Wes audibly swallowed. “Yes, that was one suggestion, but I told him you’d never go for me, so he said I should become the kind of guy you would fall for … that you’d never see me coming.”
“Well, he got that right, cause I sure as shit did not see this coming. Jesus, Wes,” I cried, some hurt seeping through. “Is that where that whole alpha guy vibe came from? You told me it was because you wanted to be more assertive and attract me … God, you even gave me that whole forgettable line and turned me into a mushy girl over feeling bad for you. And, it was all bullshit. It was all his idea and you lied to me. When you could have told me the truth, rather than feeding me more bullshit, you lied instead.”
“Shit, Trixie, I swear it isn’t as bad as it seems right now. I never meant to lie … Everything I said to you when we were together was true. I wasn’t going to follow Papi’s advice and hurt you that way. You know me better than that … I’m not that guy.”
“I didn’t think so, but the evidence is saying something else entirely.”
Wes took a couple tentative steps toward me, watching me carefully as if afraid I may bolt at any second. Which I was on the verge of doing, when he said, “Trixie, I’m falling in love with you.”
Thirty
Wes
“Did Papi tell you to say that?” Trixie asked, her arms crossed over her chest, like a veritable wall of steel between us.
Shit, this is really going badly.
My hands were shaking at my sides, that’s how worried I was that everything between us had been fucked up in the span of seconds.
“No,” I said, trying to remain calm. “I’m saying it.”
“I’m gonna just leave you two alone to sort this out,” Papi said, getting unsteadily to his feet and hurdling toward the door.
Fuck, I thought when he went inside, knowing he needed help, but certain Trixie would never forgive me if I left this conversation unfinished.
“Look, Trixie, I don’t want to leave you like this, but Papi’s in a bad way right now and I don’t want to leave him alone. Will you come with me so we can find someone else to keep an eye on him, please?”
Trixie looked like she wanted to protest, but she simply blew out an annoyed breath and nodded.
I wanted to reach for her hand, but her body language was straight up, don’t touch, so I settled for holding the door for her and gesturing for her to go first.
The party was in full swing and I didn’t immediately see Papi, so we moved through the house, both of us searching the crowd for my drunk and sad Treasurer. After a few minutes, Trixie tapped me on the arm and pointed to the stairs, where Papi was sitting on the second stair down.
“Brody’s over there, I’ll ask him,” I said, leaning in close to her ear so she could hear me over the music.
She nodded and we crossed to my brother.
“Hey, Brody, Papi’s in a bad way and Ridge asked me to watch him, but I need to talk to Trixie. Do you think you can go sit with him, or tell Ridge I had to go?”
“Yeah, no problem,” Brody shouted back to me, before leaning in to kiss Trixie on the cheek.
This time I did take her hand, not only because I needed to have that contact with her, even though she was pissed at me, but because it would make getting us both out of this crazy house faster.
We were almost to the door when it was thrown open by a pretty girl with long brown hair who had tears streaming down her face.
What the hell, is it a full moon?
“Are you okay?” I asked her, stopping a few feet away.
“Where’s your President?” she yelled.
I turned and looked over the heads of everyone in the room for my brother. When I saw him talking to a group of people, I started waving my arm to try and get his attention. It wasn’t working, but a whistle loud enough to stop the music sure did.
Trixie was standing next to me, two fingers in her mouth from making the sound.
I shifted back to the girl when I saw Ridge heading our way and said, “He’s coming. Is there anything I can help you with?” But she wasn’t looking at me, she was glaring at Trixie.
“Can you post something in the paper to humiliate her and ruin her life?” the girl asked angrily.
“This is Crush’s sister,” Trixie said, taking a cautious step forward. “Emma, right?”
Emma flinched and stepped back, right into Brody.
“Whoa,” Brody said, reaching his hands out to steady her. “Easy. You all right?”
“Don’t touch me,” Emma said, pulling her arms away and stepping to the side. “And you, don’t speak to me.”
Trixie looked upset by this order, but nodded her agreement.
“What’s going on?” Ridge asked as he joined our group by the door.
“Are you the President of this shithole?” Emma asked, wiping the wet off her face with the back of her hand.
“Who’s asking?” Ridge asked, obviously not pleased by her assessment of Delta.
“This is Crush’s sister, Emma,” I answered, trying to keep the peace.
“Okay, Emma, what can I do for you?” Ridge asked, his tone gentling as he took in her tear-streaked cheeks.
“It’s your fault, and you need to pay … because we can’t,” Emma said in a rush, making absolutely no sense.
“What’s my fault?”
“It’s the frat’s fault … her fault,” Emma said, pointing at Trixie, who flinched as if she’d been struck.
“What’s happened?” Ridge asked, trying again to find out exactly what was going on. “Where’s Crush?”
“Bennet’s in the hospital,” she replied, her eyes starting to fill up again. “They pumped his stomach, and they won’t let me see him. He was never like this before. He was happy. Being a part of Delta gave him the life he’d always wanted … and something he’d never had … brothers. Stability. People he could count on. And then, you just took it all away and threw him out like he was trash.”
“Who’s Bennet?” Brody asked.
“That’s Crush’s name,” Ridge replied, his eyes never leaving Emma’s face. “Let me come back to the hospital with you, we’ll get this figured out.”
“We can’t pay the bill,” she said, sounding desperate. “He’s been missing work and falling behind on everything … It’s all your fault.” Emma focused on Trixie. “Did it make you feel good to write that article and spin it so my brother came off like a sexist jerk? You didn’t even know him. He’s always treated his girlfriends like queens and has always been there for me, no matter what. He may not be perfect, but he wasn’t malicious and wouldn’t hurt a fly. He worked hard to get where he was, and you took it all away in a second. For what? A good grade?”
I could tell Trixie wanted to argue, but didn’t want to upset Emma any more than she already was.
“Come on, Emma, I’ll take you back to the hospital, yeah?” Ridge said, opening the door and waiting for her to go outside.
“I’ll come with you,” Brody offered, watching Emma with a look of concern.
“What about Papi?” I asked, realizing if Brody, Ridge, and I were all here, Papi could very well be alone.
“Javi’s with him,” Brody replied, never tearing his gaze off Emma.
“Let’s go,” Ridge told him, and the three of them walked out of the house.
“God, that was intense,” I said, taking in Trixie’s rigid form. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”
Thirty-One
Trixie
I felt numb.
First hearing about Papi’s advice to Wes, and then learning from Emma that Crush was currently in the hospital having just had his stomach pumped, and she attributed his downward spiral to my article … well, not even smoky eyes and a red lip could make me bounce back.
I told Wes I wanted to go to my place.
Not only because I needed to be home after the craziness of the night, but because I knew how things were going to go between us, and I’d rather already be in my space when I broke
it to him.
Being at his place would only complicate things further.
“How are you holding up?” he asked once we were seated in my living room.
Steak night must have morphed into something more because Starla and Jude still weren’t home.
“A little shaken up, actually,” I admitted.
“Look, what Emma said was pretty harsh … She was over the line, coming at you like that.”
“Was she?” I asked, honestly beginning to wonder.
“What do you mean?” he asked.
“C’mon, Wes, can you really say that you’ve been able to forgive and forget when it comes to my article?”
“We’ve already talked about this … and it’s in the past.”
“But, obviously it isn’t. I mean, the last two times I saw Crush he was drunk and very vocal about the fact that I ruined his life. The sad thing is, I never thought about it like that. I was so excited about getting the story and furthering my own academic career, that I never even considered the repercussions of my actions.”
I shook my head, disappointed in myself, and continued, “You were made the butt of a joke with your frat for bringing me in and believing me … and Crush not only lost his position in the frat, but his membership, and his place to live. Even, if I’m getting what Emma said correctly, his identity.”
“Crush was a jerk though, and although I didn’t find anything derogatory about the makeover challenge, I didn’t like the way he sometimes talked about women.”
Wes looked guilty, as if sharing his honest opinion with me would let me down in some way.
“Neither did I, but if I think about it, someone at Delta had to approve his makeover idea, right? It was drawn out over a few months and there was the whole party surrounding it, so it wasn’t like no one knew. Also, you guys were pretty quick to throw Crush under the bus as long as I kept the Delta name out of it and made him the focus.”
“Wait, so are you blaming this on Ridge and I now?” Wes asked, his cheeks reddening.
“No, that’s not what I’m saying,” I replied, feeling frustrated. “I’m saying maybe I was so worried about writing the story, and not hurting you too badly in the process, that I didn’t fully think things through and write what I should have written. Maybe Crush is right, and I am the bad guy in this scenario.”
Wes shook his head.
“You’re not.”
“I’m not so sure anymore,” I replied, my mind going a million miles a minute.
“Ridge is going to help Crush and Emma out, so you don’t have to worry…”
“But, I do. If I’m going to be a journalist, a good journalist, I need to be able to see both sides of the story and write a bias-free article. I can’t just go off halfcocked and rant, or spout my opinions about things, not if I want to be taken seriously.”
“You will,” Wes said, moving to reach for me.
I flinched and shook my head, and steeled myself against the hurt on his face.
“Look at the article you wrote about the sit-in,” he continued, as if I hadn’t brushed him off. “You talked to both sides and wrote objectively. You’ve already grown as a writer.”
“That doesn’t help Crush or Emma,” I argued.
Wes looked at me helplessly and said, “I’m not sure what I can say to make you feel better.”
“There’s nothing to say. I need to work this out for myself.”
“Okay, I can understand that.” He ran his hand through his hair and asked, “Can we talk about what happened on the porch?”
I sighed.
“I think we pretty much went over everything.”
“But, I want you to understand … Yes, I asked Papi’s advice, but I didn’t take it. I wasn’t faking the way I felt about you.”
“But you still lied, even though you had every opportunity to tell me the truth. An omission is still a lie. I wouldn’t be upset if I’d heard about Papi’s advice from you, rather than overhearing you guys talking about it. That’s what made it seem like a dirty secret. And, I hate secrets.”
Wes looked at me sadly.
“There doesn’t seem to be anything I can say about either topic to make you feel better.”
“I think that’s probably true,” I agreed softly. “Right now I need some time to process everything. It’s been a crazy night and I feel like my world is upside down. Everything I thought I knew before I went to Delta this evening is now totally false.”
“What are you saying?” Wes asked, the crack in his voice puncturing my heart like a knife.
“All I’m saying right now is I need a break. Time to think things through and figure out where I go from here,” I replied.
“Where you go, not where we go?” Wes asked softly.
“I have to get myself in order before I can worry about us.”
“So, you want me to go?”
“Yes.”
“Will you call me when you know what you want, or should I contact you? I’ve never been through anything like this before, so I don’t know the protocol.”
He looked so forlorn, I wanted to hug him, but I knew that wouldn’t help either of us.
“There’s no protocol … I’ll call you, okay?”
Wes got up and walked to the door, even his walk looking dejected, and I felt like the biggest ass, but I knew I needed some time to myself to figure out how I was feeling about everything.
Thirty-Two
Wes
It had been a long night, followed by a shitty day in the pool, and all I wanted to do was veg on the couch and play video games.
And not think about anything…
Brody had spent most of the night at the hospital with Ridge, so I hadn’t seen either of them since the party.
I was in sweatpants and a T-shirt, grumbling at the TV and munching on chips, when there was a knock on the door. My heart leapt in my chest, and even though I’d told myself not to spend any more time dwelling on my last conversation with Trixie, to give her the space she asked for and wait for her to contact me, my first hope was that it was Trixie at the door.
I paused my game and rushed to the door, a hopeful grin on my face as I swung it open.
“Hey, little brother.”
My jaw dropped and a different kind of excitement filled me when I saw it wasn’t Trixie, but our sister Tasha standing there. And, she wasn’t alone … Our baby nephew, Isaac, was bouncing happily in her arms.
“Tash, wow, what a surprise,” I said, reaching for the baby. “Why didn’t you tell us you were coming?”
She handed me Isaac and came inside.
“It was kind of a last-minute deal. There’s this convention and we were on the waiting list. When a spot opened up, I decided to take it, and although Jericho wanted me to leave Isaac with him for some male bonding time, I said, it’s been a while since the boys got to see him, and since I’ve seen you all, so … here we are.”
“Awesome.”
Tasha and our sisters, Millie and Dru, ran a catering business. Although we didn’t grow up together, or even find out about each other until about a year and a half ago, our connection had been instantaneous.
We shared more than just our douchebag absentee father, we actually all got along really well. They were the coolest women, married to some pretty awesome guys. It was like a whole other instant family we’d didn’t know we had.
Tasha was the youngest of the sisters. They were all older than us and from our father’s first marriage.
We didn’t get to see each other much, since we were away at school, but we’d started spending holidays together and they’d made a couple trips to visit with us.
“He’s gotten so big,” I exclaimed, lifting Isaac over my head and feeling the weight of him.
Tasha smiled at her son and replied, “He’s all over the place now. Doesn’t like to be still and is so curious about everything. We think he’ll start walking soon.”
We went into the living room and sat down. Tasha pulled a coup
le of toys out of Isaac’s diaper bag and handed them to me, and we talked while I kept him entertained.
“So, what kind of conference is it?” I asked, pressing buttons on Isaacs rocket ship and watching his face light up at the sounds it made.
“It’s for catering, specifically geared towards catering weddings. Dru went to one a couple years back and made some great contacts, so this time I get to go play and have fun,” Tasha replied. “What about you, how are things? You having a good school year? Making good grades? How’s swimming? Any special girls in your life?”
I laughed at her barrage of questions, enjoying the feeling of having someone who not only asked the questions, but actually cared about my answers.
“Things are good. School’s going okay, there are a couple teachers that really like to pile on the work, but I’m pretty much keeping up. My grades are average.” I grimaced, wishing I could tell her I was on the Dean’s List or something … make her proud. “Swimming’s been fifty fifty this season. I started off strong, but there’s so much going on right now that I’ve been backsliding a bit.”
“Hmmm, are you feeling overextended?” Tasha asked.
“Yeah, a little,” I admitted. “There’s a lot going on this year and I’m trying to figure out the best way to balance it all.”
“I notice you left one question unanswered…”
I chuckled and said, “That’s because it’s complicated.”
“Ohhh,” Tasha said, leaning forward and resting her chin on her hand, all ears. “So there is someone. Tell me everything.”
I didn’t want to unload all of my problems on Tasha when she’d just arrived for a visit, but the chance to get a female point of view on my relationship with Trixie and everything that had gone down was too good to pass up.
So, I told her everything. About the way we met and everything that happened last year. About my conversation with Papi, the progression of my relationship with Trixie, and what had gone down last night.
Through it all, Isaac laughed, babbled, threw things, and eventually pushed off my lap so he could explore the living room.
Frat House Confessions: Wes: Frat House Confessions, Book 2 Page 12