by Xavier Neal
Did I forget to mention what a pistol my Aunt Caroline can be when she’s not in the mood to be sweet? Or when you’ve upset her only child? I once had an English teacher who gave me an F on a paper and made me cry in the 8th grade. Let’s just say by the time Aunt Caroline was done with him, in English and Spanish, that F became a B.
***
Walking around the ballroom space, I do my best to not spill egg crumbs on the floor while Tony does the same.
I know. I’m a pretty messy eater.
“Right there?” He points at a corner spot close to the glass doors that swing open. “You’re right. Perfect place for the bar.”
“They can just sneak outside on the patio for their seduction games.” My hand waves around allowing egg to fall.
I’ll pick it up. Yeah. You’re right. Probably not.
“Seduction games?” He folds the last of the tortilla and shoves it in his mouth. “Don’t you mean networking?”
“Isn’t that the same thing?”
After he lets out a light laugh he nods. “I see you are in a better mood.”
I shrug. “Somewhat. That’s what happens when the woman who gave birth to you and split ten years later, magically pops back into your life like some sort of balloon toy.”
“What?” His face is appalled. “Your mother’s here?”
“Yeah. And let’s just say that after spending some time with her I got a real grip on my reality and on the definition of family.”
“Does that mean you wanna tell me what happened with Kellar now?”
A heavy sigh leaves me.
Better now than later, right?
“Logan and I had a night together.” My voice trails off as Tony’s face struggles not to wince.
Bluntly he asks, “You had sex?”
“Right. And the next morning when I woke up, he was gone. Then I found my cell phone, and he had left a message indicating that we needed to talk.”
“And you assumed that meant he regretted what had happened between you.”
“Yeah.”
Tony shakes his head and crumbles the foil. “You were out of line, Maxx.”
I’m sorry what? Did you hear him correctly because I don’t think I did. Did he really just say that? Him of all people?
“I—”
“Look, don’t get me wrong. Kellar is not by any means my favorite person—”
“Understatement.”
“Even so.” He brushes it off. “You were wrong for running away from him and not letting him explain himself. Every guy deserves a chance to be heard when his heart is on the line.” Tony rubs the stubble on his chin. “Especially when it’s probably never been there before.”
Cue to the violins for music at my funeral because those words just killed me.
“You’re right,” I admit softly.
Arrogantly he agrees, “I know.”
Does he have to be smug?
“And I’m going to go home and admit I was wrong. Hopefully…fixing things that are still there to be fixed.”
“I’m sure it can be fixed, Maxx. After all, how could any guy who’s in love with you just walk away?”
I offer him a smile and then push a strand of hair behind my ear. “What about you? How was your date last night?”
“Warrants a second one. Speaking of, if for some reason things don’t go as planned with Kellar tonight and you need a place to escape, my apartment is open. There’s a key in the slit of the welcome mat on the side of the ‘w’.”
“And what if you wanna bring her home?”
“On the second date? Nah. I wait until at least the third date before inviting her over for a glass of wine,” he explains with a sly smirk. “What can I say? I’m a gentleman.”
Giggling I toss my trash at him. “Third date is a gentleman?”
He winks, and I laugh even more. “It’s good to see you smiling again, Maxx.”
Truth? It feels good to be smiling again. And I know this whole thing with Logan is gonna be a little complicated, and I have to actually tell him I was wrong for assuming and thinking the worst without hearing him out first, but I know we’re gonna make it through. We always do.
CHAPTER 6
MAXX
Opening the front door of our house, I slide off my flip flops, take a deep breath, and drop my purse.
I know my friends are waiting to chew me out. Hell, I would be waiting to chew me out, but do you think it would be too much to ask to let me shower first? I’ve had on the same outfit for two days now. Oh shit. Do I smell?
One step into the living room and Luke looks up at me from his knitting.
Bad start already.
“Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t hold you down while I let my sister beat the shit out of you?” he asks, his hands slowing down from the frantic rate at which they were just moving.
He looks like the little old lady who lived in the shoe, glasses and all. He rarely wears them, but does every time he knits.
Erin looks up from her stretched out position on the couch where she is studying, clearly ready to pounce like a lion on a gazelle.
Anyone else starting to feel a little unwelcome here?
With a heavy sigh I shrug. “How about because my mother waltzed back into my life yesterday like she’d never left?”
In unison they croak out, “What!”
Sitting on the arm of the couch I nod. “Yeah.”
“Wait! What?” Erin shoots up, now sitting cross-legged like a child at story time. “How’d she find you?”
“What did she want?” Luke asks.
Can you tell he’s the big brother, father figure?
“Apparently, Aunt Caroline has been keeping her informed about me over the last several years.”
“Why?” The perplexed look on Erin’s face deepens.
“I’m not sure I understand it either, but my guess is Aunt Caroline hated the idea of a mother not being able to know anything about her child, even if it was the mother’s fault.”
Erin scoffs, “Yeah, because that mother is a low down dirty bi—”
“What did she want?” Luke repeats hushing the tantrum his sister was about to start.
Clearing my throat, I fold my hands in my lap. “To tell me she got married—”
“We knew that,” Erin mutters.
“And that I have a brother.” The sentence comes off my tongue and leaves my mouth with a bitter taste.
I haven’t quite put it all together yet myself. Am I pissed off because she had another child and hasn’t left him yet the way she did me, or am I pissed off because she showed up out of the blue to drop this bomb on me at the worst time? Or am I still pissed off that she left me to begin with? All of the above? Am I out of line?
“You have a what?” their voices squeak together.
“Really?” I point back and forth. “The twin thing. You know that drives me nuts. You’re not actually twins!”
“Focus!” Luke snaps. “You have a brother?”
“Technically, half brother. His name is Wilfred.”
“Who the fuck names a child Wilfred?” Erin sneers. “That’s like name suicide. Like naming your child Alfred.”
“That’s Batman’s butler.”
“I rest my case,” she says matter-of-factly.
Why do I even bother?
“Did you meet him?” Luke calmly questions, placing his knitting materials down beside him, preparing for the fatherly speech.
It’s clear as day that’s what’s coming by the way he’s leaning forward, elbows on his thighs, glasses a tad bit down on the bridge his nose, and the way his brow is scrunched tight. We call that the Daddy Dearest Look. Mostly Erin gets it when she brings home her one offs. I’ve gotten it on occasion when caught having ice cream for breakfast. Hey, it’s a perk of being an adult!
“No.” I clarify quickly. “I didn’t wanna destroy his childhood the way the wicked wench obliterated mine. As far as he knows he’s got a normal life, with a normal
mother, and there’s no need to ruin that. Besides, someone’s gonna tell him Santa’s not real in the next year and that’s gonna be traumatizing enough.”
Luke bites back a chuckle. “You didn’t know Santa wasn’t real before that?”
“You did?” Erin looks hurt.
“Of course I did.” He shakes his head. “I was the one who helped tuck Dad into that fat suit every year, so that you would keep believing in him.”
See. This is what I mean. Those are the kind of parents they had. Those are the kind of parents a child should have. Nothing against Aunt Caroline and Uncle Mike though.
“And someday I will help tuck you into a big red suit, brother dear,” she coos on a giggle.
“You better mean a fat suit because there is not an ounce of fat on me now and there won’t be then either,” he clarifies with a stern finger.
“I’m aware.” The bitter snip is accompanied by the roll of her eyes. “And if you throw away all the non low-fat bread in the house one more time, keeping a low carb count is gonna be the least of your problems.”
“Keep talking, Rachel Ray…”
I cut Erin off before she can respond. “Anyway, I spent the night there because I was too shaken up to drive, and I basically told her to fuck off this morning. Went into work straight from there. Frank has me working on some side event for triple the pay.”
“And your cell phone?” Erin drums her fingernails on the back of the couch. “Is that broken?”
“I turned it off yesterday, and guess I never got back around to turning it on.”
“Look, Maxx, there’s something you really need to know.” Luke begins leaning back in his chair. “Yesterday, Logan—”
Is all that makes it out of his mouth before the sound of the front door opening breaks his conversation. Immediately, the three of us turn in time to see Logan with his arm draped around Liz, who is wearing an animal print mini dress and giggling flirtatiously.
She looks like she skinned a baby leopard. I hope it tried to claw her eyes out before she took its hide.
“Ankles AND hands?” The words are loud as if she’s not aware we are listening. “I don’t think I’ve ever had ‘em BOTH tied…” I watch her finger stroke his chest. “But you can be my first.”
Whatever air that was in the room has been sucked out like a new and improved Hoover, because to say I can no longer breathe would be an over simplification.
Logan glances our way and instantly stops at the edge of the stairs, eyes falling on me. “Maxx…”
Well at least he can remember my fucking name.
“Oh this is bad…” Erin grumbles behind me. “So very, very bad.”
“See you finally made it home.”
Is this really how he wants to play right now? He fucking leaves me after lying to get me into bed and then acts like I’m the bad guy? I knew it. I fucking knew it! God, how could I be so dumb! Tony was so wrong. I wasn’t out of line for assuming that Logan lied to me, I was out of line for believing he really had feelings about me in the first place.
“Glad you remember I live here.” The anger in my voice tries to stay low.
“Who could forget you live here,” Liz sneers.
Before I can make a comment in her direction, Logan shrugs her off of him. “Go to my room.”
“But, Unbreakable—”
“Now!” his voice bellows and a small tingle courses through my body.
I’m fucking insane. He’s displaying his sex dominance thing on another female and my body has the audacity to get turned on. See what I mean about betraying me? Goddamn sell out.
Liz stomps up the stairs in her cheap knock off heels as I sigh. “It’s lovely to know I’m not the only girl in your life who follows your orders. I was actually starting to feel special.”
Logan’s blue eyes flash a glimpse of malice and he grips the railing tighter. “You’re accusing me of treating you like a hit it and quit it, but which one of us spent the day crying on someone else’s shoulder? Speaking of, how did it feel to snuggle in next to Tony’s bony ones last night?”
The right thing to do here would be to clarify how fucking wrong he is, but you and I both know that’s not gonna happen. Just like we both know right now I wanna cry in frustration and bash the hell out of his sorry ass.
“I wouldn’t know.” I stand up. His eyes flicker a brief sign of relief. “But I’ll let you know tomorrow after I find out tonight.”
And with those words I walk past him, yank my purse up, shove on my shoes, and storm out the front door.
He’s never actually seen me with Tony like that before, so what gives him the right to just assume that Tony’s always his biggest fucking competition? Sure. Tony and I went out on a date. But after that Logan just kept assuming that things were happening. Oh shut up. I don’t wanna talk about the problems that come from assuming. Besides, he should know by now, he’s never really had to compete for me. For anything related to me. In my life he’s always come first. It’s ME who has had the sheer joy of waiting for my turn like some desperate groupie fighting to be noticed. Newsflash! I’m done competing. You want him? You can fucking have him.
CHAPTER 7
LOGAN
That did not go the way I wanted it to. Why did I say that? Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
“You are a moron,” Erin infiltrates into my thoughts. “A grade A, certified idiot!”
Unsure of what else to say I shrug. “What?”
“Maxx wasn’t with Tony last night,” Luke sighs, picking up his knitting things.
There was an old lady who lived in a shoe…hahaha. Funny, right? Why are you looking at me like that? Have you already heard that today?
Holding my own I shrug again. “I don’t give a fuck who she was with last night. Or where she was at. Or what she was doing. Doesn’t matter.”
“Oh good.” Luke nods slowly. “Good, because while you were busy being a dick about this whole thing, she was having dinner with the devil.” I dart my eyebrows down in confusion. “Oh. I have your attention now? While you were busy discount shopping at Sluts Are Us, Maxx was dealing with the fact that her mother flew halfway around the world to drop the surprise of a lifetime on her. She’s a big sister.”
Sarcastically Erin throws her hands in the air. “Congrats, it’s a boy!”
In a stutter I ask, “Maxx is a what?”
“A big sister.” Erin pulls her legs to her chest. “Why couldn’t I have been the big sister?”
“Because God knew if you would’ve been born first, there was a good chance the Apocalypse would’ve started early,” Luke responds.
“You were watching Buffy last night weren’t you?” Erin accuses him with a quick glance over her shoulder.
“Couldn’t sleep…”
There’s a bit of nerd that runs through this entire house. I get it from Maxx. Erin leeches hers off her brother. We’ll never admit it to the rest of the world, but we enjoy their little addictions.
Putting everyone back on track I ask again, “So she’s here?”
“I don’t know if she’s still here,” Erin states quickly. “We didn’t really make it that far into the discussion because you brought Tour Guide Barbie home before we could finish grilling Maxx for information.”
So that’s why she didn’t come home last night? And that’s why she was gone all day today? Fuck, did you know? Did you know and not fucking tell me?
“Speaking of,” Luke says slowly. “Why is Liz here? I thought you were done with her?”
“I thought you were done with all girls except Maxx?”
The line of questioning causes my brain to spin. I need to get out of here. I need to clear my mind. Hitting and fucking does that. And I have a hot girl up stairs just waiting for my dick like it’s Christmas morning.
Say whatever the hell you want. I don’t fucking care right now.
“I was.” Is all I state before charging up the stairs to my bedroom.
Maxx has a brother? Her mother came back
into town? It would be like if my old man came back from the dead. Fuck. She needs us right now, and I ran her off. You really think she went to that prick’s place to be with him? Wait. What do I care? I’m about to sink myself into someone else.
I open my bedroom door to see Liz leaned back on her hands, legs spread wide open. My mind instantly recalls Maxx in a similar position just days ago.
She looked so much better in it.
Slamming the door behind me I look at her again, the eagerness as clear as day on her face. “Get off my bed.”
Liz pops up and says, “Wall sex? That’s new!”
“No,” I insist while removing the sheet from my bed. “Changing sheets.”
“What’s wrong with these? I like them.”
Don’t say it. You don’t have to. I know I’m not making any goddamn sense right now. Actions speak louder than words and all that bullshit. I know. I know.
“Since when do you ask so many questions, Legs?”
“Since when do you give a fuck about your sheets, Unbreakable?”
Since I let the girl I love sleep in them. Crap. You didn’t hear me say that.
Frustrated I rumble, “Take your dress off.”
Liz goes to make the action but stops. “Kellar.”