by Andy Gallo
He grinned and bounced up to her front door. Brit let herself in and turned to Jack on the threshold. “Just don’t piss me off again. Seth—”
“Seth would be lucky to have you, but you know why I worry.”
She nudged him toward a bench. “I know you blame yourself about Harper, but I keep telling you, it’s not your fault.”
He knew that, but it didn’t change things. He should have seen through the facade Harper put up.
“I can see the little wheels spinning from the hamsters running on those treadmills in your head.” She tapped his temple. “All you did was say you thought he was a nice guy. And when he was with me, he was nice. He treated me very well.”
“I should have known he was a player.”
She patted his arm when he stumbled. “We’ve been over this. If you had known and let me date him anyway, I’d say you were to blame, but you told me as soon as you knew. What happened is all on him.”
They’d had almost this exact conversation several times, and although Jack knew she was right, he couldn’t totally accept it. “If it means anything, I don’t think Seth is anything like Harper.”
Brittany snorted. “Ain’t that the truth.”
“What’s that mean?”
“Let’s just say, in that department, Seth is more like you and Harper is more like… a hamster.”
“Brittany!”
“I’m just saying. Harper might have money and whatnot, but down there? He’s no titan.” She tried to look innocent.
“A fact you no doubt spread around campus.” And Jack, having told Brittany Harper was a cheat, bore the brunt of his displaced anger toward her.
“No, never said a word.” Brittany’s lips squeezed tight and her gaze seemed distant. “I’d have to admit we got that close. I tell everyone I have no idea.”
“And they believe you?”
“Jack, please. I just look at them and say, ‘I’m not a slut like my cousin Melissa. Why do you think he slept with that ho?’ Don’t know if they believe me, but it does have an air of truth to it.” She shrugged. “But he’s pissed off enough other girls that the word is out there.”
“Sucks for him.”
“Don’t know. Don’t care.” Her expression changed to a more conspiratorial one. “Not to gossip, but Seth said the word is he can’t find a socially acceptable date for the formal. He’s pissed off anyone with any standards. I’d suggest you bet him that he can’t get a date, but he’s going to hire a hooker anyway at this point.”
“How the hell does Seth know this?”
“He and Billy seem to know a lot.” She laughed softly. “And according to them, everyone’s pulling for you to humiliate him. This past year he’s pissed off most everyone in the house. Strange though, Seth knows a lot, right? But he didn’t know the details of my breakup with Harper. When I mentioned it yesterday, he went a shade of red I’ve never seen on a person. I thought everyone knew by now.”
Jack frowned. “He knows Harper cheated on you.”
She brushed it off. “Anyway, since Harper’s pissed most people in your house off—”
“I thought most people liked him and it was me they wanted to see lose.”
“I don’t think he’d ever have won a popularity contest with you, but as for him having friends? Things change.” She pulled her feet up onto the bench and wrapped her arms around her knees. “I think it started right after he and I started dating. He began hanging out with the billionaire brats and they changed him.”
“The who?”
“You know, that group of guys whose families are seriously wealthy who think that because their mommy and daddy have a lot money, that makes them hot shit.”
“Oh yeah, Kieran and his friends.”
“Yeah, them. I think you introduced Harper to the group when you started dating Kieran.”
Other than being straight, it turned out Harper had way more in common with Kieran than Jack. “Something else I can regret, I suppose.”
“Nah, he’d have gravitated to them eventually.” Brittany hardly talked about their breakup, but Jack didn’t need words to know what it had done to her. Somehow they’d gone down a road neither of them had wanted to travel.
He put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her into a hug. “It’s just more overcompensation.”
She pulled back. “Wait, you mean Kieran….”
“No, not that.” Jack snorted. “Leave it to you to go there.”
“Well you said….”
“Yeah, but I meant social standing, not… size.”
“So Kieran’s… you know….” She put her fingers out, but Jack pushed them together before she could do anything else.
“He’s got nothing to be ashamed of, and let’s leave it at that.”
“You’re no fun, Jack.” Freeing her hands, she moved them slowly apart, wiggling her eyebrows at him. “C’mon. Kiss and tell.”
“I’m not going there. What I meant was they have nothing else that makes them special. What’s funny is the old money kids look down their noses at the… what did you call them?”
“Billionaire brats.”
“Them. It’s like football. If you score a touchdown, act like you’ve been there before and you plan to be there again.”
“Hmm.” Brittany had that look that made Jack’s skin itch.
“What are you planning?”
“Huh? No, nothing like that. I just thought it interesting. Since Harper’s been hanging out with the brats, Darren has been spending more time alone.”
“Why’s that strange?” Not that Jack had noticed. When he saw Harper, he saw the other two.
“Darren’s family puts the old in old money.” She nodded when Jack opened his eyes wider. “Yes. Google his family name along with oil and net worth.”
Two more things he didn’t know about Darren. Not that he cared about either. He was in Harper’s clique. “Anyway. The whole point of tonight was to say I’m sorry about being a jerk. I….”
“No worries, Jack. I get it. And it’s sweet of you look out for me like this.” This time she hugged him. “But you need to look out for yourself now.”
He sighed. “I’m going to talk to Ed about taking someone else.”
Marcus lay on top of his bed with only his reading lamp on, drowning Jack’s half of the room in shadows. His brother looked at him over the top of his notes and raised a single brow. “How was it then?”
Jack tossed his keys on his desk and wedged out his phone. “Brit’s the best.”
“Anything new?”
Jack snorted. He so needed to keep the good people in his life. He plunked himself on the end of his bed and scrubbed his face.
Marcus set his notes on his side table in front of the Murphy-Reynolds photo and rolled on his side, propping his head with an elbow. “What’s up, then?”
A nervous laugh rumbled out of him, and he flopped back on the bed before answering, “Just thinking about how I’ll tell Ed.”
Marcus’s bedsprings groaned as the guy shifted. “About taking someone else, you mean?”
Jack shook his head. “I really don’t want to do it.”
“It’s up to you, man. I’m with you no matter what you decide.”
Marcus balled up a piece of paper and tossed it at Jack. It bounced off his nose and rolled to his chest. Jack scrunched the paper tight.
“Thanks.”
“Don’t forget we have to pick up our tuxes on Wednesday, twelve thirty.”
Jack sighed, pumped the balled paper, and threw it back at his brother.
A loud thump came from down the hall, and then voices. Angry voices.
Jack and Marcus looked at each other, and both sprang up from their beds and out of the room.
A few doors down the hall were Seth, Billy, and Harper. Seth had his fists in Harper’s pullover, and a shocked Harper was pressed against the wall. Billy gripped Seth’s shoulder, tugging him back.
“Her cousin?” Seth said, disgusted. “You sl
ept with her cousin? You piece of dirt.”
Harper composed himself and helped Billy by shoving Seth back. “Fuck you.”
“Why did you hurt her like that?”
Harper seemed to stiffen, and then he grunted through clenched teeth. “I was drunk. Now piss off and go back to your sloppy seconds.”
Seth reared forward, but Jack got there in time to hold him back with Billy.
“Keep your little runts in check, Murphy,” Harper said. “Gonna get themselves in trouble otherwise.”
Jack stepped in front of Seth and Billy. “Is that a threat?”
Harper backed up a step. “Hey, he started it.”
Seth yelled behind him. “You started it when you cheated on Brittany!”
Over his shoulder, Seth and Billy were both pinning Harper with their hate. Jack understood.
“Let’s just break this up,” Jack said. “That means Seth, Billy, you clear out. Harper, you piss off too.”
Harper gave an empty laugh and muttered.
“What’d you say?” Jack said, a half step closer to a sneering Harper.
“Nothing.”
“If you have anything you want to say about me or my friends, say it to our faces. Or better yet, shut up.”
Greg rounded a corner and, seeing them, he shoved forward. “What’s going on here?”
“Murphy’s getting right up in my face. But then, I get it. Marky and these losers are the only family he’s got left. I’d do the same.”
The insult punched Jack right where it hurt the most. He felt it deep in his chest, hollow and painful, like it’d been for months and months after his parents died. Through a haze of old memories and stinging eyes, Jack ground his teeth together and started for Harper. Marcus’s hands landed on his shoulders, urging him back.
“He’s not worth it, Jack.”
Billy murmured his agreement. “He’ll be out of all our faces after the formal. Just keep thinking of that.”
Marcus made a motion, and Billy and Seth left.
Gently, Marcus tugged Jack into their room and sat him on the end of his bed. “You going to be okay?”
Jack flopped back onto his bed and stared at the ceiling. His chest still echoed with pain, but his senses were coming back to him.
“Shit. I’m so screwed up. Why does any mention of them still hurt?”
Marcus sighed, and the bed dipped. “He shouldn’t have said what he did. It’s okay to be upset.”
Jack turned his head and stared at his brother.
“I have your back, okay? Just try to remember Harper’s a dick. He’s not worth it.”
“Harper’s a dick.” Jack repeated. “But he was right: you are my family.”
Chapter Seventeen
Tuesday evening rolled around, warm and stuffy and on the brink of a thunderstorm.
Taking the stairs two at a time, Jack practically ran into his room. Marcus sat at his desk reading. When he looked up, Marcus gave him a shit-eating grin.
“Ready for your date night, Jackie?”
Squinting, he snapped his head back. “What have you done with Marcus? Oh wait, Nessa said yes.”
“Nessa said yes.”
“Told ya she would.”
“Yeah, but she actually likes me.”
Jack laughed. “Why else would she say yes?”
“I wondered if it was out of some profound pity for me,” Marcus admitted. “But now I know that can’t be true.”
“What convinced you?”
Marcus lit up like Jack hadn’t seen in forever. “She kissed me back. I was speaking in a real rush after she said yes, I haven’t a clue what I was saying. Then she just kissed me. And told me to pick her up on Saturday.” His smile widened until he was showing teeth.
“I’m happy for you.” He squeezed his brother’s shoulder once and then let go. “You excited for the formal now?”
“Nervous is the word.”
Nervous. Jack understood. Ed would be arriving to pick him up any minute now, and he needed things to go smoothly. Then he needed to find a good segue into telling Ed he was taking someone else to the formal.
He checked his phone again, reading Ed’s last text telling him to wear jeans, boots, and a jacket. Did he know how warm it was outside? Or did he expect it to storm?
Jack decided on his ass jeans and a T-shirt with a leather jacket over it. He didn’t own boots, but he had some hiking shoes and wore them.
He stuffed his keys into his pocket when Seth yelled at him through the door. “Someone downstairs for ya, Jackson.”
Marcus waggled his brows and swatted his ass as Jack sucked in a grin and headed to Ed.
Ed waited nervously in the entry foyer, glancing over the framed pictures of past graduates. Jack paused down the hall, glancing at the one from ’89 and then back to his guy, also in jeans and a brown leather jacket. “Hey,” he said, drawing near.
“Hey back,” Ed said, scanning the empty hall before winking at him.
Darren exited the front common room, almost knocking into him. Jack prepared for whatever fuck-ass taunt he’d throw at him, but Darren backed up, murmuring something that might have passed for an apology.
Jack must have misheard. Or maybe Brit had been right about the guy not being such a dick like Greg and Harper.
Darren hurried off, checking Ed out twice over his shoulder before he hit the stairs.
Ed cleared his voice. “You ready?”
“When you are.”
Ed came forward, chest rising as he took Jack’s hand and threaded their fingers. Jack noted the tremble and squeezed. “What was your plan for the evening?”
A grin lit Ed’s face, and he pulled him outside and pointed across to the parking lot, where a red motorbike gleamed in the evening sun.
Echoing their first date, Ed leaned close and spoke at Jack’s ear. The words tickled from ear to toe. “You wanna ride?”
Oh. Hell. Yes.
They put on helmets and straddled the bike, and Jack pressed himself tight against Ed’s back, arms wrapped around his waist. Exhilaration fueled Jack as the bike throttled to life and they cruised out of the parking lot. Adrenaline pounded with anxiety as they wove through town, and Jack’s grip doubled on Ed on the traffic-choked highway.
Ed quickly navigated them to free, open roads, and stuffy exhaust air freshened—the wind rushed tens of scents toward him: cut grass, pollen, trees—even the small lake they passed made the air taste different.
With Jack molded to Ed’s back, they shifted as if they were one, leaning into corners and speeding up when the road was straight and free. His heart caught in his throat, and the buzz bounced through him and out his feet. Over and over—combined with the hope swelling inside him that picking him up had been a success. God, he felt so… light.
It was far more intense than driving a car ever could be. His senses were heightened, and thrills rushed over him.
But fear held him too.
When they merged onto the highway to head toward their restaurant, a passing truck made him seize up. Suddenly he wasn’t on a date, riding with the guy of his dreams, but he was on his parents’ boat, wind whipping in his face, imagining the fear of their last moments….
Jack’s breathing quickened, and he didn’t know how it happened, but the next thing he was aware of was parking in a gas station and Ed helping him off the bike.
The helmet came off, and Jack couldn’t stop swallowing.
“You okay?” Ed rubbed his shoulders, a frown pinching his brow. “Can I get you something? Need a drink?”
Jack nodded, and Ed ducked inside the store and came back out with a Gatorade. When Jack had drank more than half and the panic had subsided, he looked at Ed and gave him a sheepish smile. “The bike… it’s real intense. I love it, but yeah. Smells, sounds, the whole feel of it is ten times more sensitive than driving.”
Ed spoke softly. “Yeah. It can be really emotional too.”
“The wind that buffeted off that truck. It freaked m
e out and then… damn, that reaction took me by surprise.”
“Do you want me to call you a cab?”
Jack looked at the motorbike and back at Ed and shook his head. “No.” He needed to confront his fears head-on. He couldn’t let the past keep hindering his future. “I trust you, Ed, and I will get on again. Maybe we could just take a few minutes first?”
A warm smile lit Ed’s face, and he leaned in as if to kiss him, before remembering where they were and pulling back. “As long as you need. Then I’ll take you back home.”
Jack glanced at the clouds gathering in the distance. He wanted to protest. To tell Ed that no, they should definitely do dinner first, but…. “Ten minutes. Then head back before it rains.”
They sat next to each other, staring out at the cars on the road. Jack rubbed his palms over his jeans. “You had a big day, yesterday?”
A breath funneled out of Ed. “Yes.”
“Does it have anything to do with why you picked me up?” From Harrison grounds.
“Yes,” Ed whispered over his cheek. “My parents know.”
Jack closed his eyes. He’d suspected as much. His whole body coiled tight, waiting for Ed to continue.
“I got upset when you left. Mom looked at me and asked what happened between us, and I froze. I just froze, and she came forward and hugged me. Said I didn’t have to say anything, but that whatever I wasn’t saying, she and Dad loved me anyway.” Ed pinched his brow. “Those words unleashed everything I’ve been holding back. I told her I was gay. Told her you were my boyfriend. Told her everything about you because finally I could share it. Could tell someone about this amazing guy I’d met and how insanely happy I am and how that freaks me out, and how I was upset because I couldn’t just ask you to stay. Because when you left all I could imagine was you taking someone else to your formal. The thought made me feel sick and hurt and jealous, and I hated it.”
Ed trembled as he spoke, his voice cracking at the end.
Jack threw his arms around Ed and embraced him. Ed breathed heavily against his neck, grip tight on Jack’s back, like he wanted to pull him even closer.