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I open the swinging door to the kitchen and stop dead in my tracks. There stands one of the most handsome men that I have ever seen. A beautiful dark-haired stranger stands in the middle of my kitchen. He seems familiar, but I can't pinpoint where I may have seen him.
"You must be, Ryan. Your mother has told me all about you." He steps up to me and pulls me in for a hug instead of shaking my hand.
Damn, he smells so fucking yummy. It finally hits me; this is my mother's new fiancé, Bain. He's going to be my new stepdaddy.
Three
“Well, don’t be rude, Ryan.” My mother scowls. “Say hello to your new stepfather.”
“I-I’m sorry, I was just caught off guard,” I say a bit dryly.
As much as I hate that my mother is getting remarried, I must admit that Bain will be a nice fixture to look at around here. However, the thought of him sleeping in my parent’s bed, where my father used to sleep, makes me want to puke, but I don’t have any say in the matter.
“Oh, that’s alright,” Bain says, smiling down at me. “I heard it was your birthday, so I talked your mom into bringing me over. I wanted to give you a present.” Reaching into the inside pocket of his suit jacket, he pulls out a little square box covered in blue velvet, “Happy birthday, Ryan.”
My hand trembles a little as I reach out and take the box from his hand. “You didn’t have to, Bain. Thank you.”
He shrugs. “I know, but I wanted to. I don’t have a daughter, so it’s nice being able to buy them for you.”
I open the box and gasp, “I can’t accept these!”
A pair of diamond stud earrings sparkle from the little box. They had to have cost a fortune because of their sheer size. I’ve never owned anything so beautiful before. Well, that was before I got my grandmother’s locket, but even that can’t be as much as these studs cost.
“Please, take them,” he urges. “As I said, I don’t have a daughter, and I would very much like for you to have them. You will be my daughter in just a few short months anyway.”
“Wait, what? When is the wedding?” I furrow my brow.
“Bain and I are getting married in two months, Ryan.” My mother sighs.
I glance between the two. “Oh, I see.” It’s all I can say. I don’t want to be rude to the guy. It’s not his fault my mom can’t be on her own. I smile at her fiancé. “Thank you again for the gift. They are stunning.”
I back slowly toward the door, then turn and walk out, needing to get away from them as soon as possible. “Ryan,” my mother calls out, and I stop in my tracks.
“What, mother?”
She doesn’t miss the attitude, which makes her come up short and glare at me. “If I find out that you sold those earrings for drugs, you will be very sorry!”
I gawk at her, stunned that she would think I would be so callous. I get it, druggies sell shit to get money for a fix, but I never pay for my fixes. Wouldn’t she like to know that little tidbit of information? Except when I try spitting it out, I can’t make myself do it. I’m ashamed of what I do, but not enough to make me stop.
It’s not like my mother has ever cared enough in the past. So, with this in mind, I take a little dig at her. “Don’t worry, mother. I wouldn’t dream of selling either gift from my daddies. At least I know that somebody thinks about me.” I turn and run up the stairs, slamming the door to my room.
God, another year of living under this roof, and then I’m gone. Of course, I can move out now that I’m eighteen, but I’m not too far gone to know that if I were to move out now, I would end up dropping out of school and turning into precisely what Beau said I would, a nobody out on the streets. No, I’ll stay until I graduate, and then I will see where life takes me.
“Now promise me, Ryan, you will stay in school and graduate. I don’t want you succumbing to any outside influences that will take your priorities away from your schoolwork.” My dad tries staring me down but has to continuously look back at the road as we drive home on the last day of my eighth-grade year.
I roll my eyes. “You know I want to go to college for fashion, Daddy. I can’t go to college if I don’t graduate, duh!” I flip through the radio stations in the car until I find the Hits station. “Besides, I doubt Liv will be a bad influence on me and get me to quit school.”
“The world is changing, pumpkin, and you never know what the future will bring.” He glances over at me and smiles.
“I promise I will graduate high school with the best grades I can get, Daddy,” I tell him, just to make him feel better.
“I’m keeping you to that promise, Ryan.”
I think about that conversation with my dad often; every time I feel that I can’t take another day of bullying. Three years is a long time for being harassed every damn day, especially when you don’t know why it’s happening. Just a few more months, and I will be free of Beau Huntley.
I’m not sure if I even want to mention it because the last thing I need is to jinx myself, but it’s been a whole week, and I haven’t seen or heard from my tormentor. Maybe he came down with some kind of life-threatening sickness after leaving my house that day. Is that wrong of me to say?
“Watch it, skank!” I’m shoved into the wall by Ashlyn, the all-around popular girl.
