by Dakota Lee
“‘Cause dad said.” Ava says an inflection on the end like she’s asking a question.
“I can do it on the ride back.”
“Dad won’t like that.”
“He won’t know unless you tattle, and I’ll pay you to keep quiet.”
“You have Hersheys?” The hope in Ava’s voice is unmistakable. She loves chocolate but her mother rarely lets her have any sweets.
“Of course, not.” Hunter scoffs. “But I bet Logan does and I’ll get them from him to give to you.”
“Why can’t I get it by myself?”
“Because Cruella won’t let you. My mom doesn’t care, so I’m the broker. You keep quiet and I’ll sneak you chocolate all weekend. Deal?”
She doesn’t bother defending the nickname Hunter gave her mother. It’s a fair description, considering her affinity for furs. “I want a big Hershey’s and Twizzlers, and salt popcorn with butter like my friends when they watch movies.”
Hunter’s mother is only slightly more tolerable than Ava’s, but other than her dad owning Light Studios, I’m not sure what she brought to the table. If her plan was to trap dad, she misplayed her hand. Though both the exes made some pretty cool kids.
“Deal.”
My dad would be proud of the negotiation skills of his two youngest progeny. Hunter’s brought loyalty and silence with the promise of junk food. As their older brother, I should say something, but the truth is, those are the same types of agreements Simon and I made all the time when we were their age. We’re still making bets and deals, but on a much larger playground.
I step into their playroom, tapping my finger against my chin. “And what do I get if I don’t tattle on either of you?”
“Logan!” They yell, launching themselves at me. Hunter grabs my arm, and Ava hooks around my leg as they both try to tackle me to the ground. It used to be easier to fight them off.
“Have you two gotten taller since Christmas?” I stagger over to the book nook with them still hanging on me and sink down onto the bench. “Now, tell me something, bud.” I say, eyeing Hunter. “Why don’t you wanna do your homework now?”
“Because I’m ready to have fun. Isn’t that why we came? For fun?”
“It is, but work has to happen before fun happens.”
“Do you always do all of your work before you have fun?”
He’s got me there, because I’d be a big fat liar if I said I did and one thing I don’t do is lie to my favorite little humans. “No, I don’t.”
“Then I shouldn’t have to either.”
Telling him to do as I say and not as I do would make him lose trust in me. Instead, I try to reason with him. “Tell you what. I have some work I need to do. Let’s set a timer. We both get our assignments out of the way and then it’s party weekend non-stop.”
“We’d have to stop because we go back to school on Sunday afternoon. Dad needs the driver.”
“What if I take you Monday morning?”
“You would? In your car? The black Spiderman one?”
The Venom? Right, because what boy doesn’t want his buddies to see him pulling up in a sports car. I hardly ever take that thing out of the garage, using my roadster as my every day vehicle instead, because I don’t trust the kids on campus not to vandalize it out of spite. “That’s right. My car.”
He jumps off the floor, running to the door. “Deal. I’m doing my homework now.”
“It’s gotta be correct when I check it!”
“It will be.”
Ava pouts up at me from her spot on the floor. “What’s wrong, pea?”
“Now I won’t get my treats?”
Ah, so she’s still in negotiation mode. “Yes, you will. You negotiated in good faith. It’s not your fault Hunter breached your contract when a better offer came along. And since I’m the catalyst for your deal falling through, I’ll make sure you’re still compensated.”
“And what do I have to do?” Her stern, untrusting face is so cute. The shift in the color of her eyes is so much like dads.
“Keep the terms of our discussions and anything we do this weekend quiet.”
“Like a MDA or like a pre-nub?”
A what? Wow. The joys of a social climbing mother. “Like an N-D-A. Non-disclosure agreement. It basically means, we’re sworn to secrecy.”
“We pinky swear?”
“Double pinky swear.”
She nods, her blue eyes wide as she contemplates the severity of this promise. “I can keep a double pinky swear secret.”
I plop a kiss on her red curls. “Good, now go get your lessons done too, and I’ll set an alarm for two hours.”
“Okay, and you’ll have the Hershey’s?”
“No, but I’ll drive us to the store to get everything we need.”
Running to the door she screams, “Hunter! Logan’s driving us shopping. We never go shopping. Logan is the best. He takes us to do fun stuff.”
I chuckle at the thought that she thinks grocery shopping is the fun stuff. Both of their nannies poke their heads into the playroom. Cautiously optimistic that they’ll get time to themselves this weekend.
“Ladies, I have no pressing business, the two of you are relieved of your duties.”
“Are you sure there’s nothing you need before we take off?” Mirna, Ava’s nanny, asks. She’s probably hoping I have a personal need. Sorry Mirna, my dick is on lockdown even if Jordanna hasn’t said the words.
“Yeah, I’m all good here.” They offer a hurried thanks and disappear to wherever they hide out when their charges are here. Once I reach my room, I pull up my English paper on my laptop. I’ve been postponing this assignment all week, because I spend enough time with the written word at The Guild. Retrieving the book I’m reading from my bag, I thumb through it, looking for the quotes I highlighted to include in my analysis.
* * *
Dad’s in his study when I get the littlest McKays off to bed. “You’re spoiling them.” He says without looking up from his screen.
“I know. But with them off at boarding school, sometimes I think this is the only time they get be kids.”
“Their mothers decided boarding school was best, and the compromise was they’d stay local instead of being shipped off to Switzerland.”
He’s not joking. Their mothers don’t agree on much, but out of all the boarding schools they could have gone to, Switzerland was at the top of both their lists.
“They could go to private school like I did and come home every night for the same price.”
Dad finally looks up from what he’s doing. “Yes, but your mother didn’t take it as a personal attack when we discussed changing our custody arrangements, and we both agreed you were old enough to decide where you wanted to live.”
Ava and Hunter are five and eight. So I wasn’t that much older than they are. Something tells me their mother’s wouldn’t let them live here full time at any age. They like having immediate access to dad and they only have that through their kids. Dad’s dated a lot, but my mom, Tabitha’s mom, and the two other exes are the only women he’s still in personal contact with. Everyone else gets routed through his many assistants.
When I was in high school, I’d bring Ava and Hunter home all the time. Living on campus makes that harder, and living up to my responsibilities as king of VDU occupies most of my weekends. Just like I make time for breakfast at the club with dad, I try to sneak in McKay Sibling Days when I know they’re on a break from school. It’s something not even Bella tries to interfere with.
Between our trip to the store and a game of hide and seek, Ava and Hunter could barely keep their eyes open through dinner. I’m glad dad made it home before they crashed. Depending on what he’s working on, this might be the only night they see him. I rarely coordinate their visits with his schedule because we’d all be disappointed. Still, I ask, “Are you around this weekend?”
“I have some calls to make and a quick trip to the city. I probably won’t make it back in time for
dinner tomorrow, but I’ll be here on Saturday when they wake up.”
“They’ll be happy about that. Well, I’m turning in.”
“Logan.” He calls out when I reach the door to his study.
“Yeah?”
“Is everything okay, son?”
“The twerps are fine.” Kids can’t hold water and I fully expect Ava might blab that I snuck her candy. In fact, I hope she does, because I can’t stand the idea of her mother trying to make her into a perfect princess. She just turned five, for crying out loud. She shouldn’t be learning anything about prenups and NDA’s. Her biggest takeaway in life should be that eating too much cake and ice cream makes you sick.
“I meant with you. I sensed some discomfort between you and Tabitha at your birthday brunch.”
“Um, I think you were picking up on the weirdness between Simon and Tabitha. My discomfort came from sitting across from Claire.”
“You know our families are old friends and at one time…”
Not going there. I cut him off. “At one time I didn’t know what I do now.”
“Which is?”
“That we’re wholly incompatible outside of bed.”
He nods, looking back down at the papers in front of him, before clicking a button on his keyboard. “Alliances have been made on far less. But I trust your judgement and if you feel there was no benefit there, it was good to let that go.”
* * *
I step into the shower, holding my hands under the water as I use a nail brush to clean the salt, butter, and chocolate residue from under my nails. Dad casually mentioning Claire is only the beginning. He’s likely ramping up to give me the same old tired marriage by bank account speech. It’s usually a source of amusement listening to him throw names at me, and I’ve had loads of fun test driving the merchandise. Out of all the potential candidates, Claire was the one who handled rough terrain the best. She was partly right. I’d probably still be messing around with her if Jordanna hadn’t come to school.
My mind wanders to all the things I’ve done with other women that I have yet to do with Jordy. Does she trust me enough to give herself over completely to me? What I showed her last semester wasn’t even the tip of the iceberg.
I give my dick a hard tug. My groan echoing off the tiles. Has it only been five days since brunch? Rubbing one out in the shower might take the edge off, but it won’t be enough.
Twenty-Four
Jordanna
“Your paintbrush is awfully quiet today.” Noel says, lowering his paintbrush.
We’re at our weekly tutoring session. I’m supposed to be painting an original piece but my canvas is blank and I haven’t asked him any questions like I usually do. “I know. I’m in my head, ticking off all these things I have to do before this weekend.”
“Are you going home again?”
Shaking my head, I tell him, “I’m heading to Carryville.”
A strange look crosses his face when he asks, “You’re going to see your ex?”
“My best friends, Marina and Tiffany, have been begging me to come for a visit and I think it’ll be a good idea for me to get away from campus for a few days.”
“That’s such a long bus ride. Let me give you a lift.”
“I can’t ask you to go out of your way and do that.”
“I was actually thinking of visiting friends in New Haven. It’s no problem dropping you off.”
It would be nice not to have to sit next to a stranger, and we’ll get there faster without all the extra stops. “Are you sure Noel?”
“Trapped for hours with you in a car? I’m sure I can’t think of anything else I’d rather be doing.”
We make plans to meet up after my last class on Friday, and I text the girls, letting them know that there’s been a change of plans and I’ll meet them at the dorms.
It’s weird. My world tilted at Carryville, yet I have no qualms about showing my face on campus and seeing the people who know what happened with Robbie and me, unlike my current surroundings. I guess that’s just more proof of how fucked up things are around here.
* * *
“Tell me this is some kind of joke.” Logan says, stepping in front of me when I walk into the newsroom.
I look down, expecting to see my article or my pictures in his sinful hands, but they’re empty. “What are you talking about?”
“You know damn well what I’m talking about.”
“I’m not a mind reader so if you have an issue with my article or photos, you’re gonna have to be more specific.”
He grabs my arm, pulling me away from the bullpen, shoving his phone in my face. If it’s a picture of my ass, so help me. I look down and see he has the Prospectus app up and he’s on Noel’s page.
“This is not happening. There’s no way in hell I’m letting you go away with him for the weekend.”
“I wasn’t aware you got final sign-off on my plans. Oh wait, you don’t.”
“Jordanna,”
“What?!” Fuck if I care about the warning in his voice. I’m tired of him trying to boss me around. “I don’t comment on who or what you do during your weekends away from campus, so why the hell do you think you have the right to say a damn thing about mine?”
He looks around to see if anyone is paying us any attention. He hates being challenged, especially within earshot of other people, which is exactly why I’m doing it. It always comes down to him and his fucking reputation as king, and I’m here to knock a dent in that shit every chance I get.
“I told you-,”
“Yeah, yeah. You want me. Nobody else can have me. Blah, blah, fuck you, blah.” I flip him off, walking back to my desk. I’m getting good at getting the last word in and walking away from him. But I know Logan, and it’s only a matter of time before he comes after me. When he does, I’ll be ready.
Logan
She didn’t come back to campus last night, and neither did Noel. His Prospectus profile shows he spent all weekend in New Haven, but that doesn’t mean they didn’t stop at a hotel on the way back. My nails dig into my palms as images of them together swirl through my brain like an unwelcome highlight reel.
I’ll fucking kill him, then I’ll fuck her so hard and long and deep, she’ll wish she’d never made the poor choice of going out of town with him to begin with. Jordy denies that there’s anything happening with us. But her body betrays her whenever I get near her.
I’m miserable company today and rather than pretend I want to be around my friends, I make excuses about having shit to take care of at the newspaper. But I don’t go there. Instead, I hop in my car and drive to my studio, hoping a few hours of working on my sculpture will help temper the rage brewing inside me.
Jordy hasn’t been here since the night she came to paint after Will tried to take things too far. Her shredded canvases still sit against the wall. I didn’t have the heart to throw them out. The unbridled fury she unleashed working through her emotions that night was captivating. The only other time I’ve ever seen her that unguarded is when she’s coming apart under me, and I haven’t truly seen that side of her since the last time we were together before the auction.
When she gets off now, it’s restrained, like she’s waging a war to hide a part of herself from me. I can’t let that go on. I want to seep under her skin and twine myself into her soul. I want everything she has to give, and when I have that; I want more.
She thinks I’m playing games, and she’s right, but this one has the biggest stakes I’ve ever encountered in my life. I won’t be satisfied with anything less than Jordanna giving me her whole heart, and this time, I’m not giving it back.
* * *
I’ve given into the compulsion to see her, which is how I wound up in the shadows outside of her dorm when Noel’s car pulls up. My need to torture myself to see what happens is the only reason I don’t snatch her away when he pulls her in for a hug. Deep down, I know I deserve to have my heart ripped out as payback for what I did.
I
finally feel my lungs inflate when she steps away from him without a kiss or any other signs that he’s sampled those sinful delights between her legs. If he had, he wouldn’t be letting her walk away from him. He studies her and even though I can’t make out his eyes; I know they’re filled with desire. He won’t put off making a move on her for too much longer. That means I have to lock her back down before then.
My phone buzzes just as I’m turning down the path that leads to my dorm. Pulling it from my pocket, my heart stutters to a stop, before expanding so much that it takes up all the room in my chest preventing me from getting air.
* * *
Jordy: Sorry I didn’t make it to work today, got delayed on the way back from Carryville. I’ll have the first draft of that article for you by tomorrow.
* * *
I’m feeling lightheaded as I type my reply.
* * *
Thursday is soon enough, just make sure it’s a clean copy.
* * *
Thanks, sorry I missed my deadline.
* * *
It’s newspaper bullshit, but it’s a turning point, because she usually contacts me by email. The fact that my text went through can only mean one thing. She’s finally unblocked my number. I stuff my phone back into my pocket, along with my hands. It’s cold as shit out here with snow in the forecast. Getting Jordanna to let down her walls will take time. Time I don’t have because I know Bella’s getting bored, and if I haven’t won Jordy over before she makes a move, I’ll lose any chance I have with her, for good. Letting myself into my dorm, I come up with a plan.
Twenty-Five
Logan
I sent Jordanna’s article back to her twice for revisions. I need those updates in the next hour, if it’s going to be included in Monday’s run of The Guild. There was nothing wrong with the last two edits, but I found shit to pick apart just to run down time on the clock. We’re in the newsroom and I’m putting the final touches on the layout. What she doesn’t know is that in order to make the printing deadline I have to deliver it in person or the printer will give away our slot.