I stalk out of the room, wrenching my phone free and calling Dad’s right-hand woman. I swear his world would fall apartwithout her. It’s a miracle she’s stuck around. It’s also a miracle he hasn’t fucked her and broken her heart. That’s probably the only reason she’s lasted so long.
“Hello, my gorgeous boy.” I don’t know how old she is now, maybe mid-sixties, but she’s got this bright, cheerful, singsong voice that makes it impossible not to smile. Even just a little bit.
“Hey, Jo.”
“What’s up?”
“I want to know when the lake house is free.”
“Let me check the diary. I know your dad offered it to a client last weekend…” She makes a clicking noise with her tongue as she obviously checks something on her computer. “Okay, it’s being used in a few days, but the weekend after that is free. You want me to block it out for you?”
“Yeah. Thanks.”
“Got yourself a party planned?”
I smirk. “You know it.”
“Should I warn the insurance company?” She giggles.
“I’ll do my best to keep it under control.”
“Just make sure you invite Jimmy. He’ll keep you in check.”
I roll my eyes, but she’s probably right. My teammate might not keep me in check, but he’s pretty damn good at cleaning up my messes, and I love that Joanna knows that. Is it weird that my father’s PA probably knows me better than he does?
Is it weird that I feel closer to her and Alba the housekeeper, Emil the chef, Justice the chauffeur, and Yvonne the penthouse maid than I do to my own flesh and blood? Why is it that everyone who works for Dad feels more like a family member than he does?
It’s fucked-up, because housekeepers and chefs and chauffeurs and gardeners move on. They have no loyalty to me. Alba and Emil have stuck around, but Juan the gardener left lastyear, and it felt like a physical blow. He was the one who taught me how to play basketball.
And Justice was murmuring about Florida a few months back. He’s the one who got me into cars a couple of years ago. He taught me how to fucking drive! And now he’s thinking about retiring in Florida. I’ll never see him again. And he probably won’t even think twice about the spoiled rich kid who got a shiny new car for his sixteenth birthday and couldn’t even find the words to thank his dad because the guy wasn’t fucking there to hand him the keys.
Texting Darian back, I tell him it’s on and get a quick reply.
A few minutes later, a message pops up in the Cougars’ team chat. Responses come in pretty fast, and I add up who’s gonna be there, waiting for Jimmy’s reply.
Gritting my teeth, I give him a few minutes, but he doesn’t say a word. I know he’s seen it. The guy is good about checking notifications… unless his parents have him locked into yet another obligation that’s shriveling his soul into a raisin.
I’m gonna have to call him. He’s gotta be there.
Joanna’s right. I need him to keep us all in check. He might be a year younger than me, but he’s like an old man in a twenty-year-old’s body.
Over half the team can make it, plus Charli and her friend Nix. Which means the house will be full… and once I get the word out about a party on Saturday night, the place will be pumping.
We need a few guys like Jimmy and Ben… I check the chat again, and he says he can make it. Good. He’s responsible.
If guys like that will be there, then I can relax… or get a little crazy.
I smirk, grabbing a joint from my room before slipping outside.
Alba hates it when I smoke in the house, so I plunk into a deck chair and gaze up at the darkening sky while lighting up and letting that weed work its magic.
Blowing out a cloud of smoke, I feel my muscles slowly start to uncoil and wonder if I’ll always need to do this after every interaction with my father.
3
DARIAN
Bad Bunny is pumpingthrough my car speakers as we drive to Aspen. I move my head to the beat, my brain split between my favorite tunes and the chatter in the back seat.
