot my load, she asked what we were doing, what this meant. Her exact words: “Do you think we’ll ever be more?”
So, I kissed her.
I slammed my mouth to hers to shut her up while I finished, emptying inside the condom for a short moment of relief. She was so happy. So certain I’d answered “Yes” without words. I felt so fucking awful afterward I never let her get anywhere near my mouth again.
“Will?” Callie insists.
I snap back to reality, the devil on my shoulder weighing a thousand pounds.
Why am I here right now?
You’re here because you wanted to do something very nasty to a girl you can’t ever, as in ever, get nasty with, the red devil replies.
I curse my own thoughts, because they’re true. I did want to do something to Kass last night. Scratch that—I wanted to do a lot of things to Kass last night, which is why I had to leave. Because she’s still Kendrick’s sister. And I can’t think of her that way. But man, did I want to pin her up against the wall and…
I get hard at the thought, and Callie rejoices. I wonder what she’d do if she knew it’s not for her.
I judge myself for my own dirty, twisted thoughts. Still, I see her. Kass. Squeezing me through my jeans instead of Callie. Not to mention Callie recently bleached her hair blonde. Kass’s color is more natural, but… maybe if I squint.
Maybe…
I twist Callie’s hair around my fist, imagining Kass’s pale blue eyes looking up at me. Her lips wrapped around my…
Fuuuck.
I get even harder, sucking in a breath and banishing thoughts of Kass from my brain. My arousal immediately dies down.
“What’s wrong?” Callie hisses.
“Nothing,” I snap.
What’s wrong is you don’t do shit for me anymore. My phone buzzes before she can respond. I pick it off her bed. Kendrick’s calling. Four missed calls?
What the…
Something’s up.
“I have to go.” I shove Callie off me within seconds, jumping to my feet and adjusting my pants.
“Are you kidding me?” she spits.
“Look, it was great and everything, but I don’t think this is going to work out.”
“Are you…” She blinks in disbelief. “Are you saying you don’t want us to sleep together anymore?”
Appreciating her making this easier for me, I seize the opportunity to shut that chapter of my life.
For good.
“That’s exactly what I’m saying.” I swing her bedroom door open, dashing down the stairs without looking back.
“Fuck you!” she shouts.
“No, thank you,” I fire back, slamming the front door and sprinting toward my car. Kendrick’s call goes to voicemail before I can answer, so I call him back.
“What’s wrong?” I say the second he picks up, putting my phone on speakerphone and tossing it onto the passenger seat as I drive away.
“Have you talked to Alex today?” Kendrick blurts, the panic in his voice unmissable.
“No?”
“Damn it. Where the fuck is he?”
“Why? What’s going on?”
“I can’t reach him. Something happened with Kass.”
I hit the brakes so abruptly someone honks at me. Pulling over to the side of the road, I grab my phone and turn up the volume all the way.
“What happened to Kass?”
“I wanted to tell her. I never meant for her to find out this way. I’m so fucking stupid,” Kendrick rambles.
“Kendrick, what the fuck happened to Kass?” I growl, his semi-breakdown testing my resolve. I need answers. And fast. He tells me Kass heard about her dad wanting to meet up with Kendrick at some restaurant, showed up there herself, and found out her parents got a divorce because he was banging one of his students, who also happens to be Kass’s boss.
“Damn. And I thought my family was fucked-up,” I mutter. “How’d she take it?”
“How do you think? She freaked. She went apeshit on me and took off. I can’t find her anywhere. She’s not at home, she’s not at Morgan’s. I’m worried something’s happened to her.”
I want to smack him for letting her drive in this state.
“I need to talk to Alex,” Kendrick adds. “They used to date. He knows her better than anyone. He knows where she would go in a moment like this.”
I almost laugh.
Yeah, right.
“Don’t worry. She’s a smart girl. I’m sure she won’t do anything stupid,” I reassure the both of us.
A distraught Kendrick hangs up the phone, leaving me to fend for myself against a million worst-case scenarios. I sit there, racking my brain for five minutes before I finally figure it out. Igniting the engine, I rejoin the traffic and speed down the street at full speed.
I think I know exactly where she went.
Kassidy
My heart in my throat and tears blazing my eyes, I stare blankly into the void ahead of me and wait. For what, you ask? Something—anything. Maybe, if I’m lucky, Will’s tree house will collapse and put me out of my misery. As
long as it brings this horrible day to an end, I’m on board.
I haven’t cried once. Correction: I haven’t let myself cry once. I knocked some sense into myself as quickly as Daddy dearest walked out on us—sorry, too soon? He doesn’t deserve my pain. Did it stop the tears from trying me? Did it stop the painful pit from taking residency in my throat? Not one bit. But I won’t break down for someone who doesn’t care.
My father is a cheating, college-girl-banging piece of trash.
There, I said it.
Now I just have to learn to live with it.
I rub my eyes, which are terribly swollen from repressing my emotions, and make a mental note of looking up “can you get eye problems from holding back tears?” later.
I’m not sure why I came here, really. Why my shattered heart lead me to Will’s tree house. From the moment I watched Dale’s dwindle into my rearview mirror, I knew I couldn’t go home. Then memories of the night Will took me to his “secret spot” resurfaced. I remembered how quiet, gorgeous, and peaceful it was there and found myself taking the exit without realizing it.
My phone lights up with another one of my brother’s messages, and I consider powering it off.
Kendrick: Where are you?
Kendrick: Where the fuck are you?
Kendrick: You’re not home.
Kendrick: Mom is worried sick.
Kendrick: Kass, at least tell us you’re okay.
Kendrick: That’s it. I’m calling the cops.
Kendrick: Okay I’m not calling the cops but come home.
I snort at his last text. He can call the cops all he wants; I have nothing to say to either of them right now. I’m about to delete his messages when I hear branches cracking.
I stiffen up.
Five buck says the Universe heard my prayer and sent a big-ass bear. Although, I have to admit, being devoured by a bear isn’t exactly what I was going for.
Forgotten Rules: A Brother's Best Friend Romance Page 16
