Wildcard a westbrook eli.., p.20
Wildcard : A Westbrook Elite Standalone, page 20
“Maybe, but it made him feel better,” Jamie replied, for once not making a wisecrack.
“See you at practice in the morning,” Ryan said, then gestured toward the townhouse. “Go in first. Then we’ll leave.”
Yes, a townhouse. I already told you of the aversion to buying furniture my father employed. A townhouse just meant there was less for him to furnish and a yard he didn’t have to mow.
I started up the driveway, then stopped and turned. “Ryan?”
“Yeah?”
“It’s not true,” I told him, unable to bear the thought of anyone having doubts about Jason. “I don’t care what anyone says. It’s not true.”
Ryan and Jamie exchanged a brief look. Then Ryan nodded. “We know.”
“He’s not as hard as he wants everyone to believe.” I went on as if the floodgates had been opened and I desperately had to tell someone. To make them understand. I didn’t know how Jay existed for so long with no one on his side. It had been less than twenty-four hours since I’d known everything, and I already couldn’t stand it. “He’s just been betrayed so much.”
Ryan walked up the driveway. Even in the dark, I felt his stare. His hand brushed against mine in a reassuring gesture before he tucked both of his in the pockets of his sweats. “You aren’t alone, okay? Neither is he.”
The words rushed out before I could stop them. “My dad doesn’t want me to date him.”
He made an amused sound, teeth flashing against the night. “If Coach really hated Rush, he’d already be gone.”
“You think so?”
“One hundred percent.” He seemed absolutely sure, and it made me feel just a little better.
“Thanks, Ryan.”
Surprisingly, he leaned in and kissed my head. “Don’t worry so much. Go inside and rest.”
I started away, but Jamie hollered, and I turned back. He jogged forward and pecked a kiss on my head too. “See ya, swimmer girl.”
“That’s Coach to you!” I yelled after them as they climbed into the black Rubicon. The green star-shaped lights on the front glowed in the dark.
“Call Mads and Rory. Go do something girly!” Jamie called before disappearing inside.
Ryan waited with the engine running until I was inside with the lights on and door locked. Only then did I hear him drive away.
A little while later, I was freshly showered and hiding in my room, hoping Dad would think I was already asleep when he got home.
The house was quiet, the only light coming from the small lamp on my bedside table, which bathed the room in a golden glow but left the farthest corners dark.
As previously mentioned, my dad wasn’t much of a decorator. Okay, he wasn’t at all. But my room was completely done and had been since he’d moved here when I was a little girl. I guess he didn’t care if he had a bunch of matching furniture, but he wanted me to have it.
The room itself was a basic box shape with a queen-size bed in the center of the wall to the left as you came inside. Matching nightstands made from the same white wood as the tall headboard were on either side.
The bedding was all white except for the lilac throw draped over the foot of the bed where there was a wooden bench with too many purple pillows.
Across from the bed, a large mirror leaned against the wall, the rectangular wooden frame lined with large round lights that glowed softly when illuminated. A generous portion of the wall behind the mirror was covered with posters of all my favorite vintage rock bands—Def Leppard, Aerosmith, Guns N’ Roses, Bon Jovi, Queen, Blondie, and more. To the left of the mirror was a white door leading to the closet (not walk-in). Beyond the bed was a double window that looked out onto the small yard and was flanked by lilac curtains and white shades, which were currently drawn. A small bookcase in the corner of the room was filled with romance novels, magazines, and other things I’d collected over the years.
Every so often, I’d check my phone, hoping to find a text from Jason. Every so often = five minutes. Tops.
It was going to be a long night.
I considered calling him more than once. Knowing I left him at the pool with Bodhi after seeing him punch Jay right in the face only made things worse. The longer my phone stayed silent, the more worried I became. But I kept reminding myself he’d asked for time and that Jason Rush was definitely someone who could take care of himself.
But doesn’t everybody need somebody?
A light knock on my bedroom door made me look up, hope making my heart skip a beat.
“Landry,” Dad called, and I made a face and then winced, wondering if he could see the light underneath the door. The carpet would block that, right?
I remained mute, hoping he would think I was sleeping.
He must not have bought it because the door pushed open. Gasping, I jumped up off the bed as Dad strode in, a hand over his eyes. “You decent?”
“I could be naked!” I exclaimed.
He grunted and lowered his hand, cracking one eye open to peer at me. I was completely dressed in a pair of snug biker shorts and the Aerosmith tee Jason gave me. Yes, I put it back on after I showered. So sue me.
Seeing I was, in fact, not naked, he glowered. “Avoiding me won’t work.”
“I’m not avoiding you.” I lied. “I just don’t feel like arguing about Jason right now.” That part was true.
“Fine. We won’t talk about him,” Dad replied, way more amicable than anticipated.
I glanced up, surprised as hope filled me.
“We’ll talk about your mother instead.”
He was just as good at stomping my hope as he was at blowing that whistle.
I groaned. “Dad.”
“More specifically, the jackass she married.”
I made a face. Just thinking about that guy gave me a stomachache. Venomous Vince.
“You really thought I wouldn’t believe you?” Dad queried.
I shrugged. “Mom didn’t.”
His swallow was audible. He opened his mouth and closed it three times. I watched him struggle not to say one disparaging word about my mother. I respected him for it. Probably because Mom never gave the same courtesy to him.
In the end, he simply said, “I believe you.”
I looked up. “You do?”
“Of course. You can tell me anything. Anything, and I’ll be on your side, always.”
Emotion welled in my chest, swelling like an overfull dam. I went forward and looped my arms around his waist to hug him. “Thanks, Dad.”
He hugged me back, patting my shoulder as if he wasn’t sure how else to show affection. It made me smile against his shirt. He smelled like chlorine. He always did, no matter if he just stepped out of the shower. The scent was ingrained in him. It was in his veins.
“Dad?” I said against his shirt, still overwhelmed with emotion. This entire day had felt like years, the amount of emotions I’d gone through leaving me teary-eyed and weary.
His voice was gruff, and the use of the nickname only served to make me more emotional. “What is it, ladybug?”
“I never believed the stuff Mom said about you. She blamed you for us never being a family, said you didn’t want us. But I know it’s not true. You’ve always been there for me even when she made it hard.”
He cleared his throat, a new sort of tension filling his limbs. “I hurt your mother because I didn’t want to marry her. I didn’t want a relationship. We were young, and I—” He cut off the words abruptly, and I pulled back to look at him.
“What?” I asked, wanting him to finish.
“Just because I didn’t want a relationship with her doesn’t mean we aren’t a family. That you aren’t my family. It might not be the one she wanted, and I’m sorry I couldn’t do it. But I do love you. I have since the second she told me she was pregnant.”
I nodded, tears shimmering in my eyes. “I love you too, Dad.”
In that moment, I felt sorry I’d defied him about Jason. But even feeling guilty, even knowing my dad probably sacrificed a lot for me in his life wasn’t enough to make me give up Jason.
He pulled me back and swiped a rogue tear off my cheek, then crossed his arms over his chest, the soft look in his eyes morphing into stone. “Now tell me what he did so I can decide what to do about it.”
I backed up and sank onto the bench at the end of my bed. Two pillows toppled over to land near my feet. “I don’t want you to do anything. It will just make it worse. Mom is mad at me. Madder than ever before. She said I was selfish and didn’t want her to be happy, that she gave up her youth to raise me and now it’s her turn to have a life.”
Dad made a rude sound. “She’s thirty-eight, for fuck’s sake. She ain’t in a wheelchair.”
I smiled a little at that. “Well, she thinks she’s old and Vince is her last chance at being happy. And he’s rich, so…”
“What’d he do, Landry?”
I swallowed. “He stared a lot. Sometimes commented on my clothes. The way I looked in them. I brushed it off even if it did make me uncomfortable. But it got more frequent. He would sometimes touch me. Act like it was innocent or an accident. It made me feel gross.”
Dad started pacing, a dark look creeping over his face.
“One night, Mom was out with her girlfriends, and he hit on me. Said it could be our little secret.”
Dad stilled. Everything about him went so quiet that chills broke out over my arms and my toes curled into the rug under the bench.
“He asked you to sleep with him?” His voice was measured and quiet. Scary.
“Well, not in those exact words.” Actually, the words were much cruder, but I wasn’t going to tell him that. He already looked murderous. I’d never seen him this way before. “He implied it. Heavily. I told him no and locked myself in my room. I told Mom the next morning, but he’d already gotten to her. Told her I asked him for money and he told me no. She accused me of making it up to come between them. Said I didn’t want her to be happy.”
Dad made a sound, and I just kept going, wanting to finish. “I started swimming more, practicing double so I wouldn’t be at home as much. The strain was too much on my shoulder.”
“That’s how you tore your rotator cuff,” he half growled.
“It was just overuse. You know I’ve always had to work harder than the tall swimmers.” My short stature was a definite disadvantage in the pool. The taller girls always had better speed.
“When it tore, I couldn’t be at the pool so much, and I didn’t want to be home. Mom and I were always fighting. Vince was there.” Leering. “I’d always wanted to come to Westbrook anyway. This just gave me an excuse Mom couldn’t argue with.” Honestly, I thought she was glad to get rid of me.
“You should have told me.”
“It doesn’t change anything.”
“The hell it doesn’t!” he yelled.
I sighed. “What are you going to do? Go fight Vince? Mom will file charges. She’ll get you in trouble with the school. You know she will. He isn’t worth your job.”
I could tell he was about to argue and say he didn’t care. Maybe he didn’t. But I did.
Wearily, I said, “Just let it go, Dad. Please. He never did anything that terrible. I left. I live here with you now.”
“Asking my underage daughter to sleep with him is not what I call nothing terrible,” he snapped.
“I’m not underage,” I pointed out.
“He’s a pervert!”
“Well, I’ll agree with that,” I allowed.
He scrutinized me, his intense stare making me squirm. “Are you telling me everything?”
“Yes. I promise. Can we please just let it go?”
“No.”
I groaned, flinging myself back on the bed.
“I’m calling your mother. I’m going to let her know what I think about all this. About her. And I’m also going to tell her if she lets that jackal anywhere near you again, they’ll have to deal with me.”
“Is that all?” I asked, hopeful.
“My threats are very real,” he intoned.
As long as he didn’t have to make good on his threats, then all this would just die. As much as Mom loved to badmouth Dad, she wouldn’t directly go against him. Besides, she was too busy in her love bubble with her new husband to even think about seeing me right now anyway.
Dad was staring like he expected me to reply.
“I know. You’re super scary.”
“Is that sarcasm?”
I shook my head. “Definitely not.”
He made a noise that called me a liar. “If that animal even sneezes in your direction, I want to know.”
I nodded.
“I mean it, Landry,” he threatened.
“I know! I’ll tell you!” I burst out. Then I groaned. “I’m tired. Can I please go to bed now?”
“Practice first thing in the morning.” He reminded me.
I didn’t need the reminder. “I’ll be there.”
“Good night, ladybug.”
My annoyance shriveled. “Good night, Dad.”
He let himself out of the room, and the door clicked shut behind him. I checked my phone again, disappointment stabbing me when I saw Jason still hadn’t called or texted.
Tossing the device aside, I got up and shut off the lamp, crawling beneath the blankets. The pipes in the walls groaned a bit, and I knew Dad had just turned on his shower. With a sigh, I settled into the mattress, my body drained but my mind still stirring.
Clink. Clink. Clink.
The faint sound had me lifting my head off the pillow and glancing toward the direction it came from.
Clink. Clink.
The blankets rustled when I slid out of bed and padded to the window to lift the white shade and peer down into the yard.
Jason waved from the grass, head tilted up. It wasn’t shock I felt seeing him there but excitement. Butterflies lifted off beneath my ribs, fluttering wildly. I let out a faint sound, fumbling with the lock before pushing up the window.
“What are you doing?” I whisper-yelled down to him.
“You got a ladder in there? Maybe some rope?” he called, cupping his hands around his mouth.
“Of course!” I called back.
His arms fell from their position. “Really?”
“No,” I lamented. “Who do you think I am, Rapunzel?”
“I asked for a ladder, not some hair.”
I gestured, not knowing if he could even see the movement, and said, “Go around to the back door.”
Not waiting for his reply, I dropped the shade back in place and rushed into the hall, relieved to hear the shower still running.
Flying down the stairs, I made it to the back door, unlatched the lock, and pulled it open. The space on the other side was empty, and all the butterflies in my stomach died a sudden death. I let out a disappointed sound.
“I’m right here,” he said, materializing out of the dark from the side.
I jolted, letting out a little squeal.
His voice was fond and quiet. “Why are you surprised, little siren? You told me to come to the door.”
“I didn’t see you,” I muttered, then gestured for him. “C’mon inside.”
“Uhh, isn’t Coach here?”
“He’s in the shower. Hurry up so he doesn’t hear.”
Jason shrugged and let me pull him into the house. After making sure the door was locked, we went quickly up the stairs without a sound. Just as my bedroom door latched, the pipes groaned again, signaling the end of the shower. I let out a sigh of relief because we’d made it without being caught.
I turned from the door, quietly asking, “What are you doing here?”
“I wanted to see you.” His voice was equally as quiet.
Ripples of awareness brushed over me, turning my skin sensitive as his gleaming eyes appraised me. He roamed every inch, his covetous stare like a caress as it swept me from head to foot, lingering lazily as if he wanted to study every inch.
Longing awakened, blooming from the center of my stomach, petals of heat unfurled and expanded until every part of me was flushed with desire and impatient to feel him against me.
“Come here.” He curled his finger. Not a request. Not quite a demand.
An order my body would never deny.
Pushing away from the door, I padded barefoot across the carpet, realizing there was no light on in this room, but not even the dark could conceal the way he stared.
I stepped so close I had to tilt my head back to look up at him. He seemed even bigger just then, maybe because I was barefoot and he still had on shoes. Maybe because his presence was just that overwhelming that everything else seemed small.
“You smell good,” he murmured, leaning down to nuzzle my freshly styled hair.
I said nothing, tipping my head to the side to give him more access, and his nose dragged down, lips catching on my jaw to press a few warm, open-mouth kisses before burying his face into the side of my neck.
He groaned into my skin, the force of the sound vibrating my flesh and making me shiver. His hand came up to curl possessively around the opposite side of my neck, holding me in place to inhale. Involuntarily, my hands fisted into the shirt beneath his open jacket, anchoring myself as he licked over my skin and kissed the column of my throat.
“Take your shirt off, little siren.” He spoke the words against my neck, the brush of his lips making my skin tingle.
“Don’t you think we should talk first?” I asked, completely breathless.
His chuckle made my thighs clench together and the area between them throb. “I think this body is mine to do with whatever I want. Whenever I want,” he said, hooking his finger under the neckline of the T-shirt to drag it from one collarbone to the other.
His growly tone incited more desire, and I closed my eyes, offering myself up to anything he wanted.
“So take this shirt off before I rip it off your body.”
My eyes popped open. I digress. Anything but that.
“You can’t!” I whisper-yelled, stumbling back and falling over my own feet.
He caught me around the waist, the whites of his eyes becoming less visible against his narrowing stare. With one arm wrapped around me, he reached up with the other to grab the neckline as if he would indeed rip it right off.
