“Don’t worry,” Tinsley said, “he’s a good guy to me. Sometimes a little annoying.”
My mother smiled again.
She kept blinking. Faster by the second.
I listened to her breathing. Increasing. So desperate to say something.
“Mom, am I annoying?” I asked.
My mother nodded.
Tinsley giggled.
She looked at me. “See? Told you so.”
“That’s enough of that,” I said. “Mom, will you tell Tinsley how pretty she is. She’s new around this place and is settling in. You think she’s beautiful, right?”
My mother kept nodding.
“No, not me,” Tinsley said. “Stop that.”
“So if I’m so annoying, should I let Tinsley go? Be on her own?”
My mother smiled bigger than ever and nodded one more time.
“I don’t think I could do that,” Tinsley said.
My mother slowly shook her head.
“She’s just joking,” I said to Tinsley. “She doesn’t want you alone. You’re meant to be with me, sugar.”
My mother looked at me funny.
“Oh,” Tinsley said. “He calls me sugar. That’s kind of cheap. You’d think a guy that good looking could come up with something better.”
Watching Tinsley and my mother talk and laugh…
Let’s just say there were certain spots in my heart where I could keep a lot of hate out of. And leave it hollowed out for these moments.
I carefully watched my mother.
The door opened behind us and in walked one of the full-time nurses.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” Janine said.
“It’s okay,” I said. “We’re just visiting.”
“I’m just checking up on a few things,” Janine said. “Don’t mind me.”
“That’s fine,” I said. “We were getting ready to go.” I looked down at my mother. “Mom, I’m going to go take Tinsley out.”
She let Tinsley’s hand go and fought hard to point at me.
I swore her lips were trying to move.
I wished for anything in the world just to let her talk one more time. Hear her voice…
I plastered a smile on my face.
“You’re pointing at me,” I said. “You only do that when you give me the Mom talk.”
My mother nodded.
“Oh, don’t you worry about him,” Tinsley said. “If he gets out of line, I’ll slap him. Or kick him… you know where…”
My mother liked that comment.
“She’s full of fire,” Janine said. “You sure you can handle her, Preston?”
“All these women beating me up,” I said. “Not a fair fight.”
“And you offer fair fights?” Tinsley asked me with a wink.
I winked back at her.
My mother kept shaking her finger at me.
“I promise, Mom, I’ll take good care of her,” I said.
“I promise I’ll take good care of him,” Tinsley said. “It was so nice to finally meet you. You might not know this, but Pres is a mama’s boy all the way.”
Fucking hell, Tinsley… what are you trying to do to me?
She could talk and piss me off so easily yet fill my heart with love.
My mother fought even harder to pat Tinsley’s hand.
I leaned down and kissed my mother’s cheek. “Love you, Mom.”
I took Tinsley’s hand and we left the bedroom.
I walked us to one of the back patio areas that overlooked the ocean.
When I leaned against the railing, Tinsley put her hand to my back.
“Pres…”
“She accepted it, sugar,” I said. I was going back to a thought from a while ago. “She just accepted it. Like she always did. And to me, I could never put my finger on it. Whether she was that strong or that weak. You know? I mean, there’s no battling it. Doctors told us she’d live three years. Maybe five. It’s been longer. So she knows how to fight. But she took it. Easily.”
“Meaning?”
“That room she’s in. She did it all herself. She knew what was coming. It was like… it was like she wanted to be ahead of it all, you know? To look it in the eyes and say fuck you, I’m ready. Her version of control.”
“Now who does that sound like?” Tinsley asked me.
“Don’t go that route, sugar.”
“Pres, what you just did was amazing. I’m ready to cry. You took me to your mother. Such a vulnerable thing…”
I turned and touched her chin. “No. This wasn’t about vulnerability. Or the preciousness of life, sugar. This was about proof.”
“Of?”
“Why I do what I do for you. The weaker she got, the more my father changed. He turned into a different person. He took advantage of her illness. And I had to stand there and watch it. The deals he made. The way he hid money here and there. And the women…”
Tinsley swallowed hard. “I’m so sorry about that.”
“I’m not. It showed me everything I needed to know in life. Nobody is going to hurt you, Tinsley. Or fuck with you. Not when I’m around. And I don’t care what the situation is. Kelvin wrote something really nasty about you on the locker room wall. What I did… what the Rulz did… was to ensure nobody else does it. Anyone who hears your name or thinks your name will know not to fuck around.”
Tinsley touched my face and sighed. “And there you go, Pres. Showing that stupid side of you.”
“What?”
“Your mother was never weak. Do you think maybe for a second she let your father do all of that on purpose?”
“Why?”
“The bigger picture, Pres. She let him mess around with cash and women because she was getting everything else in order. And she gave it all to you. She did that with him right there. But he was too stupid to see it. So what does he have now? Huh? He’s got a nice car.”
“Actually…”
“You own all the vehicles?” Tinsley asked.
I nodded. “Everything.”
Tinsley laughed. “So he has nothing.”
“You’re so fucking beautiful and smart,” I said.
I pulled Tinsley close and kissed her forehead.
She hugged me.
I shut my eyes and let the day start to wash away for a second.
Behind me, I heard someone clear their throat.
I turned.
“Sorry to interrupt.”
“Who is that?” Tinsley asked me.
“Go back inside for a minute, sugar,” I said. “I’ll take care of this. Nothing dangerous. I promise.”
I walked away from Tinsley.
He stood there holding flowers.
He held out a grease stained hand.
I could never seem to shake the world of HCH.
And the last person I thought I would see…
Jett.
* * *
“So the question is… who are those flowers for?” I asked. “Because my mother is married, and dying. Or if they’re for my father, that’s going to open a whole new can of worms.”
Jett laughed. He was built like steel and had a rugged laugh to match his rugged look. He ran the shop that Weslee Jackson’s grandfather - and family - owned down in Hidden.
Which, again, had me shaking my head as to why the fuck this guy was here.
“You’re fast, kid,” Jett said. “But you’re still a punk ass teenager. A silver spoon motherfucker. And if you think for a second I’m against tossing some new adult asshole like yourself around, you’re wrong.”
I nodded. “You could have just answered the question.”
“The flowers are for your mother,” Jett said.
“And then the next question is… why?”
“Of course it is,” Jett said. “Rich people are so paranoid.”
“What about you?”
“I made my money, kid. I’m not afraid of losing it. I didn’t make my money through bad deals.”
“Are you suggesting my paren
ts did?”
“Not at all,” Jett said. “And why the hell am I talking to you?”
I put my hand out. “I’m the one who owns the house now. Everything here belongs to me.”
“That so?” Jett asked.
“Yeah,” I said. “So anything you want, need, question… goes through me.”
Jett nodded. “That works, kid. I’ll take that on. You know, I know this is a little off balance for me to be here.”
“No shit.”
“The town is busy,” Jett said. “And the rivalry of HCH and BFH is as crazy as ever. I remember back during my time doing the same damn thing. There weren’t as many deaths though.”
I laughed. “Tell me this is about that.”
“Nothing to do with it,” Jett said. “I’m sorry I didn’t know about your mother sooner.”
“Why does it matter to you?”
“Believe it or not, we have history.”
My nostrils flared. “Meaning what?”
Jett laughed. “Calm down, kid. I didn’t take your mother to bed. Last I heard, your father was the one who couldn’t keep it in his pants.”
I made a fist and made a move.
Jett lifted the flowers and smacked them against my face.
“What the fuck?” I growled.
“Take it easy,” Jett said. He stepped back. “You’re too jumpy. I’m literally here to give flowers. I heard she’s doing really bad. I guess that comes with the territory. And before you ask again, your mother was the closest anyone ever came to getting that crazy old bastard to sign off on his land.”
“What?” I asked.
“Long before your time,” Jett said. “Your mother was a beautiful and vicious business woman. Your father was abrasive. A dick. He could have offered Pop billions for the land and Pop would have said no every single time. But your mother… she knew how to slide right in and overpower everyone. It was amazing. She had Pop eating out of her hand. One night… you don’t mind if I tell you this, do you?”
“Go ahead,” I said.
“Okay. One night I was at the shop alone. She showed up. Dressed to kill. Looking like she was on her way to an award show or something. I laughed at her and told her she was wasting her time with me. She wanted to have a cigarette with me. So we stood there and smoked. I was this filthy mechanic. She was this beautiful, rich woman. We talked about the weather. The beach. We talked about motorcycles. And not until the end of it did she bring up the land. She looked me dead in the eyes and wanted to know my honest opinion on it. If Pop would ever sell. I told her no. You know what your mother did?”
“What?”
Jett laughed. “She dropped her cigarette, stepped on it, and told me she’d be back in the morning with coffee and breakfast. And sure as hell, she was there, kid. She had Pop on the ropes. He was a heartbeat away from signing off on the sale.”
“What happened?” I asked.
Jett shook his head. “Not sure. Something went wrong. My guess is that your father got involved again. Anyway, from myself and from Pop, we send our condolences. You strip away the bullshit, Preston. The fights, money, all that. We’re just people. And knowing that someone like your mother is going through that is unfair. And I’m really sorry to hear it. And I hope when the time comes, she’s able to go peacefully, and wherever she ends up from there, she’s still kicking ass.”
Jett offered me the flowers again and I took them.
“I’ll make sure she gets these,” I said.
“I appreciate that. I’ll get out of your hair now.”
Jett started to walk away.
“Hey, Jett,” I called out.
He looked back. “Yeah, kid?”
“You never… with her? Anything?”
“No,” Jett said. “Last thing I needed then was more women troubles. My advice is to stick with just one. Find the right one and it’ll be the biggest headache of your life, but worth it.”
Jett strutted away.
Like some tough-guy-biker-bad-ass with tons of cash.
I looked at the flowers.
I laughed to myself.
Inside the house, I saw Tinsley near the glass door.
When she saw me staring, she smiled.
I touched my head.
Yeah, she gave me a fucking headache for sure.
I waved her outside and handed her the flowers.
“Do I want to know?” she asked.
“Just some ghosts, sugar.”
“Ghosts with really nice flowers,” Tinsley said with a wink.
I growled and ripped the flowers out of her hand and threw them to the ground.
I stepped on them and cupped her face.
“Pres…”
“Flowers are cheap, Tinsley,” I whispered. “You deserve the entire fucking garden… the world… the stars… the universe…”
Chapter 4
“Can I ask you a question?” Tinsley asked as she popped her head up from my chest.
“Anything you want, sugar,” I said.
I kept my arm around her tight, holding her against me.
I was starting to come around and get used to the bed in the guesthouse. And actually I didn’t even look at it like a guesthouse anymore.
It was Tinsley’s place.
I offered Kip some cash as a way to say thanks but he just smirked at me. Fucking prick knowing he sort of had something on me. And he wasn’t shy about throwing it in my face that he could see Tinsley’s bedroom window from his.
Not that anything would ever happen.
I wasn’t a trusting person but Kip, Barr, and Tinsley were on that list.
“How is your mother today?” she asked.
“My mother? Why…”
“Part of me can’t stop thinking about it. About everything. What it must have been like for her. For you. And there’s no other family?”
I stroked her cheek. “Sugar, all those thoughts you need to get rid of. I explained to you why I took you to meet my mother. And the reality is there for you to see. Asking me each day how’s she doing won’t benefit anyone. She’s dying, sugar. She’s… dying.”
“That hurts.”
“Of course it does.”
Tinsley pulled herself up and kissed me. “I don’t want you to hurt.”
She slowly positioned herself over me.
As she drove her hips down and twisted them, I sucked in a breath and hissed.
My eyes narrowed as I watched this beautiful girl put her hands to my chest and push herself up.
She was in nothing but panties and a hoodie.
A familiar position I had found her in several times before.
My hands cut under the bottom of the hoodie. My fingertips against her smooth skin. Tracing lines visible only to me. Lines Tinsley would only feel.
Ah, fuck, she’s so damn perfect.
I took my time, wanting to feel as much skin as I could.
Right up until I felt the warm swell of her breasts on my fingers.
I cupped her and swiped across the nipples, feeling her body shiver, listening to her gasp for a breath.
Tinsley slowly put her head back, curling her fingers against my chest.
Her hips began a silent and seductive dance, grinding against a certain spot where I’d never be able to hide what she did to me.
I eased my hands away from her chest and began to lift the hoodie.
I sat up, knowing right where I wanted to kiss her first.
My right hand slid around to the middle of her back so I could hold her steady.
My left hand tore the hoodie up with more speed.
As my eager mouth slipped over her right breast, Tinsley grabbed for my hair and purred my name.
Pres… fuck…
I had her right where I wanted her. A place where time meant nothing. A place where it was all about her. A place where she could be so greedy and I would still get something out of it.
I swirled my tongue to begin to write her a simple love letter of I fucking
love you, sugar…
That’s when the bedroom door exploded open.
* * *
Tinsley sat back and pulled the hoodie down.
She then fell back on the bed, her face bright red.
I looked at Barr and Kip.
“Whoa,” Kip said. “Did we…” He sniffed the air. “We did…”
Barr had an unlit cigarette tucked behind his head. He pointed to the bed. “Pitching a tent there, Pres. What’s that sleep? Eight? Ten?”
“More than you,” I growled. “What the fuck do you want?”
“Well, this is my house,” Kip said.
I swung my feet off the bed and stood up.
I looked down at Tinsley.
Still bright red.
Flustered.
Turned on.
I touched her fingers for a second and then lunged at the two assholes who stole my moment.
Barr dove out of the room.
I managed to get my hands on Kip though.
I swung him around and threw him out of the bedroom.
I slammed the door as I exited the room too.
Call it what you wanted, but I had to get some kind of relief.
I could have punched Kip a lot harder than I did.
He took the punch to the jaw like a man would.
Stumbling back, hand out.
“Okay, okay,” he said. “We’re good.”
“No, we’re not,” I said.
Barr put his cigarette between his lips. He stuck his chin out. “Come on. Give me one.”
I curled my lip. “This better be good. Really fucking good.”
“I can’t stop picturing it,” Kip said. “Tinsley riding you, bro. She’s got some wild curves…”
I went for Kip again.
He jumped back and put up fists. “Yeah. That’s right. Come on.”
“We need to get his ass up to the ditch,” Barr said. “He’s losing his mind.”
“He’s about to lose his fucking life,” I yelled.
“Yeah, keep talking like that,” Kip said.
“Speaking of the ditch,” Barr said.
I looked at him. “What?”
“Well… might have some cash to throw around up there.”
“Meaning?” I asked.
“I don’t like it,” Kip said.
PRES: a bay falls high novel Page 3