The Price of Fame: A Price Novel (The Price Novels Book 2)

by Craft, Maggi

  “Well, now you see the real Zac Price. I guess now that you’re family he won’t sugarcoat everything for your benefit anymore.”

  She didn’t say anything else. I grabbed her hand and kissed it, and she smiled at me.

  It had been a long day, so we decided to go home and relax by the pool, drink some beer, and grill out. I went inside to get the steaks for the grill and saw her phone lying on the counter with a bunch of text messages from Eric.

  I couldn’t very well open her text messages—that would be psycho—but I couldn’t just pretend I didn’t see them either. I didn’t want to end this day in a fight over that jerk, but I wasn’t sure I would be able to bite my tongue either. I was going to have to say something. I walked outside with the steaks and her phone and set the phone on a chair.

  “Was my phone ringing?”

  “Nope.”

  She gave me a funny look and climbed out of the pool to see what I was being short with her about. I saw her expression change, but she didn’t say anything for a minute while she texted him back.

  “Were you going through my phone?” she asked.

  “No, do I need to?”

  “I don’t know, Slayde. Do you think you need to?”

  “I don’t know; what good that would do? It wouldn’t change anything. Look, I don’t want to fight with you. I went to get the steaks and your phone was lit up because he had just texted you, all right? I wasn’t being nosy.” I didn’t look back at her until I heard the phone ring.

  She answered it. It was Eric. “I’m off today, and you know that. I don’t want to deal with this now.” She paused. “Well, if you can’t figure it out yourself, ask someone who is there, but don’t do anything stupid. The fact that you are questioning the decision is good enough reason to put your ego aside and ask for help.” She paused again. “I mean from someone who is there, Eric. Good-bye.” And she hung up.

  “If you are thinking anything stupid, don’t be,” she said to me.

  “I didn’t say a damn thing.”

  “You don’t have to.”

  I kept my mouth shut, since it wouldn’t do any good to say anything.

  “Eric is my partner on a case, and he pretty much lets me make all the hard decisions. It’s ridiculous, and I’m ready to move on with a new partner.”

  “Why would you even partner with him on anything when you know how I feel about him? I’m not being stupid. I sat there and heard him try and turn you against me. More than once, remember?”

  “Yes, baby, I was there, and I do remember. I know who Eric is, Slayde. I haven’t forgotten, but I don’t have a choice in who my partner is. The attending decides that, and it changes from case to case. The fact that you think you need to be concerned about me with anybody else bothers me. Why don’t you trust me?”

  “Nobody said I didn’t trust you, A. I just feel like everybody at that hospital spends more time with you than I do, and I hate it. So, there, I guess I am jealous.” I didn’t say anything else. I just started poking at the steaks.

  She came and gave me a hug. “Baby, I miss you too. It won’t be long before my first year is up, and I won’t be there as much. I love you. Please don’t worry. It’s a ridiculous waste of energy. I’m not gone because I want to be away from you, Slayde. I have to do my time. I will never want anyone but you, I pinkie promise.” She looked up at me, holding out her pinkie. I held mine out too, and she leaned up and kissed me. I did feel a little better after that!

  The next morning I got up after Arden left and started getting ready to go to the studio. I was about to shower when my dad called and said he was stopping by. I turned on the coffeepot but seriously considered liquor rather than coffee. I didn’t think he had even been to my house since I moved in over a year ago.

  When he arrived, I wasn’t really sure what to expect. He seemed a little distracted, like maybe something was wrong, but I didn’t know what it could be.

  “What’s up?” I asked in a not-so-friendly tone as I shut the door behind him.

  He seemed aware of the fact that I didn’t feel like talking to him. “Look, son, we need to talk.”

  I didn’t say anything. I leaned up against the counter and looked at him. I didn’t have anything to say, but I didn’t have much of a choice about listening to what he had to say.

  He paced back in forth for a minute in the kitchen like he was thinking hard about what he wanted to say to me. I wasn’t sure if he was mad or about to tell me something awful. Dad was usually really good under stress. Most times, you’d never know if something was bothering him, but right now it was clear something was bothering him. Once he stopped moving, he crossed his arms and looked me in the eyes. “I know we have our issues, and I know that I am mostly to blame for that. But I don’t want to keep butting heads with you. You’re my son, and I love you more than life itself. No matter what you think.” He looked like he wanted a response, but I wasn’t giving him that. “Slayde, do you really think I don’t care about you, your mother, your sister? Is that really what you think?”

  “I don’t know, Dad. You sure have a strange way of showing it. I mean, I love my wife, and I want to be with her every second. You act like being at home is a punishment. Like you come home and serve just enough time to keep the peace, and then you’re gone again.”

  He looked at the ground for a minute before he said anything. “Well, I’m sorry if that’s the way it’s perceived, but that is not at all how I feel.” He looked up at me, and he had tears in his eyes. I was in complete shock. I didn’t think he was capable of feeling anything. “I love my family more than anything in this world. I want you, Taylor, and Brady to be able to have everything you ever want. I want you to be able to do things other people’s kids only dream of.”

  I cut him off. “Did it ever occur to you that all we wanted was to spend time with you? What difference does it make if we can spend a week in Italy or Spain or London or wherever, if you never go with us. Never! Would it kill you to come home and spend time with Mom and Taylor for no reason? Just sit home and watch TV with them? Not go up to your office and work the whole time you’re there? Come home and be with them. I think that would mean more to them than anything you could buy them. That’s all Mom wants—you.”

  “What about you?”

  “I don’t need you to spend time with me, Dad. I’m fine. I have everything I want.” I felt my throat tighten, and it was getting harder to get the words out. I knew that wasn’t what I wanted to say to him, but I couldn’t bring myself to tell him that I needed him.

  “Well, I still need you, Slayde. I still want a relationship with you. A better relationship than the one we have. I know I gave you a hard time after graduation for not taking those scholarships, and I’m sorry. I hated to see you waste your talent. You are so much more talented than I ever was, and to see you throw it away killed me.”

  “Dad, I’m sorry I disappoint you. I just don’t want to play baseball for the rest of my life. That’s your life, not mine.”

  “Son, you do not disappoint me. You stood up for what you truly wanted and went after it. It takes a lot more courage to do what you did. Playing ball would have been the easy road for you, but that’s not what you wanted, and I understand that now. I’m sorry it’s four years late, but I get it. I guess I want you to know that I’m really proud of you. I love you, and I’m going to put more effort into our relationship than I have in the past, and I hope you will meet me halfway.”

  I didn’t know what to say. I was astonished. I had never heard my dad say he was sorry for anything. He grabbed me and hugged me and then turned around to leave.

  “Dad.”

  He turned back to face me.

  “I love you too.”

  He smiled at me and then walked out the door.

  A few days later, Dad called and asked me to meet Brady and him at the country club for golf. I really didn’t love golf, but Dad did, and I was decent at it, so I agreed. Golf was Dad’s and Brady’s thing.
r />   I saw Brady sitting on the bench in the locker room, waiting for me. His stare was glacial at first, but his gaze softened, and he almost smiled at me when I reached him. This was the first time I’d seen him in the last year when there was no one else around to buffer the situation. The Arden thing was the first real issue we’d ever had with each other, and I was tired of the awkwardness between us. It was not us. For the most part, Brady and I were close and always had been, at least until this.

  I knew that I had distanced myself from him since I started dating her. And the truth was, it was because I knew he’d be mad. But I couldn’t help the way I felt. And I didn’t like being made to feel guilty about it either.

  “How’s Arden?” he asked, trying to sound genuine, but I knew better than that. His distance from me meant he was pissed.

  I smiled really big. “She’s great!”

  “I bet she is. I really have been wondering, did it not occur to you that I may have a problem with you dating her?” he asked as I opened my locker.

  “Are you serious right now?” I couldn’t help but laugh. “Did it occur to you that I might have had a problem with you screwing Kenedy back then?” I really didn’t care about that anymore, but that wasn’t the point.

  Dad walked in the locker room and told us to come on. On the eighth hole, when Dad was out of earshot, Brady brought it up again. “Did you go after Arden to get back at me for sleeping with Kenedy?”

  “Hell no! I don’t care anymore what happened with you and Kenedy. I didn’t plan this. It just happened. Believe it or not, this had nothing to do with you.”

  “Is that so?”

  “Yes, it is Brady.” He was starting to piss me off. He was standing there, leaning on his club, looking like an arrogant asshole. “Why do you care anyway? You obviously didn’t want her or you wouldn’t have cheated on her.”

  He laughed and swung his club and then looked up at me, still smiling. I recognized my brother again. “Dude, I just needed to get laid. I didn’t want anything with Kenedy. She was just easy. Sorry, but she was!”

  “Well, I guess you learned a valuable lesson. Patience pays off.”

  I walked away, and he followed me.

  “Did you sleep with her in Paris?” he demanded.

  “What? That’s none of your business.”

  “Why did she sleep with you and not me?”

  “Brady, I don’t know, and I really don’t want to talk about this anymore. Why can’t you get over it? It wasn’t personal, dude. Let it go.”

  He opened his mouth to say something, but suddenly Dad started the cart and drove off and left us. He must have heard us talking. He wasn’t a big fan of this conversation, so I wasn’t surprised.

  I tried to walk faster than Brady, but he caught up with me. “Slayde, I need to finish this conversation once and for all.”

  I stopped and looked at him. “Once and for all? OK, what? I don’t have anything else to say about it, so, what?”

  “I guess it just shocked me, that’s all.”

  “Well, shit, Brady, it’s been a year. The shock should have worn off by now. Aubry seems like a nice girl. You’re an ass for talking about this in front of her, you know.”

  He looked down. “I know.” The hurt look on his face made me feel bad. I didn’t like hiding things from him, and I didn’t like not being able to be us because of this. I truly hadn’t set out to hurt him.

  “Then stop. Let it go, for everybody’s sake. Don’t ruin things with her over your hurt ego.”

  Dad drove the golf cart back over, and he didn’t look happy. “Are we finished here, ladies?”

  I looked at Brady. He looked up letting out a deep sigh before saying, “Yep.” He patted me on the back, and we both got into the cart and went off to enjoy the rest of our game.

  I was glad it was over. I knew he meant it when he said he was done. He might not have been completely over it yet, but we were over this. We were moving on.

  When I got home from golf, Arden was home. She walked out of the kitchen as soon as she heard me come in. “Baby, where have you been?” She looked upset.

  “I’ve been playing golf with Dad and Brady, why?”

  “I’ve been calling you all day.”

  I pulled my phone out of my pocket. She had; there were eight missed calls from her. “Sorry, babe, I guess my ringer was off.”

  “All day? You didn’t call anyone all day?”

  “No, who was I gonna call? You were at the hospital. I don’t call anyone but you on a daily basis.” I shrugged. “What’s wrong? Why are you home already?”

  “Ugh! It’s been a horrible day.” She wrapped her arms around me and buried her head in my chest. “You smell.”

  “I’m sure I do.” I laughed. “I had to walk two holes.”

  “Why?”

  I laughed. “Brady started his shit, and Dad drove away without us.” She laughed too.

  “So, how was it?” she asked.

  “Golf?”

  “No, not golf. Brady?” She pulled back, giving me all of her attention.

  “I guess it’s fine now, but he did want to know why you slept with me and not him.”

  She wrinkled her nose in disbelief. “What? What did you say?”

  “Well, I told him the truth. Because I’m way hotter than him, what else.” We both laughed, and she pinched my side. “Ouch! So what’s up with you? What happened today?”

  “Well, you were right about Eric.” She let out a long breath. “He’s such an ass.”

  That made me worry. “Why? What did he do?” I asked cautiously, knowing I needed to act like an adult and not a jealous jerk.

  “There is a new surgeon, and he and Eric have become big buddies. I walked into the doctors’ lounge and overheard them talking about me.” She stopped for a minute. “Slayde, you have to promise me that no matter what I tell you, you can’t do anything stupid. You promise?”

  I had no idea where this was going, but it didn’t sound good. Breathe and don’t be an idiot. So I decided that maybe this was another thing that she didn’t need to tell me. “No, I can’t promise you that, A.”

  “Slayde, this is my life, OK? I have to handle all of this and be professional.”

  I looked at her with a blank stare. “Then maybe you don’t need to tell me.” I didn’t know what else to say, and she was just looking at me. So I went to the shower. I was aggravated with her for trying to tell me how to feel. And if she thought I was going to be angry, then she was probably right. What the hell had that jerk done?

  A few minutes later, she came into the bathroom and opened the shower door. “Slayde, I can’t believe you don’t care.”

  I turned around to look at her. “I didn’t say I don’t care. I said I can’t promise you anything when I don’t know what’s going on.” That obviously wasn’t what she wanted to hear, because she shut the door and left the bathroom. I wasn’t going to let her have her way on this one. When I got out of the shower, I grabbed a beer and headed outside. Arden was already outside, pouting. “You want a beer?” I asked. She nodded, and I went back for another and then sat down in the chaise lounge next to hers. “What’s going on, A?”

  “I just need to be able to talk to my husband about everything and not be concerned that he is going to make things harder for me than they already are.” She started crying, which was exactly what I didn’t want her to do.

  I moved into the chair with her and pulled her onto my lap. “Baby, I’m never going to intentionally make anything harder for you. Tell me what happened.”

  “I overheard Eric tell Austin—that’s the other doctor’s name—that he and I used to date. Then Austin asked him if he had slept with me, and Eric said yes.”

  I felt my whole body tense up. The thought of that made me sick. Arden had said she had never been with anybody but me, and I loved that fact. She was mine. This situation was pissing me off. “Well, there is no truth to that, right?” I asked. My ego needed her reassurance.

/>   She turned around and gave me a mean look. “Are you serious?”

  I groaned and leaned back in the chair. “I don’t know. I don’t like where this is going.”

  “I don’t either, but you know that nothing ever happened between Eric and me. Baby, you know that.”

  “You kissed him.”

  “Oh my gosh! Seriously? You are never gonna let me forget that, are you?”

  “Well, you did, but whatever. What did you say to him?”

  “At first I didn’t say anything—I just turned around and walked out. I really don’t care what either of them think about me, but I didn’t appreciate him disrespecting me. So I went back in there and said, ‘Eric, seriously, is that how you remember things? Because that’s not how I do. Do I need to jog your memory?’ He didn’t say anything at first—he just looked shocked. I stood there and waited for some response, and finally he said, ‘I’m sorry, Arden.’ I asked him why, and then he took a deep breath and looked at Austin and said, ‘I lied, OK. Arden wouldn’t give me the time of day in college, or ever.’ Then he stormed out. I looked at Austin and rolled my eyes, and he laughed. It was so embarrassing. I followed Eric into the locker room and asked him why in the hell he would say something like that. All he could do was say that he was sorry, and he walked away. That was really a breaking point for me,” she explained. She was crying again.

  I held her tight and kissed her cheek. “I’m sorry, baby. I know you thought he was your friend, and he probably is, to an extent. But he’s still a guy, you know.” The last thing I wanted to do was make light of what he did, but I hated to see her hurting, and she really did think he was her friend. “He can’t help that he has feelings for you. You’re beautiful and smart. Hell, I fell for you that first day I saw you in Paris. So I know where he’s coming from.”

  “I just feel stupid that I gave him the benefit of the doubt all this time. I kind of thought that maybe you were being jealous and possessive.”

  I couldn’t believe she said that. I figured she thought that I was overreacting, but possessive? “What? Possessive? I have never been possessive. I love you, and I want to protect you, but I don’t see how that makes me possessive.”