Blake’s tone changes completely. He’s no longer in a playful mood. “Stop blaming yourself, Owen. Arianna and I are really happy, and look at the girls. None of this would’ve been possible if you didn’t bring her into our world. He takes a deep breath. “Are you still seeing the therapist?”

  I shake my head.

  “What happened?”

  “I slept with her. She felt all ethical about it after and dumped me as her client.”

  He laughs… he actually laughs. “Maybe you should find a male therapist.”

  I grin, “Where is the fun in that?”

  He smiles. “There is no hope for you, little brother.”

  I look down. “I wish other people would get that too,” I mumble.

  “What is that?”

  “Nothing.”

  Luckily, the girls come back out and I avoid talking to Blake for the rest of the day. I can’t escape him at night though. I’m sitting out on the sand just staring at the ocean when he plops down next to me.

  “I’m starting to worry about you, Owen. You look like you’re thinking about the meaning of life.”

  I laugh. “I am.”

  “Is this your mid-life crisis? Because, I have to say, you’re a little young for that,” he laughs and I just roll my eyes. “I’m glad I amuse you.”

  His smile turns into a frown. “I’m here for you, you know?”

  I give him a short nod. “I’m just thinking… trying to evaluate things, you know? I feel like I have no purpose. The club is fun and all, but there is no challenge there - nothing to look forward to. I don’t know what it is that I want to do with my life because I was never given a choice. I don’t know what I like to do, besides sleeping around, but I’m not into being a prostitute,” I laugh.

  “Shut up, Owen.” Blake laughs along with me. “Maybe you need time away to figure all of that out. It’ll come to you.”

  “Sometimes I doubt that.”

  “What exactly is the deal with the club?”

  “I don’t know. I think that maybe one day I’ll feel too old for that scene, but what then, you know?”

  “Maybe revisit the being a prostitute idea?” he laughs and I shake my head.

  I look at my watch. “I should get back to town. I have to be back by morning,” I lie. I can’t deal with the happy family scene right now. “Would you tell the girls bye for me?”

  He nods. “I’ll take you back.” He takes a deep breath. “The girls love you, you know. The offer stands. If you decide to get away, come here.”

  I nod once, knowing that it’ll never happen.

  I don’t stay away from home long, but I do wait until the middle of the week before I go back to the club. Eventually, Shayne stopped texting, but she sure is here when I walk in. Her eyes go straight to me. I notice right away that she doesn’t look that great – she looks exhausted. I wave hello, dash to the office and lock the door behind me. I know we are about to open and she’ll be busy for hours. I’ll just have to make sure I leave before we close.

  A few minutes after we open, I step outside of the office and meet Justin at our table.

  He already has drinks waiting, which I’m sure was to keep Shayne from being near me.

  I look over toward the bar and just happen to see Craig talking to Shayne.

  “What the fuck is he doing here?” I ask.

  I see his arm go around some tall blonde’s waist…. Definitely not Emily.”

  “Yeah, so, some things happened while you were gone.”

  “Spill it.” I say.

  “Well, we told him he is out.”

  “Okay.”

  “Your dad took him under his wing and made some calls to keep him in.”

  “Fuck.”

  “Yeah...” says Justin.

  “Whatever. I don’t have the time to deal with that. And what is going on here? Is he still with Emily?”

  “I figured you’d want to know so I did some digging for you. From what I found out, he is with Emily. But he hasn’t brought her here in a few days, which I bet makes Shayne think that something is going on between you and Emily. Bad timing, I guess. Honestly, let Shayne think that. It’ll hurt for now but she’ll get over it after a while.”

  I shrug. “Your deal… your call. I was planning on that anyway.”

  I look over at Craig and I get this adrenaline rush knowing that I’m about to do something to piss him off. I then look at Justin and see the curiosity in his eyes. He already knows I have something good planned.

  We wait until Craig and the woman are on the dance floor before Justin approaches him and says that he wants to talk. I approach his girl. Ten minutes later, I’m leaving with her and with a huge smirk on my face.

  He shows up again the night after, with a different woman. I wait until he goes to the bathroom before I leave with this one. It’s hilarious. Justin did a pretty good job at explaining his reaction once he looked for them. I avoided looking at Shayne the entire time and I hope she was too busy to even notice me.

  After a few days, I assume it is safe to talk to her like a normal human being. It’s around lunchtime. I just had a meeting with Justin and she’s cleaning up the bar.

  I sit down across from her. She opens a bottle and practically slams the shot glass on the counter.

  I open my mouth to say… I don’t even know what, when she interrupts me. “Don’t bother,” she says. “You warned me. I was stupid. That is all there is to it. I like working here. Just… forget anything ever happened.”

  “As you wish, sweetheart,” I say.

  She glares at me, “Don’t call me sweetheart, Crawford.” She turns around and goes to the back of the club. When I turn to go after her, I see Justin glaring from the office. “Don’t you dare,” he warns before I turn back toward the bar.

  Tonight, Craig shows up with Emily. Maybe it is a test. Maybe he knows I’ve been taking his dates from right under his nose and that Emily isn’t going for that.

  I just go to the office and stay there. After a while, I look up and see Emily standing at the door.

  “Can I help you with something?” I ask.

  “Can I talk to you?” she asks shyly.

  I shrug and point at the chair across from me. She closes the door behind her and sits down.

  “Where is your boyfriend?” I ask.

  “Probably checking other girls out. He got worse since he started working for your dad,” she says.

  I shrug. “I don’t see you leaving him.”

  “It’s complicated.”

  “Is it?” I ask.

  “It is,” she says and I give her a puzzled look but once she doesn’t say anything, I decide not to press on it.

  “I’m sorry,” she says, “about the other night.”

  I nod. “Me too.”

  “Can we start over, please?” she asks.

  I cock my head to the side. “And your questions about my past? The ones I promised to answer…”

  “No more questions. If you want to tell me something, I’m here.”

  I nod. “Let’s get out of here.”

  She laughs. “I can’t. I’m here with Craig.”

  “Okay.” I say, although the thought of leaving with her is amusing. “Why did you offer to help Shayne?” I blurt out.

  She shrugs, “I’ve been in her place before.”

  I chuckle. “I think you’re in that place right now.”

  “There is a good side to him,” she says and I just stare at her. “This is just a phase.”

  I sigh and rub the back of my head. How can someone so smart be so naive when it comes to relationships?

  “He just needs to fall in the right path,” she continues.

  I roll my eyes at her, “You can’t just go around fixing people, jailbait.”

  She laughs. “I’m hoping I can. I mean, why else would I go to school for psychology, if not to help people?”

  I don’t bother with a response.

  “Look. I really want to start over. Can we talk about something other than screwed up relationships?” She asks and I smile. “What do you do when you are not at the club?” She asks.

  “I’m always at the club.”

  “Did you always want to do this for a living?”

  My smile vanishes. “That question will lead us right back to the family situation.”

  “This is not going to be easy, is it?”

  I shake my head.

  “Okay. Favorite things to do?”

  I give her a half smile and she stops me. “Besides sleeping around,” she says. Huh. Maybe I’m becoming predictable.

  “Well done,” I grin. “Movies. I like going to movies. Usually comedies.”

  “Wow something actually normal… Did you ever take Shayne to a movie?” she asks, trying to work it in the conversation.

  I shake my head. This is a bad start. “That would imply that I go on dates. I don’t. I go to movies alone.”

  “Seriously?” she asks and I nod.

  “You know, you can go to movies with other people as friends.”

  “Uh-huh,” I say.

  “Let me prove it to you. Let’s go to a movie.”

  I raise an eyebrow at her. “I’ll think about it…” I say.

  She laughs and I realize this is the first time since we met that she actually seems relaxed. “You must have been hell to deal with in high school.”

  I grin and she knows she’s right. “Not just during high school.”

  She gets a text.

  “It’s Craig. I should get out there,” she says. “He’s looking for me.”

  Before she opens the door, she looks back at me. “I heard this quote once that smart people learn from their mistakes and that wise people learn from other people’s mistakes. You know… You don’t have to be scared of turning into your dad.”

  “Who I am is in my blood, sweetheart. I couldn’t run away if I tried to.”

  She holds my gaze for a moment longer before she lowers her head, turns around, and leaves.

  Justin walks in.

  “What?” I ask as he sits down.

  He chuckles. “I heard the end of that conversation. If you want to hook up with her, just tell her your whole sob story about your childhood.”

  I laugh. “First, I’m not in high school. I don’t ‘hook up’. I fuck. And why would that matter?”

  “Because the moment she feels bad for you, in her mind, it justifies you being an asshat.”

  I shake my head. “Get the fuck out of here, Justin. And asshat? Really? Learn how to cuss like a grown up, would you?”

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  EMILY

  Things get busy and quiet over the next few weeks. I keep busy with school, and Craig is always in class or at work, which is actually good. This is probably the first time I’ve actually seen him dedicate himself to either. Today, Craig calls insisting that I go to dinner with him at John and Owen’s house. I’m not in the mood to see Owen. I feel stupid for even trying to make that peace offering. I haven’t heard from him since, and I get it. The words said that night were probably too much. People like him don’t handle the truth being thrown in their faces and they don’t forgive easily.

  Craig makes such a big deal about this dinner that I finally agree to go to support him. He has been so excited to be working with Owen’s father. At first, I thought our relationship was getting worse since he started working there, but this past week or so, things got a little better. John seems to be a really positive influence on him considering that Craig could never keep a job for more than a week.

  Craig picks me up and we get to the house a little past six. I was running behind as I felt like I’m running out of clothes to wear to these fancy dinners. I ended up grabbing a short white skirt from Sarah’s closet, a black top, and short black leather jacket. The maid opens the door and leads us to the living room where John is talking to a tall brunette, who doesn’t seem much older than me. She’s laughing at something he said but it sounds like one of those fake laughs.

  “Emily! It’s so nice that you could join us,” he says.

  “Hi, John. Thank you for inviting me.”

  He grins. “This is Charlotte,” he introduces the brunette to Craig and I. “Well, I’m starved. Should we?” he points to the dining room.

  I nod wondering if Owen is joining us, but I avoid asking. I get my answer when we get to the table and I notice that it is set for only four people.

  “So tell me,” says John. “How is that little project that Owen was helping you with?”

  I look at Craig who surprisingly doesn’t react to that at all.

  “The project is over,” I say.

  John laughs. “I’m not surprised. I wouldn’t say that Owen is the most dependable person in the world.”

  Something about the way he says that irritates me. “I don’t know. I mean, he does run a successful club. He seems to do well for himself.”

  “With Justin’s help,” he says. “Trust me. Owen doesn’t take anything seriously.”

  I’m about to say something when Charlotte interrupts. “What was the project about?” she asks, curiously.

  I smile at her. “Oh. Nothing important.”

  “Come on. Enlighten us, Emily,” says John. “Tell me, was Shayne involved with that?”

  Why do I feel like I’m in freaking high school all over again? I think to myself as I kick Craig under the table, hoping that he might rescue me from this conversation, and he does.

  “Come on, Dad. That is enough.”

  I look at Craig and tilt my head to the side. His eyes widen and then he plays it off like nothing happened, “So, Mr. Crawford, are we still on for the country club this weekend?”

  “Absolutely!” he says.

  I glance at John and he looks composed as always. I look at Charlotte, and she looks confused, but she just shrugs and goes back to eating her salad.

  Dinner is awkward. The guys talk about business and I can’t wait to get out of here to talk to Craig.

  We leave as soon as we finish dinner. On the drive back, I keep waiting for Craig to say something, but he doesn’t, so when he stops the car in front of my building, I turn to face him.

  “Are we going to talk about it?” I ask curiously.

  He gives me a puzzled look, but Craig is not the brightness when it comes to covering stuff up. “Oh, you caught that,” he says.

  “Hmmm yeah.”

  “I don’t know. My mind was somewhere else. I just zoned out and started to think about my dad. I guess I got confused,” he says.

  “You never told me about your dad,” I say.

  “It’s complicated.”

  “I have time.”

  He shrugs. “Well, I only saw him once every couple of months while growing up.”

  “How come?” I ask.

  “He was married to someone other than mom.”

  “But he could still see you more often.”

  He sighs. “No, he couldn’t. Thanks to mom, he couldn’t,” He’s getting worked up now and raising his voice. “She knew what situation she was in and she kept pushing him. She kept saying she was going to tell his wife if he didn’t leave her. That she wanted more. Then he would hit her and she would tell him not to come around anymore. Of course, until she missed him and the money, then she called and begged him to come back.”

  “And is John--?”

  “Don’t be fucking stupid, Emily. Of course not.”

  In shock, I find myself fighting back the tears. Craig can be a jerk, but he has never talked to me like that.

  “Sorry, babe. I didn’t mean it like that,” he says quickly, but there is no emotion in his tone.

  I nod once. I see it so clearly now… this makes so much sense. And he even looks like the man.

  I try to keep my hands from shaking as I reach for the door.

  “I should go. I’m tired and I think I might be coming down with something.”

  “It’s fine, babe. I have to get some rest. I have to be up early for work tomorrow. I’ll talk to you later, okay?”

  I nod and get out of the car. He’s gone before I get to the door.

  I shake my head. I need a drink. I need to get out of here. I turn around and get a cab down a few blocks to Owen’s club.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  OWEN

  I develop a routine of avoiding Shayne and dad. And I don’t know what the deal was with my last chat with Emily. Maybe she felt bad and like she owed me something, but I don’t go looking for her either.

  Tonight, I’m sitting at my regular table, talking to Justin, when I spot Emily in the club. She just stands by the bar staring toward the back. I look where she is looking and I see the douchebag with the blonde from the other day. He doesn’t notice her. I expect her to walk toward them and throw a fit. Either that, or leave, but she doesn’t do either. Something is different. She seems to not care – a reaction that I’m far too familiar with.

  I walk toward her.

  EMILY

  I keep replaying that dinner conversation in my head over and over again. It just makes so much sense. The cheating… and I never met or heard much about Craig’s father.

  Now I just stare at Craig with someone else and I feel numb. The games, the lies, the cheating… Maybe I’ve finally had enough. Maybe I finally get that there is no hope for him, no matter what he has done to protect me from my mom’s jerk of a boyfriend before, and that even though he seems like an angel compared to every male role model I ever had, maybe there is better out there. At least Owen avoids relationships so he doesn’t turn out like his dad. Craig seems to be the apple that didn’t fall far from the tree.

  I’m so distracted in my own thoughts that I don’t notice Owen next to me until he speaks. “Let’s get the fuck out of here, jailbait,” he says.

  I look over at him. “I think I need a few drinks first.”

  He raises an eyebrow at me and gets Shayne’s attention, then looks at me as she finishes serving someone else. “I have to finish some things in my office. I’ll be back. Tell Shayne that whatever you order is on the house,” he says.

 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21