“Yeah, Dad, I’ll be fine,” I say, secretly cheering inside. Better than fine… I’m getting laid again tonight.
Around 6:45, Jerica calls Ana to get my address, and she says she’ll be here in twenty minutes. Ana finally agrees to go downstairs, stepping with the ultimate of precision to make sure no single hair falls out of place. She sits down on the couch in the living room and Zuri and I have to talk her down from the ledge a couple of times, reassuring her that she’s going to be great and Jerica already likes her, or she wouldn’t have asked her out in the first place. Finally, Jerica pulls up to the house in a limo of all things, which doesn’t help a bit with Ana’s nerves.
Before we open the door, I take Ana by the shoulders and say, “Breathe… Breathe…”
Ana takes deep breaths, but she’s still shaking. “Okay…”
I move to open the door, and Jerica smiles when she sees me. “Hi, Madison. I’m here to pick up Ana.”
I smile for a different reason. “Hi,” I say, laughing.
Jerica gives me a confused look. “What’s so funny?”
I step aside to let her in. “You’ll see. Here’s Ana.”
Ana and Jerica see each other and both of them immediately burst into nervous laughter. “Oh, my God… We wore the same dress!” Jerica exclaims. It’s true… They’re both wearing identical Stephan Lowe dresses.
“I can’t believe it!” Ana giggles, and instantly relaxes.
They look into each other’s eyes, and Jerica smiles warmly. “Great minds, huh?” Ana just gives her that beautiful smile.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Ahhh…” Gio sighs contentedly as his arm wraps around my back. “That’s the stuff.” We’re lying in my bed later that night after the most pleasurable half-hour of my life thus far.
“Hell yeah,” I say, cuddling into his chest with my arm around his abs. “Way better than last time. You really delivered.”
Gio chuckles, buries his nose in my hair, and breathes in deeply. “God, you smell so good.”
“You, too,” I say, enjoying the scent of his expensive cologne. “You’re so perfect.” I kind of blurted that second sentence out, not really meaning to. My cheeks get a little warm.
“Well, thanks,” he says, sounding extremely flattered. “You’re pretty perfect, yourself.”
I giggle and lean back, and then before I can kiss him, Cass’s car pulls into the driveway, and I immediately roll onto my back and groan. It’s only 10 PM. “They’re home early again? Go figure.”
“Just stay still and quiet,” Gio says. “They probably won’t come in here.”
Dad and Cass come in the door and don’t say a word. I hear Dad’s footsteps go by my door, but Cass goes out the back through the sunroom. Dad’s door shuts quietly, and as soon as I hear his TV come on, I relax. “Whew…”
“Well, now I can’t sneak out,” Gio observes. “Cass is out back. There’s no way she won’t see me.”
I turn to Gio with a mischievous look. “Well then, I guess you’ll just have to stay until she comes back in.” I stand up and cross the room to lock the door, and then I turn around and whisper to Gio, “Silent Round Two?”
We share another extremely enjoyable half-hour, and yet at the end, we still haven’t heard the back door sliding again. “I guess she’s not coming back in,” Gio says, looking satisfied, but puzzled.
“Maybe I should check on her,” I say. “She probably won’t mind us having sex, and I doubt she’ll tell Dad. Let’s just go down and see if she’s alright.” Gio nods, and we both stand up and get dressed.
When we get out to the patio, Cass is sitting in the hot tub in a white bikini with her hair fanned out on the cement behind her. She’s faced away from the house, and when we get closer, I notice some water has splashed on her face. Wait… that’s not water. The drops are coming from her eyes. Cass is crying.
“Hey, Cass, are you okay?” I ask her, coming down to sit on the cement and sticking my feet in the water beside her. Gio follows suit.
“Oh, hey guys. Yeah, I’m fine,” she says, wiping her cheeks briskly and faking a smile.
“Cass, you don’t have to lie to me,” I say, leaning down to look in her eyes. “What’s wrong?”
I watch as Cass tries with all her might to fight the tears, but they just keep coming. “Um… I think I’m going to have to go away to Santa Barbara for a while… I mean, while you guys are here.”
“What?” I ask in shock.
“I can’t be around Mike anymore,” she says, shaking her head as her face crumples in a sob. “I just can’t.”
“Why not?” Now I’m starting to tear up. “Cass, he’s your best friend. Whatever it is, you can work it out.”
“He’s going out with that woman from the club tomorrow night,” Cass says, and suddenly the picture comes together. “It just… hurts too much. I can’t sit around and go through this anymore.”
I let out a sigh. “You love him, don’t you?”
Cass nods, sobbing. “Madison, what is wrong with me?”
I completely disregard the fact that I’m in jeans and a T-shirt and get down in the hot tub with her. “Nothing is wrong with you, okay?” I say, wrapping her in a hug. “I’ve always wondered why you guys were not together.”
“He’s never going to see it, is he?” Cass says. “I’m just wasting all my time. I have been for twenty-seven years.”
“Twenty-seven years?!” Gio exclaims in shock.
“You mean you’ve loved him all this time?” I pull back, also horrified. “Cass! Why does he not know this?”
“I wanted to tell him, but…” Cass sniffs, and her sobs subside for a minute. “Mads, do you know what it’s like being in love with someone who’s worshipped by thousands upon thousands of women?”
“Um…” I’m not exactly sure how to answer that question, considering the ridiculously attractive and famous guy I’m sleeping with is sitting right here.
“When your dad and I were on tour, he went to bed with at least two women every night.” When my jaw drops, Cass cringes. “Sorry, I probably shouldn’t be telling you this.”
“No please, go ahead,” I say, enjoying the dirt Cass is dishing right now. Gio joins us in the hot tub, looking just as intrigued as I am.
“At any rate, it was just really demoralizing being lumped in with all those women. I was one out of hundreds.” Gio and I glance at each other with wide eyes. Damn, Dad! Man-whore much? “Granted, I was probably the only one he ever slept with more than once, but I still couldn’t tell him I had real feelings for him. It would have been like a puppy begging for attention. I couldn’t let anyone see that kind of weakness in me.” Cass pulls her knees up to her chest, and another tear slips down her cheek. “I’ve spent twenty-seven years of my life in failed relationships because the only man I ever really loved doesn’t want me. I never had kids… I never…” She puts her hand back over her face, and my heart shatters for her.
“Oh, my God, Cass…” My voice wobbles. “You really need to tell him.”
“I don’t know how,” she says. “How do you tell someone a thing like this?”
“Declare your love,” Gio says suddenly, and both of us look up at him, surprised. “Make a bold gesture. If he’s too stupid to understand that, he’s not worth the hassle.” He sounds a little angry at Dad, and I really can’t blame him.
Cass turns back to me. “What do you think, Mads?”
“I think he’s right,” I say. “Dad needs to know the truth, and apparently he’s too dense to see the obvious. We need a plan that’s going to knock him off his feet. I’m on it, Cass. Commence Mission Bold Gesture.”
Gio gives me an adorably excited look. “Did I just make it into the mission log?”
“I’ll be sure to mention your name in the credits, bae,” I say with a smile, trying out the nickname he gave me. It’s a little too “pop” for my tastes, but we’ll make it work.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
&n
bsp; Ana comes home shortly after the hot tub conversation with Cass, and the two of us hang out in her room and talk while she gets undressed.
“J is incredible,” Ana raves as she’s taking bobby pins out of her hair. “I mean, I knew she was amazing when I met her, but she’s so down to earth and not at all what you would expect a billionaire 18-year-old to be. Now, instead of just basking in her riches, she’s working on another business project. Her new company and research center will be called Hydroconomics and it’s going to come up with better, more efficient ways to bring water to Los Angeles.”
“Wow,” I say, feeling a little small. Jerica Valrey is clearly taking the world by storm.
“I know, I still can’t believe she even likes me,” Ana says, laughing and shaking her head. “I’m that stereotypical dumb blonde that everyone always talks about. Maybe opposites really do attract.”
“Ana! Don’t you dare call yourself that,” I exclaim, feeling horrified. “You are the furthest thing from a dumb blonde.”
Ana gives me an amused look. “Remember when you tricked me into thinking the Christmas trees had sprouted overnight?”
There was a lot for Christmas trees on the route between her house and mine back in Kentucky. One day, when we were thirteen, the trees suddenly appeared on the lot, and I managed to convince her that Christmas trees could actually grow that fast. She was so embarrassed when she realized how gullible she had been, and she’s just now starting to think it was funny. “That was a little dumb, I’ll admit,” I say, giggling, “but it was just one incident. You can’t call yourself a dumb blonde based on one moment of stupidity.”
“Yeah, but… I mean, it’s not just that. I have no talents except for fashion and beauty. I feel totally superficial and inferior when I’m around her.” She sighs. “I really like her, but… I don’t know if I can handle this.”
“Ana,” I say, “if you like her, and she likes you, you’ll work it out.”
Ana nods, going into her closet to take off her dress and find some pajamas. “So, what happened while I was gone?”
“Well, Gio and I kind of did it again… and again,” I say, grinning.
She snickers a little bit. “Horndogs.”
“Then we talked to Cass and found out that she really does have feelings for Dad. Big ones. She’s madly in love with him.”
Ana pokes her head out of the closet with an adoring expression. “Awwww! Really?”
“Yeah, and she was so heartbroken… I guess he’s going out with that bitch from the club tomorrow.”
“Aww… Really?” Ana asks, with a totally different inflection.
I nod. “We’re not giving up that easily, though. Gio told Cass she needs to make a bold gesture, and I totally agree with him. As of tomorrow, Mission Bold Gesture is on. I do hope you’re in.”
“Best idea ever. I am so in.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next day, two hours before his date, I send Dad out to get groceries. He can be a bit OCD when it comes to shopping—he always has to get the object with the furthest away date, for some odd reason—so it always takes a while for him to get back. After he leaves, Cass, Gio, Ana, and I all spring into action. We set up the patio for Dad’s surprise, and while we’re doing that, I talk to Cass a little more.
“Just curious, Cass… You guys were friends and occasional f-buddies before the band got together, right?”
“Right,” Cass confirms as she strings up lights in one of the decorative trees.
“Why didn’t you just tell him back then?”
Cass shrugs. “I was young… stupid… At the time, I didn’t want to commit to one man. It wasn’t until we got famous that I realized how much he really meant to me, and after that, it felt like I was too late. Once you came along, he stopped his wild ways, and I thought I might have a shot with him again, but then he took off to Kentucky, and I didn’t want to try to follow him. I like my life in LA… I’m not really a country living type of gal.”
I giggle a little bit. “Yeah, I can’t really see you mucking out stables. Sounds like you guys have a classic case of bad timing and poor communication going on.”
Cass smirks. “Tell me about it. By the way, uh… I noticed you and Gio were quite close last night. Care to tell me what was going on?”
I clear my throat. “Um… can you promise not to tell Dad?”
Cass, knowingly, “You’re screwing with him, aren’t you?”
I turn around and beg with folded hands. “Please don’t tell Dad.”
Cass nods and chuckles a little. “I promise,” she says.
Dad gets home thirty minutes before he has to leave again, and I take him out back so Cass can stay in her room and put the final touches on her look. The sun is setting, and the patio looks magical… Lights are strung up in all the decorative trees, and there are candles on the tables. It’s such a romantic setting that I find myself thinking I wouldn’t mind having a wedding here.
“Mads, what is going on? I have to get ready,” Dad protests, but I get him out to the patio sitting in a chair just in time.
“You’ll see,” I tell him. “Just stay here, she’ll be out in a minute.”
“Okay… She?”
“Just wait, Dad,” I say, walking away quickly. I duck behind one of the trees near the house so I can work the controls for Cass. We set up a microphone and some amps not far out from the back door.
Two minutes later, Cass comes out the back door… and the woman looks absolutely smoking hot. Her eye makeup is dark and she’s wearing a black leather vest over a white belly top, exposing her belly button piercing, and she put blonde extensions in her hair, so it’s now almost all the way down her back. There’s a studded black belt around her dark ripped jeans, and she’s wearing black lace-up boots. She looks every bit the sexy, badass rocker chick she once was, which is exactly what I was trying to accomplish when I helped her choose her outfit earlier. I take a peek at Dad, whose jaw has dropped at the mere sight of Black Angel.
I promised Cass I would stick around and manage the sound for her, so after she plugs in her guitar, I adjust the settings on the amps. We didn’t have time to rehearse, so I beg the universe to please make this sound right…
“Mike…” Cass starts speaking, and her voice is a little too loud, so I adjust the sound accordingly. “The words of this song are something I should have told you a long time ago. I hope you’ll hear it and remember all that we’ve been to each other. I also hope you’ll see that we can be so much more.” Then Cass starts to play her electric guitar in an acoustic-sounding voice, and I watch her in amazement. She’s got star quality of her own for sure, and she hasn’t lost an ounce of it.
She sings an original, beautiful love song, So Much More, which indirectly talks about how much she’s loved him through everything they’ve been through together. After the first chorus, I peep around the side of the tree to see if he’s getting it. He looks a little confused at first, and then I get to watch as the light dawns on his face. Her strong, clear voice resonates over the distance between them, and Dad leans forward in his seat, completely fixated on her. When she reaches the bridge of the song, he stands up and approaches her, and I squeal a little under my breath.
After one more chorus, the song ends, and Cass puts the guitar down and meets Dad in front of the mic. He gazes at her in the soft lighting with the most tender, bewildered expression I have ever seen on anyone’s face. “Cass… how long have you felt this way?”
“Twenty-seven years,” Cass whispers, and I can see the tears sparkling in her eyes.
“Twenty-sev—this whole time??” Cass just nods, and Dad reaches up and grabs the back of his hair with his right hand like he always does when he’s agitated. He’s breathing heavily. “You can’t be serious…”
“I’ve never been more serious,” Cass assures him, looking up into his eyes.
I have never seen Dad full-on weeping, but he’s dangerously close to breaking down in this moment
. “Baby, why did you let me do this to you?” My heart jumps. That’s a name he definitely never called her before.
“I… I didn’t know what to do,” Cass says, shrugging. “You were always with someone else, so… I thought you didn’t love me and you never would.”
“You’re the only woman I’ve ever given a damn about, Cassidy,” he says, grabbing her upper arms. “If I had known this years ago, you would have been my queen. I would have given up the world for you.”
Her face comes alive. “Really?”
“Yes. It’s not too late?” Dad asks, doubting himself.
“No, it’s not!” she says excitedly, and she puts her hands up on the sides of his neck. “I’m in love with you, Mike, and I always will be.”
“I love you, too,” he says, and he takes her in his arms and sweeps her off her feet with a long-awaited kiss.
“Yesss!” I whisper to myself, pumping my fist. “Mission accomplished.” I sneak out from behind the tree, going back into the house and squealing quietly over how precious they are. I just helped my dad unite with his soulmate after twenty-seven years of stupidity. Maybe this will earn me some brownie points for the moment when I tell him I’m no longer a virgin…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A knock comes at my door much later that night as I’m lying on the bed watching one of my favorite shows on Netflix. “Come in!”
Dad opens the door, beaming with happiness. “Hey, Cupid!” he says, and both of us grin.
“Hey!” I say, laughing and sitting up. Then a horrible thought enters my mind. “Oh, God… If you just got done having sex, please don’t touch me.”
Dad laughs and shakes his head as he comes to sit down on the bed next to me. “No, I just got out of the shower, don’t worry,” he says, and I breathe a sigh of relief. He looks at me for a mere moment before pulling me into a tight embrace. “You are the best thing that ever came into my life, Madison Daley,” he says softly against my right ear.
My heart is warmed, but I think that statement was a little weird considering what else just came into his life. “Thanks?”
Diary of a Rocker's Kid (D.O.R.K. Book 1) Page 10