“Enjoying the hors d’oeuvres?” My mother asked him haughtily, but Ace didn’t let it faze him, he only smiled back at her.
“I am, thank you. Except for the duck liver. You might want to talk to the caterer about those.” My mother looked taken aback and then the corners of her mouth turned down and her expression pinched.
“Ace would you dance with me?” Jaxyn grabbed his hand and tugged him away from my mother. He shifted his gaze from my mother to Jax and smiled warmly.
“Of course, baby girl. Sadie you’ll be alright here?” He looked at me.
I nodded and Jax led him away and left me to deal with my mother.
“Well they certainly seem close, and here I was thinking he cared for you. I wonder if your friend’s husband is aware of the terms of endearment that boy uses with his wife. I really shouldn’t be surprised by his lack of respect toward me. I suppose he doesn’t know any better coming from the streets.”
I sighed, “They’re good friends. Yes Kyden is aware of that, but I wouldn’t expect you to understand real friendship. Also, Ace has never lived on the streets and maybe if you would stop turning your nose down at him, he wouldn’t find it necessary to push your buttons.”
Before she could argue, a frowning Kyden and pissed off Leila returned at the same time as my father – minus Mia. I looked around and saw her dancing with my Uncle Ray, my father’s brother and the only other sane member of this family. He was also the only other person to greet me with a hug today and genuinely seem pleased to see me. I liked Uncle Ray. He was the reason I met Clayton. He used to take me out on his boat when Clayton worked on the docks at the marina.
I could only guess why both Ky and Leila looked upset and I figured I was going to have to apologize for my sister later. My mother either took no notice of their moods or chose to ignore them. “Kyden since your wife is otherwise occupied on the dance floor, I’m sure she wouldn’t mind if you shared one dance with Leila seeing as she is without an escort this evening, and James,” she said looking to my dad, “why don’t you dance with Sadie while I rest my feet a bit. These heels are a killer.” She looked so pleased with herself. It didn’t last long though.
“I’d rather not,” Kyden stated plainly. My father started to take my hand, but I held it up to stop him. I wanted to see how my mother was going to handle this. Leila was glaring at Ky, but my mother only seemed slightly perplexed.
“I’m sure you could manage just one dance. You wouldn’t leave a beautiful girl without a dance partner would you?” She said pushily. What she didn’t understand was that Kyden couldn’t be pushed.
“She can find her own dance partner. I’ll dance with my wife and only my wife,” he said irreverently.
“How sweet. I wonder that your wife doesn’t seem to feel the same loyalty.” My eyes went wide. My mother was obviously scheming, knowing nothing of him, but his last name. Well what she didn’t know was going to blow up in her face. Ky doesn’t tolerate anyone speaking ill of Jax, or even implying that she is less than perfect. He didn’t put up with it from his own parents and I knew he sure as hell wasn’t going to put up with it from mine either.
“You should worry more about your daughter than my wife and teach her not to throw herself at married men. It’s pathetic and desperate – very unattractive qualities.” Leila’s face turned beet red and my mother gasped.
“Excuse me young man –”
“No, I won’t. Your behavior and hers are inexcusable.”
“I will not allow you to speak to me like that or say such things about my daughter, especially not in defense of that –”
“Watch what you say to me because if I hear one more word about my wife, the rest of your guests will get a show and it won’t be pretty.”
My mother huffed and, unable to keep her big mouth shut, was about to make matters worse, when my father stepped in. “Jackie, that’s enough,” he said sternly. My mother looked shocked that my father spoke to her so harshly. She glared at me, “This is all your fault. You’ve ruined this party. I want you gone.” Then she stormed away angrily.
My father turned on Leila. “Go find your seat in the dining room and stay there.” She too looked surprised, but didn’t dare argue with him and did as he said. “Mr. McCabe,” he addressed Ky, “I apologize for my family’s behavior, and Sadie,” he looked at me and his face softened. “I’m very sorry that today didn’t go better. Despite how your mother may have made you feel, I am glad that you came. Your mother has been stressed for days about this party and I’m sure her emotions just got away from her, but I truly hope that things are well with you, and I would like to talk to you after this all settles down. For now I think it would be best if you and your friends left before any more trouble is stirred up.”
My father, always the pacifier, always making excuses for my mother. Not once in all the times that my mother had screamed and raged at me over the years, had my father ever taken any side but hers. He never voiced his own opinions, never condemned me himself, but he never supported or stood up for me either. Just once I wanted him to tell me that it wasn’t my fault, that I hadn’t done anything wrong, that I was still his little girl. I’d learned a long time though to stop wishing for things that would never happen. I was only ever disappointed.
I didn’t know what to say to say to my father after that, so I didn’t say anything and he turned, probably to go find my mother. I was too embarrassed to meet Ky’s eyes, so I turned to try and find Jaxyn and Ace so we could get out of here. He stopped me though. “Sadie, I know a thing or two about having dicks for parents, you don’t have to be embarrassed for them. You’re not your family anymore than I am my parents, or Jax is her father.”
I nodded appreciatively, but I still felt awful. We rounded up Ace and Jaxyn and explained that we needed to go. It was hard to say goodbye to Mia. She was still with Uncle Ray, who had nothing nice to say about my mother’s behavior and told me to call him if I ever needed anything. Mia was more than a little disappointed that I had to go so soon, but I gave her my number and address and made sure she knew that I wasn’t leaving her for good and she could call me any time. Caitlyn was also disappointed, but I think it was more so that everything hadn’t worked out peachy like she had hoped. She had hoped for too much though.
Chapter 17
Ace
“Well Mia seemed nice,” I said once we were in the car on our way back to the hotel. I couldn’t say the same for the rest of them. Her mom was a bitch. Leila seemed like a bitch. I was still on the fence about Cait and her father. Mostly I just wondered how the hell Sadie and Mia came out as sweet as they had with an upbringing like that.
“I worry about her and how hard my mother is on her. I probably only made things worse. I don’t like leaving her again to deal with the mess I left.” She seemed truly troubled and I didn’t know how to comfort her, but I wanted to. I hated seeing the distress in her eyes and not being able to do anything about it. Sadie explained what happened while Jax and I were dancing and filled us in on everything her mother had said when they spoke in private. It was probably a good thing that I hadn’t been there to witness it. Ky was the one known for being a loose cannon, but I wouldn’t have been able to hold myself back. I would have flipped my shit on that woman. She didn’t deserve to have someone as amazing as Sadie for a daughter.
“Mia will be okay. I can tell that she’s a tough girl, like you and.”
“I just hope I my mother doesn’t take everything out on her because of me showing up today.”
“Worrying will only make you sick. It will all be okay” Jaxyn tried to reassure her.
Sadie was quiet for the remainder of the ride, and I could tell that the situation with her mom and sister still weighed heavily on her. Hopefully the game would take her mind off of it, but we still had a few hours before kickoff since we left the party earlier than planned.
“I’m sorry you guys didn’t even get to eat. Some Thanksgiving this is turning out to be,” Sadie
apologized as we climbed out of the car in front of the hotel. “I doubt we could get in to any of the nicer restaurants without reservations, but there’s a place a few blocks from here that has awesome burgers and a pizza joint just past that, or we can order room service.”
“It’s fine, you don’t need to worry about us. I’m with three of my favorite people in the world. I couldn’t ask for more than that,” Jax assured her.
“Yeah, besides burgers or pizza sound better than more of that fancy weird shit anyway,” I told her.
“Yeah, I could go for some pizza,” Ky agreed. So we decided to go ahead and walk the six blocks to the pizza place since the weather was clear. We were all a little over dressed for a pizza joint, but we walked in and found a little booth anyway. There were only a few other groups inside and at the bar so a waitress walked over and greeted us almost immediately, at least after she got over her momentary daze at recognizing me and Ky. We signed her little order pad, and then she went to get our drinks while we looked over the menu.
The owner was there and came out with Beth, our waitress, when she returned with complementary breadsticks. He said everything was on the house and asked if he could take a picture of us to hang on the wall behind the bar. After he took the picture, we ordered our pizzas and chatted a little more with the owner while we waited for our food. He was a really nice guy in his late thirties. When he found out we were going to the game afterward he got real excited and wanted to talk football, so we bullshitted for a while longer. Well Ky and I did while Sadie and Jax rolled their eyes. They weren’t die hard sports fans, or really sports fans at all. Well Jax watched soccer, but I didn’t count that. Football and baseball, those were real American sports.
The pizza was just as good as the service and as we were leaving Aaron, the owner, was behind the bar, already hanging a printed copy of the picture he’d taken. Ky asked if he could see it. Aaron handed it to him and when he asked Jax for the sharpie she always carried in her purse, I knew what he was doing. He pulled the picture from the frame and we both signed it before slipping it back behind the glass and handing it back to him to hang. He thanked us again, and then we made the walk back to the hotel with our takeout box of leftover pizza.
“Oh man, I’m so full. It’s definitely Thanksgiving, even if I didn’t get my turkey. I don’t think I could eat another bite,” I groaned as we walked into the suite.
“Not even pumpkin pie?” Sadie grinned and I noticed the room service cart sitting in the center of the room, with a single covered cake plate on it. Sadie lifted the cover and revealed a whipped cream topped pie. The smell wafted to me almost instantly and I inhaled deeply.
“There’s always room for pie.” I didn’t care if I would be miserable for the rest of the night. I was having pie. “When did you set this up?” I asked her because it was obvious that she was responsible.
“I called this morning to order it and then again, while you two were signing that picture, to let them know we were on the way.”
“That looks like really good pie,” Ky was eyeing it the same way I was. Sadie should have ordered two pies, because I would fight him for this one.
“Yeah, and that looks like real cream on top.” Jaxyn swiped her finger through it and brought it to her mouth. “Mmmm. Yup, real cream.”
“Keep your fingers out of my pie, woman,” I demanded.
Sadie raised an eyebrow at me. “Who said it was your pie?”
“Oh babe,” I grinned, “you know you did this for me. Don’t even deny it.”
“You still have to share.”
I pretended to pout and grumble, well I was mostly pretending, but she served me up the largest piece and winked at me so I shut up and took my slice.
“Oh man, this is amazing, like seriously maybe the best pumpkin pie I’ve ever had,” I said after taking the first bite. “You can’t tell my mother that though, when you meet her.”
“You really plan on trying to make me go home with you next week?”
I flashed a confident smile. “I do, and you will.”
She sighed and her face scrunched up but she didn’t argue right then.
After we finished our pie we only had a little bit of time to change for the game. It felt good to loosen my tie and pull it off. I didn’t mind dressing up for Sadie, but I would never be comfortable in dress clothes, and was thankful to slip back into my jeans, boots and sweatshirt. I pulled a black beanie on to protect from the chill and to hopefully offer a little bit of anonymity. Ky had a similar idea, and the girls were bundled up as well with scarves and hats.
Another car was ready outside to take us to Century Link Field where we were escorted to our seats in the premier club section. No one paid us much attention and we relaxed in our seats. Sadie still appeared preoccupied with her thoughts. She was in the seat next to me, so I grabbed her hand, linking our fingers. When she looked over at me, I squeezed her hand and offered a small smile. I couldn’t do anything about the situation, but I could at least make sure she knew I was here for her. She started to pull her hand out of mine, but I grasped it tighter. This time she didn’t look over at me but I saw the tiniest smile pull at her lips. She liked holding my hand and I liked that she liked holding my hand.
Usually the only team I rooted for was my Patriots, but I was more than happy to cheer on the Hawks against the Niners. The game hadn’t started yet, but the sea of blue and green around us was buzzing with energy and excitement. Ky got up and told us he would be right back. I assumed he was going to find a restroom since there was no way he could be hungry, and there were servers in our section to wait on us. I flagged one down and ordered three beers and a water for Jax since we still hadn’t managed to corrupt her with alcohol. I couldn’t really blame her though. After a few times of hearing her open up about the drunken debauchery she was subjected to in her father’s house, I understood. No matter how her father had attempted to redeem himself by taking care of Connor, he was still a sad excuse for a father for putting her in an unsafe environment all those years. At least he knew it though and had finally acted like he gave a shit by letting her go.
It seemed like it was fucked up families all around. I don’t know if I ever truly realized how blessed I was to have the family that I did. Ky’s parents were rich assholes. Sadie’s parents were rich assholes. Spade’s dad was just a regular asshole who liked to get drunk and take shots at his wife and kids, at least until he went to prison. He still had his mom and a sister, the sister he was pretty close with but his relationship with his mom was strained. Bas and Chris’ dad was cool, and his mom and stepdad weren’t too awful, just a little stuck up and overbearing, but I guess his mom had cheated on his dad and the divorce had been a little on the ugly side, which left Chris a little messed up. I’d have to remember to tell my mom and dad how much I fucking loved them when I went home. I’m sure it hadn’t been easy raising a little troublemaking shit like me.
My thoughts were interrupted by something soft smacking me in the face and covering my head. I pulled the fabric away and realized it was a dark blue, hooded Seahawks sweatshirt. Sadie was holding one too.
Ky was standing at the end of our row, smirking with his own sweatshirt already on. “Happy Thanksgiving. We looked way too fucking out of place in this section.”
“Thanks man.” He squeezed past us to get to his seat between me and Jax. I swapped the sweatshirt I was currently wearing for the Hawks one. Sadie thanked him and did the same. Ky handed Jax a bright green sweatshirt and one of those goofy knitted hats with the earflaps and the poof ball of yarn on top. It was bright ass green and blue too. It was definitely Jax. She grinned big and kissed him on the lips. “Thanks baby.” He kissed her back. I rolled my eyes.
“Dude, where’s my hat?” He pulled himself away from Jax’s lips long enough to flip me off and tell me to get my own damn hat.
The game started and Ky and I really got into it, but by the second quarter, Sadie was paying more attention to her phone than the gam
e. I peeked and saw she was texting Mia, so I couldn’t really hold that against her, but Jax, I was pretty sure she was reading a damn book on her Kindle app.
“Dude, your wife is reading.”
Ky shook his head, “Yeah, I know. She’s lucky she’s fucking cute.” She looked up at him with a raised brow. “Come on babe, do you even know what the score is? We’re at a pro game and you’ve got your nose in a book. How can you even concentrate with all the noise?”
“I can’t help it, it’s a good book, and this isn’t my kind of football. I don’t get it, but for your information I do know that the Seahawks are ahead by six,” she told us and then went back to reading.
“That’s not right,” I told Ky.
He sighed, “I know, but what am I gonna do? Can’t help that I love her, even if she hates real football. Nobody is perfect.”
“Soccer is real football,” Jax mumbled back. Ky grinned at her – the hopeless fucker, and I just rolled my eyes.
Sadie stood and I looked up at her. “Just going to the bathroom, I’ll be right back.”
“Want me to go with you?” I offered.
“Nah, I’ll be fine. Stay and watch the game.”
“I’ll go.” Jax hopped up and I was glad. I didn’t want her going by herself.
Just then San Francisco gained another thirty yards and curses and groans sounded all around us. My eyes were glued to the field and I could feel the tension radiating through the stadium as they prepared to go for a touchdown.
They scored after a second down and this time I cursed too. It was turning out to be a close game and everyone was on the edge of their seats, well those of us who were sitting in our comfy chairs. Most of the rest of the stadium below were on their feet.
They got their extra point and it put them one ahead, but from the kick off our running back caught the ball and tore down the field. Everyone around us jumped up, screaming and cheering as he dodged hits, gaining yards quickly. They finally brought him down, but on the next play we gained another fifteen yards. The next time the ball was snapped the quarterback couldn’t get it to the running back and took off with the ball, only making it five yards before he was taken down, but one of San Francisco’s defensive linemen was called on holding, and that penalty got us another five yards.
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