by Tijan
“I changed my mind because I’m not a whore.”
“You can have your freedom. You can do whatever you want. I will have no claim to you either.”
She flushed. “You’re too young to be this big of a douche.”
I flashed her a cocky grin. “Yeah, well, there’s a reason you keep coming around.” Then I let her go and started to walk away. I said over my shoulder, “Find me later if you’re okay with the agreement. I won’t change my mind and I won’t be manipulated into being your boyfriend.”
“Asshole,” she yelled at me.
I shrugged, grinning. She’d come. She had all summer. I had a brother to handle now. When I headed inside the cabin, I noticed there was alcohol everywhere. A video game was on the television and the living room was crowded. People were talking, laughing, touching, and others were waiting for their turn with the video controllers. When I headed upstairs, the music turned on, filling the entire house. Fischer’s cabin wasn’t really a cabin. It was a huge house and it was isolated, making it the perfect place for a big party. Passing by a couple already heading into a room, I saw Nate in the hallway. He was knocking on a closed door and I heard him say, “Logan, Mason needs to talk to you. Come out.”
“Hey.”
He looked up, and gestured to the room. “I told him about Smythe and he freaked.”
Shit. My gut tightened up. I nodded. “I’ll handle it.” Raising my voice, I yelled, “LOGAN. Let me in.” I waited. Nothing happened. I added, “Now.”
The door burst open and Logan glared at me. “What? So you can accuse me of doing drugs? I’m not an idiot. I know not to touch that shit.”
He moved to slam the door shut, but I blocked it and went inside. Nate followed, but when I saw no one was in there, I told him, “Give us a minute?”
“For real?”
I nodded. “Yeah, just a minute.”
“Okay.” He shrugged and gestured outside. “I’m going to start getting wasted.”
As soon as he was gone, I shut the door. Logan was sitting on the bed, his arms crossed over his chest, scowling at me. When I locked the door, he started, “Not cool, douchebag.”
I fought back a grin. He’s a year younger than me, but he looked like a little boy at that moment. “You have any friends hiding in here?”
“No.”
He said it too quickly. “I mean it. I’m going to get real personal here. You want our shit exposed to your buddies?”
The scowl disappeared and he rolled his eyes. “Are you serious?” Letting out a big huff, he went to the closet and opened the door. “Get lost, guys.” Two of his friends, one was the younger Smythe, scrambled from behind a pile of blankets. They darted around me and out the door, slamming it behind them.
I locked it again and wasted no time. Logan had returned back to the bed, but he dropped his attitude. I asked, “Who’s doing the drugs?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“Logan.”
“I don’t. I don’t touch that shit.”
“You’re the leader in your grade. You would know. Who does them?”
“I don’t know. I really don’t. I mean, there’s a few guys, but we don’t hang out with them.”
“Little Smythe is going home stoned. His brother is blaming you. Is this going to be a problem? I need to know so I know how to handle Jared when he comes at me again.”
“It’s not me. It’s really not. Derek has other friends. He doesn’t hang out with just me and the guys.”
“His other friends are shady?”
“Yeah.” He nodded. “I don’t hang out with him, but I can’t tell Derek not to hang out with them either.”
“What are their names?”
He squirmed on the bed and rolled his eyes. “Come on. I can’t do that.”
“I’m not going to narc to the cops or anything, but Jared’s going to ask for names. I have to give him something. He can handle it from there.”
“That’s the same thing. Derek’s brother will go after them. He’s like you,” he frowned, “but nicer.”
I grinned at that. “Give me the names, Logan. I’d want to know if it was you.”
He groaned. “You’re killing me.”
“Then handle it yourself.”
“Yeah, right. And do what? I can’t tell people who aren’t my friends not to do drugs.”
“No, but you can tell your friend not to do drugs. If he hangs out with them, he doesn’t hang out with you. What your friends do comes back onto you. You’ll have to deal with it at some point. There’s nothing wrong with protecting yourself. That’s all you’re doing.”
He lifted his hand and swept it through his hair, messing it up. Then it dropped and his shoulders slumped down. “Really? You’re going to make me do this?”
“Either you handle it or I will. I don’t want you anywhere around that crap and I won’t let some prick say you are.”
Logan gazed up at me, seeing I meant what I was saying. He sighed and looked back down to his lap. “I’ll do it. I will.”
“Good.” I went to the door, but turned back. “It’s you and me, Logan. You got that, right?”
“I do. Yeah.”
When I saw that he did and he wasn’t fighting me, I sighed in relief. We dealt with so much shit at home. We couldn’t control that, but dealing with school and our friends—that was something we could control. I was determined not to let anyone else push us around. One way or another, I was going to protect us.
6
DINNER WITH HELEN
I was at dinner with my mom when my phone buzzed. It was from Nate. Good to go, but come through the basement door. Mom’s pissy ‘cause of her party.
I responded back, With my mom. Be there soon.
Is Logan coming?
No. Out with that girl.
Shit. That’s been going on for a long time now.
Yeah. Too serious for Logan. I laughed to myself.
Ha. Hurry. I got beer.
”Is that Nathaniel?” Helen asked as she folded her cloth napkin, brushing the corner of her mouth, giving me a warm smile.
I shook my head, putting my phone away. “Why the hell do you call him Nathaniel? His name’s Nate.”
She grimaced. “Mason, language. Do you always have to curse in my presence?”
I nodded and flashed her a smile. “Don’t worry, Helen dearest, I don’t discriminate. I curse outside of your presence too.”
She groaned. “Well,” she glanced around at the other diners around us. It was an early dinner, but the restaurant was known for its expensive cuisine. Even though we were a safe distance from the other tables from hearing, they were curious anyway. She added, “People in our circle don’t need more material to gossip about us. Can you refrain from cursing when you’re around your mother? Please?”
I rolled my eyes. “I don’t think a few swear words from your son is going to add more fuel to the fire. Dad’s cheating and your divorce is plenty to keep the old hags going.” Noticing one old hag in particular watching us steadily, I narrowed my eyes at her, leaned forward, and raised my voice, “She just asked me to stop swearing, in case you wanted to know what’s going on.”
“Mason,” Helen hissed next to me, “lower your voice.”
I ignored her and said to the lady, “She really hates it when I say the word FUCK all the time.” Her eyes got big and she sat up straight. When I saw the same movements as all the others, when they lifted their noses to look down them, I yelled again, “In case you’re confused about that word, it’s like having sex, but fucking. You know? I like to mix it up, use it with other words like ‘I’m fucking talking to you’.” The lady looked horrified. When she began looking around for the server, I lifted my hand. “I’ll get them for you.” Then I extended my middle finger in the air, pointing it right at her. “That lady there wants some help. Right there.”
“Good god, Mason.” My mom shoved my finger down and held hers out towards the lady. “I am so very sorry
. He and his brother aren’t handling the divorce that well.”
I snorted. “Good one, Mom. That’s the best lie all year.”
“Stop it.” The server came over and Helen reassured him, “He will quiet down. I promise. I am so sorry.”
He didn’t look comforted, but I stared him down. We both knew they weren’t going to kick Helen Malbourne-Kade out of the restaurant. She owned shares in the restaurant as did a bunch of my other relatives. When he left and my mother paid for the old lady’s dinner, plus her guest, Helen settled back in her chair. She shot me a dark look. “You could act properly. I know you know how. What is with you lately?”
“You mean besides the divorce, hearing you cry every fucking night, raising Logan, and Dad’s affairs?” I shrugged, reaching for my water to take a drink. “Nothing, Mother dearest, but you might want to try raising your other son. I’m a lost cause. Logan’s not.”
“Not yet, but I don’t think he wants me around. He won’t talk to me anymore.”
I frowned. “What do you mean?”
“He called me the other night and informed me that he was happy I was divorcing Dad because he was tired of the fighting and the ‘shit storm’. His words.”
“When was this?”
“Sometime this week. I hoped he would come for dinner.”
The timing of his date made more sense.
Helen sighed and pushed her plate away. “He doesn’t want to have a relationship with me. He said it’s pointless because you’re the only one who’s there.” I saw pain flash in her eyes before she lowered her head. I could hear the regret in her voice. “He was calling to inform me of his decision.” Looking back up, she gave me a wry grin, but she couldn’t hide the hurt. “That’s my other son for you, and this, spending time with you is pointless. Every time I try to spend quality time with you, something happens. I can’t spend time with you alone. I never know what you’re going to do. Last week, the cops called me and told me to reign in my child. I enjoyed that phone call immensely.”
I shrugged. “Cops are assholes.”
“This week it’s this. You’re flipping off the elderly and using coarse language on purpose?” She leaned forward and lowered her tone. “That lady wasn’t doing anything to you.”
“She was judging us.” I stared right back at her. “She was judging you, Mom. I don’t give a shit what she says about me. Bad reputations aren’t a bad thing for guys like me, but you,” I tsked at her, shaking my head. “Trust me, she would’ve been on the phone with her biddies and all their daughters about that woman James Kade is leaving.”
Helen sucked in her breath and her fingers curled on the table, holding onto it for support. She realized that I was right.
I said, “Now she’ll talk about what a horrible son James Kade has.” I finished my water and gave my mother a polite smile. “That was a win-win for us. No gossip on you and my badass rep continues to grow.”
A soft curse slipped from her lips, and she leaned back in her chair. Her hands lifted to rub her forehead, massaging it in circles. “You’re right, except I wish your reputation was only a reputation.”
“Yeah.” I shrugged. My phone buzzed again, and I said to her, “I have to go. Nate’s waiting.”
“Mason—”
I got up and shot from the table, ignoring the rest of whatever she was going to lecture me about. I didn’t want to sit there and hear what I knew she’d say. She would ask questions about who would be at Nate’s house, but it would only torture her further. Nate’s parents were having a party. I was fully aware of who would be in attendance, lots and lots of my father’s mistresses. Nate thought I was going to hang out with him in the basement. Nope. I was going to have some fun tonight. Logan was off having a nice, normal date so the coast was clear. I was going to rip into a few people tonight, whether Nate’s parents kicked me out or not.
Nate saw the fight in me the second I walked through the basement patio door. He put the video controller aside and cursed, raking his hand through his hair. “You’re going to cause a problem tonight, aren’t you?”
There were four other people sitting on the couches and chairs in the room. I didn’t recognize any of them, but at Nate’s words they all looked at me. I said to them, “Who are you people?”
“They’re friends. Their parents are friends with my parents.” Nate pointed to a guy. “That’s Nick.”
A lanky guy, wearing a polo and trendy jeans nodded to me. “Yo.”
Nate continued, pointing to the girl next to him. “That’s Maria.”
“Hi.” She gave me a nervous smile. Brushing some of her blonde hair back, she moved away from Nick’s hand and her eyes grew more welcoming. He frowned at her, then it turned into scowl as he turned to me. I shot him a warning look. I wasn’t going to take any crap from him. At that, it went back to a frown, but there was still heat in his eyes. He could be a problem later.
Nate kept on with the introductions. He gestured to the opposite couch where a girl sat. She had black hair and could’ve been a model. He said, “That’s Wren and the guy next to her is Wayne. They’re twins.” The guy said hello, but I ignored him and lingered on Wren. Her lips pressed together in a smug smirk, and she adjusted her legs, opening them for a second before she swung them back underneath her bottom. She wore a shirt that looked like a corset with a black bra underneath. Her breasts were full and I imagined cupping them later. They’d be a good handful.
When my gaze snapped up to hers, the invitation was there and I nodded. If I didn’t get thrown out of the party or arrested, I knew what I’d be doing later. I gave the other guy a nod and headed for the bar in the basement. “Did you guys start drinking?”
Nate followed me. He hopped on a bar stool when I went behind the counter and poured rum into a glass. As he watched me, he said, “Yeah, but we were waiting for you to start doing shots.”
The others got up and stood around the bar. I skimmed them again and grunted. Nate’s parents were rich movie directors. That meant they had rich friends, who had rich kids, and since Nate’s parents directed major motion pictures, I knew the who’s-who were upstairs. I was a rich kid. I was aware of this, but I wasn’t an entitled prick like these four were. And the people upstairs were worse. Even now, glancing towards the ceiling, I could list the people up there.
I finished mixing my drink and asked Nate, “Is my dad up there?”
He tensed and shook his head. “No.”
“Is he?”
“Come on, Mason. Don’t do this.”
I flashed him a hard grin. He was up there. “Is there food up there? I think I’m hungry.”
“Mason. Seriously. Don’t.”
Nick frowned. “What’s going on?”
Maria and Wren shared a look, both smiling at each other. Wayne frowned at them, then at me, and swung to Nate. “What’s going on?”
I slammed my drink back and started for the stairs.
“Mason.” Nate got in front of me and tried to block me from the stairs. “Think about this. This is my parents’ house.”
I stopped and flashed him a heated look. “Move, Monson.”
He shook his head. “My parents already don’t like you. They threatened me the last time we got into trouble. They want to move from Fallen Crest and take me with them.”
A voice in the back of my head was telling me to listen to him. He was my best friend. He was always by my side. He did whatever I needed and he took a lot of crap because of it. The other part of me wasn’t a voice. It was the need to pummel someone. The voice got silenced and a calm came over me. I needed to do this. “My dad is up there.”
Nate was holding his hands up to me, but they lowered. An air of acceptance came over him and he said, “I know he is.”
“You know who else is up there?” My voice grew rough, hardening. My jaw clenched and I lowered my head, as if I was going to charge right through him.
He nodded. “I do.”
“I’m going up there, Nate. I’m
sorry, but I am. All his colleagues are up there. All those women he’s slept with. He keeps them around. He works with them. He introduces them to his friends. They’re all in the same social circle.”
He gazed at me, studying me.
I let him see me. I let him see the gnawing ache inside of me. It had been there forever. I couldn’t remember a time it wasn’t, and the person who put it there was with his friends. My dad was doing his thing. He was acting like he was perfect. He was pretending that he had never hurt anyone and he was getting away with it.
“Nate,” I softened my tone, “I have to make him hurt. Just a little bit.”
“He’s outside on the patio.” Then he stepped aside, and I didn’t wait another second. I charged the stairs.
When I burst through the door, conversation stopped. It was like they sensed trouble coming and I smirked, seeing alarm come over more than a few. Some of them scattered away, and I knew it wouldn’t be long before someone told Nate’s mom I was out here. She’d come and try to intervene, but it wouldn’t matter. As I passed the buffet table, I grabbed a drink and headed to the patio. When I got there, Nate’s dad had his head bent close to my dad’s. They turned as one to me. I flashed them a grin. That hadn’t taken long at all. With mirroring guarded expressions coming over them, I headed their way, then skimmed the woman next to my dad up and down. She wore a black dress, high heels, and a shiny bracelet on her wrist.
I pointed to it. “When did he get that for you?”
“Mason.” My dad moved forward. He lifted a hand to me, but I dodged around him.
I said again, “When did he get that for you?” I gestured around the room. “Because you know he’s gotten a lot of women here the same gift.”
She looked at my dad. “Who is this?”
I laughed. “She doesn’t even know. You must be one of his short-term girls.” I swung around to my dad. “Or are you still with that bitch? What was her name? I didn’t like her, Dad.” As I stressed that word, I threw the woman a pointed look. She flushed, registering the insult and moved back a step. I turned back to him. “Or are you cheating on her with her.” I pointed to the woman and looked around the room exaggeratedly. “I don’t see the other one, so this must be the one in your bed tonight.”