I looked up, and there standing at the top of the stairs in a pair of plaid pj pants was none other than the last person I want to see at the moment. “Hi, Dad.” I sighed as my father pointed at the gate.
“Leave!” he warned as he growled at Will.
“With pleasure.” Will shook his head in disgust as his eyes swung my way one last time. “Come on, Addy. I’ll take you home,” he murmured and that’s when I looked over at my girl. Addison was standing there shaking with tears streaming down her face.
“I’ll take her home.” I climbed out of the pool, but Addison held her hand up, halting me when I tried to comfort her.
“No.” She shook her head. “No to both of you.” She grabbed her things, and took off running toward the street. I could see her shoulders shaking harder the farther she got away, and knew she was crying.
“I’m not going to ask you again.” My father brought our attention back to him. “Leave!” Will shook his hand as it started to swell from his blows before he gave a disgusted sneer in my direction.
“You’re done.” He lifted his chin at me. “Banned. Kicked out. Black balled.” He turned and disappeared in the direction from which he came, leaving me standing there stunned after one of the best nights of my life.
I wiped at my lip as I watched Will jog back in the direction of where we had the party, then turned back to thank my dad, only he was on his way back to his house. I quickly grabbed the remnants of my evening, and jogged after him. No sense in trying to deny what I’d been doing, there were empty condom wrappers all around the lounger.
When I reached the slider that faced Uncle Nick’s house, I saw my dad sitting at the kitchen table. There was a cup of coffee in front of him, and he was staring at it. “Do you know how much noise it takes for the sound to get in here from all the way over there?” He pointed in the direction of the pool.
“No, but I’m sure you’re going to tell me.” I was being a smartass, but I was mad at the moment.
“You better watch yourself in my house, Son.” His eyes lifted to meet mine and I could tell he was all business. This was the Cam Sutter who busted my friends and I drinking his beer when we were fifteen.
“Fine, Dad,” I grumbled as I went to the freezer and grabbed a bag of peas. When I touched them to the side of my face, I hissed at the pain. Will Porter had quite a right hook.
“Serves you right.” Dad pointed at my face. “Sit down before you wake your mom.”
In that moment I felt like the little kid who was getting lectured for swimming without asking all over again. My dad could always break me with just one look, but at the moment I was still stewing over the fact that Addison left instead of staying to talk to me.
“Was she worth it?” His eyes met mine as I leaned over and slipped into a chair across from him.
“Yeah. I love her.” I hissed again as my jaw moved against the frozen peas.
“Seems like you gave up a lot for her,” he mused as he sipped his coffee.
“I only had one more year at the fraternity. I can have her for the rest of my life.” I shrugged as I moved the peas to my brow. I was going to have quite the face tomorrow with all these bruises. “I’m not sure I even have her now though since she decided to leave.”
“You have her.” Dad chuckled. “I saw her face when her brother was beating the crap outta you. She’s just as nuts as you are.”
“Thanks, Dad.” I rolled my eyes.
“That’s not to say that you don’t have your work cut out for you.” He laughed again. “How long has that been going on?”
“Truth?” I sighed.
“Of course.” Dad shook his head like he didn’t even know who I was.
“A while,” I murmured.
“Real helpful, Cayden,” he grumbled.
I knew that me telling him the details of this relationship was going to put me in some hot water, but I also knew my dad had quite the fight to win my mom over. “Remember when I was taking summer classes at UNCW back in high school?” I started and Dad nodded. “Well I met Addison in the library, only I didn’t know her name or anything. I looked everywhere for her when I started school. All I knew was that she was older, and great at math.” I paused as I got ready to drop the next bomb on him. “I finally found her this spring, only she wasn’t a student… she’s the TA in my differential equations class.”
“Cayden” my father warned.
“I know, trust me, I know.” I blew out a breath. “I resisted her as long as I could, Dad. It took months of avoidance. I skipped out on tutoring sessions. Found someone at the house to help. I even started skipping class. It didn’t matter though. No matter how much time or distance I put between us, it only delayed the inevitable. The first time I kissed her, I thought I was burning alive. She set me on fire, Dad.”
“Sounds like a nice problem to have,” he mused.
“I guess.” I shifted in my chair. “I just wish things weren’t so fucked up between us. The school thing is one thing, but the fraternity is a whole other sinkhole that I’m not sure I can fix.”
“I’d be more worried about the school thing if I was you,” Dad warned.
“Trust me, I am. Dr. Haywood won’t beat my ass for being with his TA though.” I chuckled and then groaned in pain.
“Good morning.” My mom’s voice was chipper as she breezed into the kitchen. “Oh my god!” She rushed over. “What happened to my baby?”
“I’m fine, Mom.” I let her pull the peas away from my face and survey the damage.
“Cayden here decided to sleep with his teacher.” Dad wagged his finger at me with an amused expression as Mom almost tripped over herself.
“What?” she screeched.
“It’s not a big deal, Mom. She’s a TA, not a professor, and she’s only my teacher for five more days.”
“Tell her the rest.” Dad chuckled. I don’t know why he was enjoying this so much.
“She’s Will Porter’s sister,” I grumbled and Dad started to laugh. “I don’t think this is funny,” I snapped at him.
“Oh it’s hilarious.” He hit the table with his fist. “I swear I thought you were smart, Son.”
“I’m out.” I stood and started to walk away.
“Oh don’t leave honey.” Mom reached out and placed her palm on my arm. “Your dad is just mad that he’s finding out about this late.”
“Yeah, well,” I paused, “I was hoping to get some help from you guys.”
“Give her time. Fix your face, and then go grovel.” Dad shrugged. When I didn’t say anything he laughed before adding, “It worked on your mom.”
“It did not.” She slapped at his shoulder. “Give her time, Cayden, he’s right about that. Go talk to Will. You need to make things right with him too.”
“I don’t even know if that’s possible now.” I sighed.
“You’ll never know if you don’t try.” Mom smiled. She was right about that. I did need to talk to Will. I knew what he said, but I was kinda hoping that after he calmed down, he’d see that he was being irrational and Addison and I weren’t really doing anything wrong.
“Thanks,” I mumbled. “I need to get back to campus. I have a lot to straighten out.” Not only did I need to talk to Will, but I needed to find Serena and get an explanation on what last night was about with her. Something was going on, and for some reason I felt like I should have known what it was. “I’ll see you guys in a week when I have to move out of the dorms. No way am I going to be able to stay at the house this summer.”
“Love you, sweetie.” Mom kissed me on the cheek as I handed over the melting bag of peas.
“Love you too, Mom.” I hugged her before shuffling to the door and making my way outside. I walked along the path back to Uncle Nick’s house before climbing into my car to make the drive back to campus. The first thing I was going to do was sleep, then maybe shower. Tomorrow I would go see Will. Today all I wanted to do was rest. Sleeping on a lounge chair with another person was not comfortable. Romantic? Mayb
e, but comfortable? No.
Twenty four hours… that was all I had before I needed to make this right.
Chapter 18
Cayden
Ever have one of those days where you feel like everything is working against you? Well, today would be that day for me. I woke up late this morning, and had to practically race to class. I’d planned to talk to Will, but I haven’t had the chance. Addison didn’t come to class today, and Dr. Haywood gave us our last assignment before the final. When I asked him if Addison would be conducting a study session, he said no. I was surprised and he must have noticed because he then added on that she’d had a family emergency and wouldn’t be around for the rest of the semester. This shocked me. What had happened that would make her leave so abruptly, and not even tell me?
I was torn when I left class. I need to go to the house, but I also felt like I needed to go talk to her. I had a two-hour break before my next class. I texted Addison and asked if I could come by. I figured that was better than just calling. I was wrong. It took a few minutes, but when the three dots showed up on the text screen and then disappeared multiple times, I knew I was screwed.
Addison: Too little, too late. Freshman.
Fuck! She hadn’t called me Freshman in months. That was term she used when she was pissed. I was trying to give her space, like my parents had suggested. Didn’t she get that? I stuffed my phone in my pocket, and decided to go to the house instead. Whatever Addison had told Dr. Haywood had been a lie. She was avoiding me… again.
As I made my way down Fraternity Row, I could see a bunch of the guys sitting out on the porch. Dylan and Josh were tossing a football in the front yard, so I knew Will wasn’t far away. Those three were always together. They stopped when they saw me, and just stared.
“I didn’t think you’d come around after what you did.” Josh crossed his arms over his chest.
“Where is he? I need to talk to him.” I ignored his jab. He knew what I meant, and what happened was none of his business.
“You’re not welcome here.” Dylan moved to block my path.
“Come on, Bro. Don’t be like this.” I shook my head at him.
“Pres says you’re not to be here, so we’re here to make sure that doesn’t happen. Capeesh?” Dylan moved closer to me while Josh had a pleading look on his face.
“So you talk for him now too?” I was irritated and they weren’t helping. “You agree with this nonsense, Josh?”
“I’m pulling rank here.” Dylan threw the football on the ground. “Will doesn’t want you here. I’m going to make sure it stays that way, and I’ll bloody up the other side of your face if I need to. My hands aren’t bruised.”
“Really?” I shouted. “You can’t come out here and fight your own battles, you’re going to let your sidekicks do it? What about Addison? Don’t you care what she wants?” I cupped my hands around my mouth as I yelled. I knew he heard me. It took a minute or two of our continued standoff in the yard before Will emerged from the house. He stood in the front doorway with his hands on his hips, glaring at me. “I just want to talk to you.” I flung my arms out to the side.
He shrugged before coming down the steps, walking past our little group, and waving his arms to suggest I follow him. I rolled my eyes as I turned to go in his direction and watched as the entire house stared at us. “You can stop now,” I called out as I jogged to keep up with him.
“No I can’t,” he growled over his shoulder. We kept up the frantic pace until we reached his truck, which was parked on the street. “Get in.” He motioned to the door. I glanced over at him in confusion. “Get in, Sutter, or I’m gonna put you in.”
I yanked open the door, and climbed in as he went around to the driver’s side. “You gonna tell me what this is about now? Or are you taking me somewhere to kill me?” I laughed and Will cranked the engine.
“We’re driving over to the Omega’s house and we’re gonna talk on the way there. Then you’ve got some explaining to do before I decided whether I want to fuck up my hand again.” As we pulled out into traffic, he glanced at me a few times. “Start talking.”
I took a deep breath before trying to find the right words to explain this. “I didn’t set out to do this, man. I met your sister before I even started school here. I had no idea she was your sister until that party at the beginning of the year. I tried to stay away from her, but I couldn’t. The harder I fought it, the more she pushed. It got to a point where I just had to see where it would go.”
“And where did it go?” He ground his jaw as his knuckles turned white against the steering wheel.
“I love her.” I glanced over at him. “I really do, Bro. I know that’s not what you want to hear, but I plan to be with her whether or not you like it. She’s worth getting kicked out of the house for, if that’s what you plan to do.”
“I think it’s funny that you’re saying all of this when you’re messing around with Serena too.” He chuckled humorlessly. “I mean, I guess it’s something I’d try to get away with too, but my sister deserves better.”
“What are you talking about?” This time I faced him.
“I saw her, man. She’s all into you. It was all I heard about at the party. Why would she be like that if you two weren’t messing around?” He flung his hands in the air after parking the truck. We were stopped in front of the Omega house, but no one was outside.
“I’m not with her. I mean, we went to the party together but it was because Addison and I were trying to hide our relationship. Serena was just my cover story. I don’t like her as more than a friend,” I muttered as I ran my palm down my face.
“Coulda fooled me.” He scoffed. “Why would she say all that shit about how great you were?”
“I honestly don’t know.” I was confused. Serena had been acting weird ever since our date at the fun park. The way she sprung this date on me, the way she kept leaning into me…it was all a bit over exaggerated.
Will slumped back into his seat. “I’m gonna tell you something that no one else at the house knows, except maybe Josh. I did get really wasted one night last year and I vaguely remember spilling my guts to him.”
“Ok.” I paused as I waited for him to continue.
“I didn’t have the easiest childhood. My parents died in a car accident when I was fifteen.” I started to say something, but he held up his hand, halting me. “Addy was eighteen at the time, and she took custody of me. My parents didn’t have a lot, but they had enough for us to get by for a while. The money wasn’t enough for school though. Addy only went part time the first couple of years because she had to work to save money for me. She’s smart. She had schools throwing money at her to come to them. I, on the other hand, was lucky to get in. I’ve never been able to do anything to pay her back for all the things she’s given up for me, at least not until now. I don’t have anything against you, Sutter, I really don’t. From what I’ve heard outside the house, you’re actually a decent guy, but Addy deserves perfection and I’m doing my damnedst to find it.”
“You do realize that you can’t pick her boyfriend, right?” I stared at him. “She has to make those choices.”
“I do, but you weren’t there.” He pinched his lips together as if he was holding in his emotions. I’d never seen Will cry, and he almost seemed like a nice guy as he sat here pouring out his soul to me. “You weren’t there when the last douchebag told her he loved her and then knocked her up. You weren’t there when she told him, and he left. You weren’t there when she lost the baby and spent days locked in her apartment telling the rest of the world she was fine. That was me, Bro.” He slammed his thumb into his chest. “I’ve always been there for her, and she’s done the same for me. We’re all the other has left in the world, and I’m not letting that happened to her again.”
My stomach sank as I listened to him. It all made sense now… the lack of attachment, the freaking over the condom, the fear of meeting my parents. She was afraid to get close again, but also craving it. The hot
and cold mood swings were her heart and mind fighting each other. Jesus, I needed to talk to her.
“I’m sorry, man.” I held my hand out. “Truce?”
“You really love her, huh?” He chuckled as he gripped my hand.
“I do, and I hear you.”
“You hurt her, and I’ll make Saturday night look like a fun kiddie wrestling match. You hear me?” He tightened his grip.
“Yeah, man.” I nodded as he released my hand.
“Now, my sister doesn’t forgive very easily, so I know you’ve got your work cut out for you there. I will tell you that you can start by talking to Serena, and telling her that you’re not interested.”
“Ok. You actually going to hang around while I do this?” I opened my door and started to climb out.
“Shit yeah. I wouldn’t miss this show for anything.” He rubbed his palms together before climbing out and jogging up the front walk.
“Wait a minute. You’re coming in too?” I rushed after him.
“Uh, yeah.” He stressed the words. “I want a front row seat. Megan and I are friends anyway.” And just like that I felt like I was in grade school again.
When I stepped through the door of the Omega house, I found several girls sitting on the couch. One lifted her head, “Serena’s upstairs studying,” and then went back to talking with her friends.
“Thanks.” I waved as I maneuvered through the house to the stairs. I jogged up two at a time, and then made my way down the hall. Each door I passed, I glanced in looking for her. When I reached the last door, I could hear her talking to someone. “Hey.” I waved, causing her head to pop up in my direction.
“Hey.” She smiled. “Can you give us a minute, Joy?” She turned back to the girl sitting beside her. The girl nodded, grabbed her books, and left. “What’s up?”
“I need to talk to you.” I stepped in the room, but left the door open. I had no idea what I was walking in on, and I didn’t want to leave any room for interpretation on what was happening.
“Sure. Wanna sit?” She moved over and patted the comforter. “Did you come here by yourself?”
Teaching Cayden (The Sutter Family Book 4) Page 12