“Then where is he?”
“Detroit,” I choked out. “He went home to spend Christmas with his family.”
Dammit. My voice cracked on the last syllable. Now Reid knew things weren’t as great as I was saying they were where Cam was concerned.
“Andi, what’s going on?” Reid asked as my eyes welled up with tears.
“Nothing,” I said, swiping under my eyes as I looked away from him. I hated that I was crying in front of him – especially about this.
He scooted closer to me, and I tried to push further into my side of the couch, but I was already as far as I could go.
“Andi, talk to me.”
“No,” I said, shaking my head.
“Come on. You obviously need a friend right now. I’m here.”
My head snapped up. “You are not my friend, Reid. Anyone who thinks they can swoop in and hit on me the day after I supposedly broke up with my boyfriend isn’t a friend at all.”
He threw his hands up in defense. “Hey, I didn’t think you were that serious about him. The way your parents talked about him, I figured he was just some guy that you were casually seeing while you saw other people. I assumed I had a fair shot.”
I rolled my eyes. “You didn’t, okay? You and I broke up for a reason, and I’m not interested in getting back together. I’m sorry, but I’m not going to ever move back here, so it’s not going to happen for us. And aside from that, I’m in love with Cam.”
Yikes, I’d said that out loud. But it was the truth.
Reid nodded. “Okay. That’s fair.”
I shook my head. “My parents are unbelievable.”
“Don’t be upset with them, Andi. They just want what’s best for you.”
I eyed him skeptically. “That may be so, but I don’t think they even know what’s best for me. They have no idea what I want in life,” I said, shaking my head. “And if they did, they probably wouldn’t agree with it.”
I knew my parents meant well. That was the hard part, but just the fact that they’d even mentioned what they’d say to Reid in front of Cam was inexcusable. No wonder he’d been upset. He’d left thinking I was not only moving back to Atlanta, but I was also planning to get back together with my ex. He must have thought I’d been keeping things from him the whole time I’d known him.
My parents and I were going to have a long talk about this after Reid left, which come to think of it, why was he still here? I needed to call Cam. I needed to tell him that nothing he’d heard was accurate. I needed to make things right. And I needed Reid to not be here when I did that.
“How are you kids getting along in here?” my mother asked as she entered the room with a tray of appetizers. “I hope you’re hungry.”
I’d never been less hungry.
“Mom, we need to talk,” I said to her, not patient enough to wait for my dad to come back so I could talk to both of them.
“Oh, nonsense. You’re father just called, and he’ll be back shortly. Then we’re going to enjoy Christmas Eve dinner as a family.”
“So why is Reid here?”
I was being rude, and I knew it, but I just didn’t care.
“Andrea,” my mother said in astonishment, pulling out my full name. She only used it when I was in trouble.
“I should go,” Reid said, having the decency to know when he was overstepping his bounds.
“Nonsense,” my mother said, gesturing for him to sit back down. “Your parents are in Hawaii. I will not let you go home to your house to spend Christmas alone.” Then she turned to me. “That is why Reid is here. Now, there might be things that you feel you need to say, but now is not the time nor the place. We can discuss them later – whatever they may be.”
I sunk back into the couch knowing that tone all too well. She was shutting me down. “Fine.”
“Good,” she said as she set the food she was carrying on the coffee table. “Dig in. I’ll be back with more.”
“I’m going to call Cam,” I announced, and my mother turned on me.
“You will do nothing of the sort. You will stay here and keep Reid company. You can call that boy later.”
“He’s my boyfriend, Mother,” I snapped. “Cam is my boyfriend whether you like it or not.” I’d said that to test her, to see what she’d say, but she didn’t react at all. “And I am twenty-five years old, which pretty much means I’ll step away and make a phone call if I choose to do so. Get over it.”
“That mouth of yours has gotten foul since you’ve been living in New York,” she snapped. “How dare you talk to your mother that way?”
“How dare my mother try to interfere in my love life,” I said, making it clear that I knew what she’d done.
Then I stomped up the stairs to my room, needing to be alone. In truth what I needed was to talk to Cam. I just hoped he’d answer when I called.
Chapter Twenty-One
Cam
“You’re back?” my brother asked when he walked into my mother’s house on Christmas morning.
I nodded. “In the flesh.”
“Why? I thought you were going to meet your girlfriend’s family and spend Christmas with them. I thought you were too good for us.”
“Preston, don’t start that shit,” I warned him, the headache I’d woken up with flaring up again.
Chris and I had gone out drinking – or rather I’d gone out drinking and he’d driven me and sat with me while I’d tried to forget about life for a while. Now I was suffering from one hell of a hangover that hadn’t been made any better by the fact that Asher and Ella had gotten up before the sun because they were kids and there were presents waiting for them.
I’d thrown back a few Aspirin and drank three cups of black coffee, but I was still hurting hours later. My brother’s presence and the fight I was sure would ensue because he was still pissed at me were only going to make my headache worse.
“Don’t what, Camden?” he asked sarcastically. “Don’t accuse you of thinking you’re better than the rest of us? Is that not what you do? Why you won’t help out your family when they need you?”
I glared at him, because he’d lowered his voice as he said the last part, presumably because he didn’t want anyone else to hear.
“If you recall, I’ve helped you out plenty of times,” I said through gritted teeth.
“Yeah, but when I really need help, you bail,” he said, and then he walked away.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I called after him as he walked over to look at the video games Asher had gotten for Christmas and didn’t answer me.
“Do you know what’s going on with him?” Callie asked me, suddenly coming up behind me.
I turned around in surprise. “Hey Cal. How are you?”
She shifted Parker, who was starting to get fussy, to her other side. “I’m not great. Something’s going on with Pres, and I want to know what it is.”
“You tell me. You live with him,” I said as she shifted the baby yet again. I reached out my arms. “Here, let me take him.”
“He’s been cranky all day,” she said as she handed Parker to me.
I held him up and smiled at his chubby little face that was turning red, like he was about to blow. “Hey bud. I missed you,” I said as I tucked him against my chest and bounced him a little. He continued to whimper, but he didn’t erupt like I’d feared. I figured my magic uncle powers had done the trick.
“I barely live with Preston,” Callie said, her eyes on Parker. “It’s not like he’s ever home.”
“What do you mean?”
She shrugged. “He told me he got a second job, which doesn’t make any sense, because the gym’s been doing well. And he’s been gone at night a lot.” She shook her head. “I’m not sure what to think, but I’m afraid he’s cheating on me.”
My eyebrows rose as she said that. “No way. He wouldn’t do that.”
Callie looked skeptical. “I don’t know. With the way I look these days combined with the fact that I’m flat o
ut exhausted all the time, our sex life isn’t exactly great.”
“Callie, you look great,” I told her, because she did.
“Please. I gained fifty pounds when I was pregnant, and I’ve only lost twenty. I have a long way to go before I look like the girl Preston fell in love with.”
“I think you look great, and I’m sure he does too.”
I looked over at my brother who was laughing as he killed bad guys in whatever game he and Asher were immersed in. I didn’t think he’d ever cheat on Callie. He loved her too much.
“Cal, when did he start working a second job?”
“About three weeks ago. He said he was bouncing at a club. I just don’t understand why he would need to do that.”
I had a feeling I knew, and it was a pretty legitimate reason. I just couldn't tell Callie that.
“Well, you guys have a baby now. That added expenses, right?”
She shrugged. “I guess, but we’re doing fine financially. Maybe he just wanted to get out of the house. Parker isn’t the best baby. I love him so much, but he cries a lot. It’s a little exhausting.”
“Cal, he’s not cheating on you,” I assured her. “Trust me. He loves you.”
She didn’t look convinced. “I want to believe that, but it’s hard.”
“I know. Do you want me to talk to Pres?” I asked her, because now that I knew he’d gotten a second job – presumably to pay off his debt – I was going to talk to my brother anyway.
That changed things. He was trying. He wasn’t just looking for a handout. He was in so far over his head that he knew it would take him forever to make what he owed, regardless of how many jobs he worked. Because of that, I figured helping him wouldn’t be so wrong. And it was Christmas. If this wasn’t the day to help family out, I didn’t know what was.
“Could you?” Callie asked hopefully. “I just want to be sure everything’s okay. I’m worried.”
Her concern was so reminiscent of my mother’s that it was hard not to tell her the truth. But it wasn’t my truth to tell. That was all Preston, and if he wanted to air his dirty laundry, he could do it on his own. I doubted he wanted his girlfriend to know that he owed someone a twenty-five thousand dollar gambling debt. She’d get pissed, and she’d probably leave him and take Parker with her. I knew that would cripple Preston.
“Of course. I’ll talk to him after we eat.”
“Thanks, Cam. You’re a good brother.”
“I do what I can,” I said as I looked at my nephew. He was looking up at me, so I smiled. “You’re a cute kid. Your parents did good.”
I looked up to see Callie smile. “He’s wonderful. I never knew how much I’d love being a mom, despite the hard parts. I’d take them any day to get to have this little guy in my life.”
“Pres loves him too,” I told her.
“I know he does,” she said, not taking her eyes off her son. I hated the doubt I heard in her voice.
After we ate I asked my brother if we could talk.
“I don’t have anything to say to you,” he said, not making eye contact with me as we cleared the dishes from the table.
My mom hadn’t hesitated to ask us clean up, just like we had to do when we were kids. Some things never changed.
“Come on, Pres. Give me five minutes.”
“No. You said your peace. Let it go.”
“Five minutes,” I said through gritted teeth so no one else could hear my tone. I didn’t want to draw unnecessary attention. “We can talk outside.”
Preston glared at me but he said, “Fine.”
We stepped outside into the frigid air, and I wrapped my arms around myself. Even with my coat on it was uncomfortably cold. “Fuck, it’s freezing here.”
“So go back to L.A.,” Preston snapped.
“Fuck you,” I snapped back at him.
He just glared at me.
“Look, Pres,” I said around a sigh. “I feel bad about the way we left things the other day.”
He shrugged as he kicked his boot against the snow-covered ground repeatedly, but he didn’t say anything.
“Callie said you got a second job?”
“Yeah,” he said, still not looking at me. “I’m bouncing at Spice a few nights a week. It’s nothing big. I gotta make money somehow. If Frankie doesn’t get paid he’ll kill me, and I can’t let that happen. I won’t let my son grow up without a father.”
The emotionless tone of his voice sent chills up my spine as much as the realization of exactly who he owed money to.
“Frankie?” I questioned.
“Yeah. Frankie.”
“As in Frankie Juarez?”
“That’s the one.”
I sucked in a breath as I realized how much bigger this situation was then I originally thought. Frankie Juarez wasn’t someone you messed with readily, and Preston knew that. He was the leader of one of the local gangs, and he was known for being particularly ruthless.
“Fuck,” I hissed, my breath coming out in a puff of white. “Pres, why would you place bets with Frankie of all people?”
“Because I’m a fucking moron, obviously,” he said sarcastically.
I sighed. “You’re not a moron. You made a mistake.”
Preston shook his head as he finally looked up at me. “I keep making the same mistakes, Cam. At some point you gotta chalk that up to me just being stupid.”
“What are the terms?”
“Full payment by New Year’s Eve or he’ll kill me,” Preston said as if he’d resigned himself to that happening. New Year’s Eve was less than a week away.
“Were you going to tell me that?” I asked, appalled that he’d leave out key information about the situation.
Preston shrugged. “I’m not sure it would have made a difference.”
“Of course it would have. You’re my brother. I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”
“But if you just give me the money, I won’t learn my lesson, will I?” he said, mocking my statement from when I’d originally turned him down.
“That was when I didn’t have the full story. This is different, but Pres you’ve got to promise me that this won’t happen again. No more gambling at all. I’m not your ATM, and you can’t keep coming to me for bail outs.”
“I know, and I won’t. You think I want to take your money? I don’t, and I wouldn’t have asked if I could have come up with it myself, but I’m stuck. I don’t have a choice. If I don’t pay Frankie back, he’ll kill me, and then he’ll torch the gym out of spite.” Preston was looking at me with eyes full of despair. He choked up when he spoke. “He had pictures of Callie and Parker. He threatened to hurt them, to tell Callie everything if I didn’t pay up. I don’t want her to know. She already thinks I’m a fuck-up, and she’s only with me because of Parker. I can’t lose them. They’re my family.”
“She thinks you’re cheating on her.”
Preston’s eyes flashed in anger. “I’m not! Hell no. That’s not happening.”
“She’s worried about you, Pres. She thinks the second job is a cover-up for you being unfaithful.”
“Dammit,” he said running his hand back through his hair. “I can’t tell her the truth – not about this.”
“I know you can’t. But if you pay off Frankie, you can quit your bouncer gig, and you can be home more.”
He nodded. “Yeah, I can. So does that mean you’re going to help me?”
I nodded. “I’ll help you.”
“Thank you,” he said. The relief I knew he felt was threaded throughout his words, but he didn’t come any closer to me.
He didn’t pull me into a hug like I figured he might, and I realized just how much strain this situation had caused him. He looked exhausted, like he hadn’t been sleeping. I hadn’t even noticed the signs when I’d seen him a few days earlier, but it looked like he’d aged five years. And I couldn’t even blame him. He had a legitimate death threat hanging over his head.
“Pres, you’ve got to promise me
that this is it, that you won’t bet again, that you’ll steer clear of anyone who asks you to.”
“It is,” he promised, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his coat as he broke eye contact and glanced over my shoulder into the house.
“Then I’ll have my accountant wire you the money tomorrow,” I said as I followed his gaze to Callie and my mom, who was tickling Parker’s tummy and making him smile.
“Thank you,” Preston said, not taking his eyes off his son.
“You’ve got a good life, Pres. Remember that.”
“I know. I don’t want to screw things up for them. I don’t want to be like Dad.”
“Dad found his way eventually,” I said, giving my father much more credit than he deserved.
“Not soon enough. You were younger, so maybe you don’t remember, but there were bad days. When Mom was traveling, when we were out of money, and Dad was on a bender.” He shook his head. “Shit, man, I don’t want my kid to grow up like that.”
“I remember,” I said around a sigh. “And Parker won’t have to deal with anything like that. His Uncle Cam won’t let that happen.”
Preston finally brought his gaze back to me. “You mean that?”
I nodded. “We’re family. I love you, bro, no matter what.”
I watched him swallow, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down. “You should visit more. I know you’re a big shot singer, but don’t forget about us.”
I smirked sardonically at him. “I’m here, aren’t I? Twice in the same month. That has to count for something.”
Preston shrugged. “Yeah, but when will you be back?”
I sighed. “I’m not sure. We start promoting the album in January while we’re rehearsing for the tour. Then we’re on the road in March. I think we stop here in April.”
My brother nodded. “Must be nice – party in every town, have screaming girls falling at your feet, to be beloved.”
I shrugged. “If you’d have asked me two months ago, I would have said being on the road was my favorite thing, but I’m not so sure now.”
“Yeah? You having second thoughts about the band?”
“No. Not at all. It’s just . . .” I trailed off, not sure how to say what I meant.
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