Game over boys, p.15
Game Over Boys, page 15
Oh, poor Tess, I think, staring at her face. She’s both angry and panicked, wondering if Justin’s gotten ahold of another one of her children. He might have. Is Kimber today’s hostage? If not Kimber, then who? It’s starting to really sink in here that blackmail is forever, isn’t it? It never stops.
I will never be able to appease Justin’s whims enough that he’ll leave me alone.
“I just talked to her,” Parrish admits with a long sigh, looking at Tess over his shoulder. “She snuck out to go to a yacht party, but they won’t let her on the boat.” His face tightens. “Because of Dad. She wants me to pick her up.”
“You did?” Tess asks skeptically, looking around at us. “You wouldn’t lie to me about this, would you?”
“Not a Slayer thing, Mom,” Parrish drawls easily, but Tess is freaking staring at me in that way of hers. Sometimes, I strongly consider the idea that she might be psychic. Then again, me sitting on the floor close to tears, Maxine red-faced and sniffling, Parrish in a rage, Chasm in a panic, Maxx acting like … well, Maxx. It’s probably pretty obvious there’s something wrong here.
“Which marina?” she asks, and Parrish wets his lips, his anger just barely concealed beneath his apathetic disregard.
“She’s in the parking lot at Hope Marina.”
Tess doesn’t ask again—she definitely doesn’t believe we’re all okay—but she retreats just long enough for Parrish to snatch Maxx up by the shirt.
“What are you doing?” he grinds out as X very carefully untangles his friend’s hands from his shirt.
“Saving your girlfriend’s life, that’s what,” Maxx growls back at him. “Do you think Maxine and I like doing this? Shoving this into Dakota’s face? It’s not what either of us wanted.”
Chasm helps me to my feet, and I find myself just staring at my older sister.
“How did you trick him?” Chasm asks quietly, as if he’s determined not to believe the worst here.
“Who said we tricked him?” Maxx asks, and then he reaches down for Maxine’s hand and she lets him take it. Didn’t she tell him just the other day not to touch her unless he had to? I don’t understand. “What did Dakota and I do when Justin demanded that we sleep together? Did we trick him then?” He drags my sister past me, and when she reaches out as if to touch me reassuringly, I jerk away from her.
“I love you, baby sister,” she breathes, but she doesn’t press it. She allows X to take her away. More accurately, she runs away from me, as if she can’t handle the situation if she stays in it.
I don’t look at her.
I’m not even mad at her if it’s true.
I’m not.
Maxine is more important than whatever stupid feelings I might be having right now.
Parrish is watching me carefully, and I realize we haven’t had a second to address last night’s ‘proposal’. It seems so insignificant compared to what I’ve just discovered.
My sister had sex with Maxx Wright.
Maybe.
Those videos …
“Don’t believe them,” Parrish warns me, getting in my face. “You know we’re only doing what we have to in order to get out of this alive, right?” He tries to grab my shoulders, but Chasm stops him with his hands on Parrish’s wrists.
“I don’t think she wants to be touched by you or anyone else right now. Okay?” He looks imploringly at Parrish, but his friend just yanks out of his grip. “Justin isn’t just going to want their word that they did it, you know? He’ll make Mr. Volli watch—just like he did with me and Dakota.”
“Don’t bring that up right now; I don’t want to hear about that right now,” Parrish growls out, his tone darker and more frustrated than I’ve ever heard it. “Don’t say that shit in front of her.”
“At some point, Parrish, there’s believing in someone else and there’s being an idiot. You’re being an idiot right now. Even if Maxx wasn’t into Maxine—even if he was into Dakota all along—he can’t get out of this one. Trust me: we were there, and we tried.”
Parrish whirls on Chasm, a storm of fury. It occurs to me that he’s angry on my behalf.
“So.” Parrish cools his anger in an instant, tucking his hands into the pockets of his sweatpants. He’s shirtless, by the way, but there’s no enjoying that smooth chest or chiseled midsection. Honestly, I’m still considering putting a hole through the drywall. X did it, so why can’t I? “You believe that I actually want to marry Lumen?” This time, Parrish’s laugh is so bitter that it chokes me.
I turn and take off for the bathroom, hitting the cold water on the faucet and splashing my face. And then I pick up a heavy, decorative soap dish and chuck it at the mirror. The entire thing shatters and comes down in a glittering silver waterfall.
The boys come in behind me just in time for me to see their shocked expressions in the falling glass.
When I turn around to look at them, they’re both as white as a sheet.
“Let’s get some breakfast, shall we?” I ask, my voice so calm and solid that I almost believe my own lie. Everything is okay. Everything is fine. Whatever lies are floating around, they’ll all rise to the surface soon.
If Justin comes home on Sunday, he can be dead within seventy-two hours certainly? If I give him a day or two to get complacent … I make myself smile, and Parrish grimaces.
“Let’s go.” I shove between them and head downstairs.
Tess has her purse slung over one shoulder and is on her way out the door, the two Maxes staring dubiously after her. My bio mom glances over her shoulder and smiles at me.
“I’m going to fetch Kimber; I’ll be right back.”
I’m not sure what to say, how to stop her, or convince her that we should go instead, so I say nothing at all. Tess takes off, the front door echoing in the massive foyer as she closes it behind her. I can only hope that Kimber truly did sneak out on her own and that this isn’t one of Justin’s many tricks.
My gaze shifts over to Maxine, eyes red and puffy from crying. She’s wringing her hands in the front of her PNW Magic hoodie. It has an artful sketch of a waterfall on it. X doesn’t look at me, staring out the window above the breakfast table at Tess’ retreating vehicle.
“Can we talk?” Maxine asks me, and I lift my gaze to hers. There’s so much pleading there, how could I not trust her? She wouldn’t sleep with Maxx, would she? Only, my sister and X are in so many ways the same person. They have rigid moral codes, and they’d do anything, sacrifice anything, to save the ones they love.
If my sister thought she needed to sleep with X to save my life, she’d do it—even if it meant I’d hate her forever for it. The thing is, I don’t hate her. I could never hate her, even if she did do it.
“Maybe later. I need time to process right now.” I move over to the fridge and pretend like I have a reason to dig around in it. Really, food is the last thing on my mind.
“Maybe we should go for a hike today?” Maxx asks casually, and I laugh. I start laughing like I did earlier, and I just laugh until I can’t breathe anymore. When I stand back up and wipe the tears from my eyes, the four of them are looking at me like they pity me.
“No, no.” I wave my hands at them, offering up what I hope seems like a relatively sane facial expression. Calm. I am calm. Zen, even. Seriously. “We’re not going to the party tomorrow; there’s no need.”
“What do you mean there’s no need?” Chasm asks, almost frantic in his inquiry. I give him a look and a quick shake of my head.
“Justin told me he changed his mind about Veronica; he has other plans for her.” I take a soda from the fridge to use on my forehead; I have a headache. The cold can should help. If anyone in that room senses I’m lying to them, so what?
Pretty sure at this point they’re all lying to me, too.
We’re peas in a pod, my sister and these boys and me. We’ll do anything to keep each other safe, even if it means lying and scheming. I can’t help but wonder if Justin knows that, too, if it’s all a part of his masterplan.
“He has other plans?” Chasm clarifies, squinting his eyes as if he doesn’t believe me for shit. “That sounds like a bullshit lie to me.”
“What’s a bullshit lie?” my grandfather asks, coming into the room with a frown carved into his kind face. The look is so serious that it transforms him into something mildly terrifying for a moment. Chasm must sense it, too, because he backs up a step.
Taken out of context—and without knowing Chasm well—hearing him say that to me must paint him in a particularly poor light.
“Bullshit lie?” my grandmother echoes, stepping into the kitchen beside her husband.
And then both of their gazes simultaneously drop to my leg and stick there.
Oh.
I’m wearing shorts; I have a tattoo.
Oops.
“Dakota Lorelai Banks,” Carmen breathes as Walter’s eyes widen in shock. “Where on earth did you get that?” And then she looks to Parrish and Chasm, and the tattoos on both of their arms.
My face heats, and I’m instantly reduced back down to the OG Dakota, the one I miss so much that I mourn the loss of her even as I continue to tread water, to fight desperately to keep her.
“This is …” I drop the soda can by my side and look down at Parrish’s meticulous artwork, the piece he worked so hard to craft for me, the one with so much meaning embedded in it. Me, Saffron, Tess. Three hearts. A quill pen. “It’s a memento.” I raise my chin proudly, pointing at the hearts with my free hand. “This represents me, Saffron, and Tess.” My throat gets choked up even as Walter’s eyes crinkle, and Carmen purses her lips slightly.
I turn away and move out one of the other entrances to the kitchen.
Whether they like the tattoo or not, approve of it or not, it doesn’t matter. Because they don’t have custody of me. Because I’m not actually a Banks. Because maybe even the few lynchpins holding me in place—my sister, the boys—aren’t as steadfast and unbreakable as I believed either.
I head up to my room, lock the door, and refuse to see anyone else for the rest of the night.
Tess tries but since she’s told me Kimber is safe, nothing else matters.
Not even my own broken heart.
The next morning, Tess wakes me up by cheerfully announcing that she’s taking me to get the promised birth control. It’s not until I’m dressed and heading into the kitchen that I realize she really meant it when she said she was taking both of us—Parrish as well as myself.
He looks surly, but well put-together, hair manicured to mussy perfection, his clothes that sleek Junior Yacht Club look. I’m not sure how I feel towards him right this second, but having him engaged to Lumen—however ridiculous a stretch that seems—makes this entire excursion into its own little slice of hell.
Part of me is warmed by the idea of Tess taking an interest in my life, of trying to help me, of actually listening and taking action instead of lecturing. The rest of me is too miserable to fully appreciate the moment.
“Seems kind of ridiculous that birth control pills for men are only just now hitting the market, huh?” Parrish murmurs, clearly trying to make conversation with me as we lag behind Tess on our way to the car. He looks askance at me, but I don’t look back.
“Seems kind of ridiculous that the United States waited for a hundred other countries to approve OTC birth control pills before even considering it,” I respond, but my heart isn’t in the conversation. No, when something hits close to home, the ills of the world seem to fade away to distant stars. Suddenly, with an enemy on the home front, they’re just not as important.
Parrish stops suddenly, turning to stand in front of me. He plants his inked hands on my shoulders and leans in, close enough to kiss. I almost do it, too. Almost throw myself at him, crush his mouth with my own and allow myself to drown in the heat that’s been simmering between us since moment one. This close, I can see the artwork that makes up his irises, a collaboration between nature and some holy divinity, if such a thing exists.
“Are you angry with me?” he asks, and I laugh.
I can’t seem to stop laughing lately which is odd seeing as I’ve never felt less like laughing in my life.
“Angry?” I parrot, thinking back to the party and my genuine surprise and embarrassment at seeing him propose to Lumen Hearst. “Why would I be angry, Mr. Hearst?”
His lips twist in an I fucking knew it smirk.
“Dakota Banks, are you jealous?” he breathes, lifting his pretty gaze up to the sky. When he brings it back down, it’s like a hammer, crashing into the fragile shield I’ve erected around my heart. Parrish takes my face in both of his hands, and there’s a sudden softening of his expression, a look of tenderness that I’m convinced I’m the only person on this planet to have seen.
This is for me, just for me.
“I know it was one of Justin’s tricks. How could it not be? But why didn’t you tell me …?” I trail off as Parrish leans close to kiss me, his mouth like embers, simmering and waiting for my oxygen to fan them to flame. I’m relatively passive during the kiss, but when he moves to pull away, I inadvertently find myself placing a hand on his side. The Baphomet necklace swings between us, a reminder that he isn’t as ‘future career politician’ as his clothes might make him look sometimes.
“I tried to talk to you all day yesterday, but you shut me out.” His voice gets tight, almost like he wants to scream. Or punch something. Correction: more like he wants to strangle Justin. He’ll do it, too, given the opportunity; there is no doubt in my mind about that. “Don’t shut me out, Gamer Girl. I got the text after you left the house for the ice cream social.”
He slips his phone from his pocket and presents it to me. Even though my stomach turns leaden with dread, I take it from him and scan the message.
Laverne wants to see you with Lumen. She’s incredibly insistent that I find a way to control my daughter and keep her away from you. Seeing as I already promised Dakota that she could have you, that leaves me with few options. Shut your grandmother up before I do it myself.
I nod, but no words will come out.
Meanwhile, Tess is waiting patiently by some vintage car I’ve never seen before, arms crossed over her chest, watching us. She must have some sense of what we’re up to over here, but she doesn’t let on. Instead, she waits and watches.
My mother knows that Justin is the Slayer.
I still can’t get over that. Still can’t decide how to process it. The relative patience and serenity with which she’s handling this is a bit concerning to me. Not a single cell in my body believes that Tess Vanguard would sit idly by and let a bunch of teenagers deal with her abusive, murderous ex.
“My grandmother gave me the ring and made it pretty clear what her intentions were. I don’t care if it’s Laverne or Justin or anyone else: I’ll protect you from the world.” He stands up straight, fingers playing with the necklace’s silver pendant. To the uninitiated, one might think it was the devil on that necklace.
A nice reminder that things are not always what they seem.
“How can you still believe in Maxx?” I whisper, feeling a cold shiver sweep over me. It’s nice and warm today. Birds are singing, the trees are bristling with greenery. Why does it feel like it should be foggy, drizzly, and dark? It rightfully should be, so that the day might fit my mood. “How?”
Before my sister got involved, I have to admit that I sort of did, too. How could I not, after all the things I’ve seen? More importantly, after all the things I’ve done. Imagine if Parrish had lost his shit on me and Chasm after our sort-of-fake, sort-of-real proposal.
After seeing that video of us making love at Justin’s request.
I stumble over the thought.
Right.
Chasm and I did have sex.
So who’s to say the double Maxes didn’t do that, too? Even if just to save me and the rest of our extended family.
Parrish plants his hands on his slender hips, looking me over and clucking his tongue.
“What if I’d believed that you and Chasm had abandoned me that night?” he queries, tilting his head to one side. I close my eyes and shake my head, knowing that he’s trying to help here but that he’s actually making it worse.
“Right. We didn’t abandon you.” I open my eyes, squeezing my hands into fists. “But we ended up in some sort of poly relationship after. I’m not sharing Maxx with my sister.” There’s an unspoken even if he still loves me and they only did it to save me floating there.
“Maxx wouldn’t sleep with Maxine.” Parrish is shaking his head, adamant and immovable. “Even if he wanted her over you—which isn’t true—he would’ve known that sleeping with you would make her an impossibility forever. He isn’t that sort of guy.”
“What sort of guy?” I clarify, trying and failing to summon up that unerring belief I used to have. I’m not sure when it died off inside of me. When I heard that Nevaeh was dead? When Maxx told me he didn’t love me? Or yesterday morning?
Regardless, I’m finding it harder and harder to remember what it felt like to hold that unerring confidence in others.
“He isn’t a fuckboy byeontae who would sleep with a girl and then bang her sister, that’s what.” Parrish sounds annoyed now, but not at me. He’s raking his fingers through his hair and looking off into the distance, at something in his mind that only he can see.
Byeontae? I think that means pervert. Good to know that Parrish doesn’t think of Maxx that way.
“Are we going?” Tess calls out, patient but brimming with curiosity. Her urge to grill us is even more apparent after Parrish snatches my hand and drags me over to the car. We climb into the backseat together as Tess peers at us in the rearview mirror.
“Leave your phones here; this is a family day.” She waits for us to comply, but since I threw my phone down the stairs yesterday, it’s officially toast. Parrish sighs and climbs out, walking back to the front porch and then chucking his phone onto one of the many rocking chairs.
Using signal jammers and dumping our tech this often is a bad thing. A really, really bad thing. A terrible thing. A future tragedy in the making.
