Hearing John’s ex’s name isn’t a total surprise—he’d warned me his parents would likely invite her—but I still have a visceral reaction to it.
“I just hope she keeps her distance,” he says, taking my hand.
“She will if she knows what’s best for her,” Stephen adds, sounding and looking annoyed.
Court eyes Stephen briefly before offering me a sympathetic look. “It is what it is… you’re always going to run into an ex in this set, but Madison knows not to embarrass herself or anyone else at a party like this.”
Stephen doesn’t look convinced while Angela has a slight smile on her face—Madison might not want to embarrass herself, but I wouldn’t put it past Angela to throw down with her and cause a scene just for the thrill of it.
“You okay?” I ask John who is grinding his teeth.
“Yeah… yeah… of course, I’m fine. We all have to face our pasts, right?”
“I guess…” I say, wishing that my introduction to John’s family would be more joyful than stressful, and the mention of facing one’s past making me yearn for a drink.
“Anyway, let’s move this discussion along to something a bit more exciting.” Court waves her hand likes she’s erasing the topic of exes.
With arms crossed over his chest, Stephen asks, “And what might that be?”
“Michael’s here!” Court beams.
“Michael?” John’s eyes widen.
I attempt to process the name.
Michael.
John’s older brother?
“How the hell didn’t I know about this?” Stephen says, already craning his neck around and looking for his friend.
“Something about a last minute vacation,” Meg says. “He looks good… healthy.”
“Slut,” Court says with a pang of laughter.
“Did you want to find him?” I ask John who looks slightly lost at the moment.
“Hmm?” He grips my hand tighter and takes a moment before his expression clears.
“If you want to go find your brother and catch up, I can maybe walk around with Angela for a while.”
“Excellent idea.” Angela is already grabbing at my elbow.
“You can come with me to meet him,” John says like he’s not willing to let go of me quite yet.
“I will later,” I offer, feeling like I should give him some breathing room with his family before he actually introduces me to them. And if I’m being honest with myself, I need the extra time too.
“Okay… well, I’ll come and find you in a few then, okay?” He turns to me, holds my waist while Angela rolls her eyes and momentarily lets go of me. Then he bends down to my lips, planting a warm kiss on them.
“I’ll be waiting,” I say.
“Come on Romeo,” Stephen says, swatting Angela on the ass before he leads John away.
“This isn’t the 1950s!” Angela yells after her boyfriend for his somewhat cave-man-like behavior.
“You must bring it out in him,” Court says to Angela.
“Geez, make her sound like a slut why don’t you,” Meg says to her friend.
“Oh, that did sound kind of awful, huh?” Court replies, putting her hand to her mouth.
“Come on.” Angela yanks my hand.
“See you girls later!” Court calls out in a sing-song voice.
Angela offers her a scowl while I give a gentle wave.
“I must bring it out in him, huh? What a couple of bitches they’re turning out to be,” Angela hisses as we walk around the periphery of the crowd.
“She did apologize.”
“Sure… whatever.”
I sigh, not wanting to get into an argument when there’s already so much else on my mind. Instead, I try to focus on not being overwhelmed by the crowd of people here. All ages and ethnicities are represented, but certainly not all classes. Everyone we pass looks filthy rich, dripping with expensive summer clothing and jewelry that is likely locked up in a safe at night.
“I’m not so sure about this place,” Angela says once we find a quiet spot at the edge of the perfectly manicured yard, under the shade of a Japanese maple.
“What aren’t you sure about?” I ask. It seems fairly straightforward to me, that everyone here has money, and if anyone should feel like an odd girl out, it should be me.
“I just feel like such a fucking outsider,” she confesses. “I should feel right at home, yeah? But as soon as those bitches ran up to us, it was like, shit, I don’t belong.”
“Meg and Court? Other than that slip of the tongue, I think they’ve been pretty nice to us.”
“Yeah, well you want to know what I think?”
“I guess so,” I say, knowing she’s going to tell me anyway.
She straightens. “I figure they probably both just want to fuck our guys. I mean, I feel like they’re probably totally jealous actually. Just wait and see… they’ll pull something.”
“I don’t think that.” I wish Angela would stop digging for problems I don’t think exist.
“Oh, you don’t? What about that game we played where they embarrassed the hell out of you?”
Secrets and Lies.
“John said he talked to them about it—they were just trying to make me feel like part of the group—it wasn’t malicious.”
“Oh, I’m sure. And what about that Denny guy?”
“What about him?” I find myself looking up into the crowd of people, wondering if he’s here.
“Well, he so obviously wants to do you. And I really think maybe you should. Like, is this thing with you and John really going to last?—because I’m not sure me and Stephen will.”
I shake my head. “What are you even talking about?”
“Are you sleeping with Stephen?” Her eyes are hard, accusatory.
“What?” I’d expected that question about as much as I’d expect her to accuse me of being a vampire-werewolf hybrid.”
“He said you looked nice,” she says, continuing to eye me with distrust.
“He said I looked nice?” I’m really trying hard to tap into her logic here. “And that means I’m sleeping with him?”
“Who’s sleeping with who?”
The voice startles me, and somehow I think I know it. Angela’s eyes are already widening as I turn around and see Madison standing right in front of me.
JOHN
I hadn’t wanted to be separated from Emma and risk throwing her to the wolves, but as Stephen and I search for my brother, I guess it’s for the best. I love Michael, but I haven’t seen him in a while, and I want to make sure he understands Madison and I are actually over so he won’t say anything potentially hurtful to Emma.
“So, he didn’t tell you he was coming, huh?” I ask Stephen, offering polite smiles to the many people I know but keeping my momentum so as not to give any of them an opening to start up a conversation.
“Nope,” Stephen says, sounding rebuffed. “But if it was last minute, I’ll forgive the guy for that.”
“I guess we’ll have to,” I say, finally spotting my older brother with a small group on the dock that stretches out into the lake.
“There’s the bastard,” Stephen says before I can utter a word.
“Well if it isn’t my best friend and little brother!” Michael turns away from the three guys I recognize as old frat buddies of his, then throws a loose arm around Stephen in a man-hug before offering one to me.
“What’s with all the cloak and dagger shit?” Stephen says, stepping back from Michael.
“Cloak and dagger?” He laughs.
“It’s a surprise you’re here.” I offer him a cautious smile. “You don’t text… you don’t call.”
“Well, that’s how I wanted it,” he says, bright and cheerful, the way he’s always been. “Mom and Dad told me to get my ass back here pronto, so I did.”
“Since when have you listened to your parents?” Stephen furrows his brow while Michael’s frat buddies meander further down the dock.
Micha
el shrugs. “Told me I should check up on you.” He looks at me when he says it.
“Me?” I laugh. “I’m doing just fine, brother.”
“That’s not what Mom and Dad seem to think.”
“Shit.” Stephen half laughs and shakes his head. “It’s because of the girl, huh?”
Emma.
I’m aware that I’m balling my fist, and Michael seems aware of it as well.
“Eh, why don’t we grab a drink, guys?”
I raise my chin to him, denoting agreement, then follow him and wonder what the hell my parents have told him.
EMMA
Madison is beautiful, and I might have been tempted to tell her that if she weren’t John’s very complicated ex.
“You wouldn’t be interested in what we were talking about,” Angela replies in a sharp snarl, seeming to know just who this girl is. “What the hell do you want anyway?”
“Angela!”
Madison smiles and lets out a soft chuckle. “You’re Emma, correct?” she asks, ignoring Angela completely.
I nod, noticing the glass of red wine she’s holding.
“Well, Emma, I’m Madison, and I’m not sure what you’ve heard about me, but I’ve heard plenty about you.”
Angela takes a step forward. “You don’t intimate us, you know?”
For a brief moment I’m taken by how similar Madison and Angela look. They’re close to the same height, have very similar shades of blonde hair, are both stylishly dressed, and nobody would deny how attractive they are. And yet I get the feeling they could be mortal enemies if they were in one another’s orbits for too long.
“It’s okay, Angela,” I say, not wanting to be the cause of a scene at the party I’m supposed to impress John’s family at.
Angela throws a glare at me. With her growing distrust of Stephen, she doesn’t have as much to lose as I do by going off on Madison.
“As I was saying,” Madison stresses, “I’ve heard you’re dating John now, and you seem like a nice, pretty girl, but I should warn you that I’m not done with him, not by a long-shot.”
Miraculously, Angela remains quiet, which means I’ll have to respond. But what does one say when the ex of the guy you’re in love with says she’s not through with him?
“I don’t want to cause any drama,” I spit out, my heart beginning to race at the idea of this turning into a confrontation, my eyes darting back and forth to her wine glass and imagining meeting John’s parents with the contents thrown all over my dress. “But John told me that you and he… well, he told me you guys were done.”
Madison smirks, continuing to exude confidence. “Oh, did he? Well, you don’t know John like I do, and if anything, I’m just trying to help you avoid some hurt, because he will come back to me. Mark my words on that.”
“But you…” God, I don’t even know what to say.
“Anyway, it was nice meeting the both of you. Enjoy the party,” she says with the sincerity of a cockroach before turning on her heel, taking her glass of wine with her and melding back into the crowd.
“That was fast,” Angela says, “whatever that was.”
I’m honestly dumbfounded. “She was really determined, wasn’t she?”
“Sure as shit she was. In and out like a ninja—I’m a little jealous.”
“Yeah…” A wave of a concern rushes over me, and I can’t do anything to quell it.
JOHN
“Ahhhh… this is better,” Michael says as he, Stephen and I stretch out on some reclining chairs right at the water’s edge, drinks in hand. “I’ve got to say, I miss this place.”
“So move back,” Stephen replies. “I miss the hell out of you, and your little brother and Denny try, but it’s just not the same as having you around.”
“Thanks, man,” I say, though I know he’s only joking… partly. “I really should go find Emma, though, so if you can tell me what Mom and Dad thought was so important in getting you out here?”
“Right to the point. You’ll make a great lawyer, man.”
“Sure. Now just answer the question, please.”
My brother sits up in his chair, downs his entire drink and then sets the glass down on the granite pavers below us. With legs spread and arms resting on his thighs, he says, “They’re worried about your breakup with Madison. And, if I’m being honest, I am too.”
I let out an annoyed breath and move to the edge of my chair. “You too? Do none of you trust my ability to choose the person I’d like to spend the rest of my life with?”
“That’s moving a bit fast, isn’t it?” Stephen chimes in.
I throw him a glare. “What about you and Angela?”
“Me and Angela are…” He shrugs and puts his palms out. “Well, sure she’s got money, but she’s not the kind of girl I’d think about marrying.”
“God, you’re a dick,” I say, myself not all that impressed with Angela, but not cool with her being good enough for sex while not even being considered as marriage material.
“Guys like us have to think about things like that,” Michael cuts in. “There are girls to have fun with and girls to think about marrying. Madison is a great match, and I just don’t want to see you throw that away.”
I get up, tempted to pummel the drink I’m holding in my hand right at my brother’s skull, so I set it down to remove any temptation. “I never thought of you as an elitist asshole. Isn’t that why you moved to New York? To make it on your own and escape all of this bullshit?”
Michael stands. He used to tower over me growing up, but now I’m a good inch taller, and I doubt he likes it.
“Believe me, New York is ten times more elitist than Seattle will ever be. And it’s not even about that, John. It’s about not allowing a girl to drag you down.”
There, that’s it.
Drag me down.
“If you’re referring to Alicia, just come out and say it.”
“Okay,” Michael says. “I’m talking about Alicia. You thought you were in love with her too, didn’t you?”
I shake my head. “This isn’t the same. You haven’t even met Emma, and you’re already being an asshole about it. Mom and Dad, I get, but you?” The anger welling inside of me is frightening. Him bringing up my girlfriend when I was fifteen years old tells me everything I need to know about he and my parents’ mindset. They think Emma is going to lead me down the same path of destruction they believe Alicia did. As if I didn’t have anything to do with it.
And what they did to her in response? Jesus, it makes me cringe just thinking about it.
Michael puts his hand on my shoulder, and Stephen is standing too now, next to his friend. “I owe you that much I suppose. I’m sorry, John. I just love you. You’re my little brother, and I don’t want to see you hurt.”
“She won’t hurt me,” I fume, feeling my chin start to shake.
“Okay, little brother. Introduce me then. I promise I won’t judge, okay?”
I should just tell him to fuck off, tell him that he lost his right to be introduced to the girl I can’t stop thinking about. But I decide that I‘d rather have him in my corner, and when he meets Emma, he won’t be able to help himself.
EMMA
Madison threw me for a loop.
The only other girl I’d ever gotten into any kind of argument with about a boy was when Carrie Sutherland was going around saying she’d slept with Ike. It was at a time when I’d actually still cared about him, and I’d had to confront her. She’d said I was delusional if I thought Ike was being faithful to me, and even though I told her she was wrong, the encounter had shaken me.
There had also been one other girl… a woman… Mr. Thatcher’s wife.
During my brief relationship with him, he’d led me to believe that their marriage was over, that she couldn’t wait to divorce him, and yet she was there sitting behind him during the trial, supporting him with a quiet strength I’d envied. She’d forgiven him and loved him—I just knew it—and even if there had been a moment wh
ere it was just she and I facing one another, I didn’t imagine I could say a single bad thing to her.
“What a fucking bitch, though,” Angela snarls once Madison has disappeared and once Angela has decided to stop being impressed by Madison’s icy confrontational skills.
“Yeah,” I say, though I can’t help but wonder how likely it might be that she and John would get back together. Madison seemed incredibly convinced without looking crazy or paranoid like my own friend, Angela, was being today.
“She’s just trying to get under your skin, you know? I knew plenty of bitches like her in private school. In fact, that’s why I got out, because it’s a hell of a lot easier to ferret the snakes out in public school.”
“Sure.” I don’t know what else to say or do. I’d like to find John and fall into his arms and have him tell me, or even just show me, that he and Madison aren’t destined to reunite.
“And look who it is,” she says, turning her head slightly.
I follow her eyes to see John, Stephen and another man coming toward us. There is a brief moment I consider cutting my losses and running as far and as fast from here as possible. But I’m of course compelled to stay when John waves at me, and I wave back, walking toward him, being drawn to him like a magnet.
“I missed you,” he says once we meet.
“Me too,” I say, throwing all decorum out the window, gliding my arms under his and wrapping them around his back, the warmth of his body easing my worries.
“I love you,” he says, kissing my forehead. He’s said it to me before, so many times, the floodgates really opening after that first time I’d told him I loved him. But somehow, whenever he says it, it’s like the first time all over again.
“I love you too,” I say, pulling away from him, getting a hold of myself before someone can tell us to go and get a room.
“Michael, this is Emma,” John says to the man standing next to him, the man that looks so much like John except for his darker hair and hazel eyes.
“Very pleased to meet you,” he says, taking my hand and drawing it upward, pressing his lips to it like Stephen had done to Angela that first night at Rampage.
“My brother,” John says, somewhat amused I think by the formal gesture, “and Stephen’s best friend.”
“So, this is the brother, huh?” Angela’s voice is silky, and her eyes dance over to John’s handsome older brother.
Broken by Love (The Basin Lake Series Book 2) Page 9