Page 23 of Under the Influence

“Go, my mom will be here any minute.”

She rolls her eyes, “Shut up, Nash. We both know that’s a lie. She’s probably still trying to crawl out of whatever crack house she’s locked in.”

I sit up, letting the comment roll off my shoulder, “What are you even doing here?”

“Are you seriously asking me that right now?”

I shrug, rummaging around on my nightstand for my phone before she tosses it at me. Calmly, she sits unfazed on my bed, kicking around through a pile of dirty clothes at her feet, looking for her missing clothes.

“I hope you weren’t expecting breakfast,” I sneer, typing out a quick message to Carson to let him know I’m going to be late for his family’s cookout later. A cookout they have every Sunday, Lexie—Carson’s mom—will come to hunt me down if I don’t show. She says it’s mandatory for family, and I’m family. Whether I like it or not.

“I know you well enough to know that breakfast would never happen. You’re not a breakfast kind of guy. Besides, you do good to feed yourself.”

Her words piss me off, but she’s not wrong. It’s not that I’ve never wanted to be that guy. It’s just the only girl that has made me want to be him is the reason my family exploded. The kiss might’ve set everything into motion, but Jovie is the reason. She was watching that day, she saw me kiss Cori, and it wasn’t twenty-four hours later she gave the video of my mom and Ethan Blackwood to my dad.

I broke our deal… and she retaliated.

If it wasn’t for meeting Corinne Clark, I’m positive I could’ve manipulated the video from Jovie. I just needed time, but when it came to Corinne, time was not on my side. She was going back to Chicago, and I didn’t have time. At that moment, I wasn’t thinking about being the glue between my parents or the fact that Jovie could destroy us. I was only thinking about her.

It’s always been her. Every random girl, every single time I set foot in Carson’s batting cage, I see her. She touched my lips that day and marked them as hers. Kissing anyone else feels wrong.

Jovie stands up, yanking her Legacy Cheer shirt down over her head, “If you tell anyone about this, I will kill you.”

I laugh, “Cause that’s exactly what I’m gonna do.”

She tosses my shirt back at me, trying to hit me with it before stomping out of my room. The door slams so hard it rattles the shit off of my dresser.

I growl, slinging my body into the bed, knowing I have about twenty minutes before Carson or Lexie come looking for me. I can’t take a pity party, not today, so I drag myself to the shower.

I’m out the door quickly and at Carson’s in less than five minutes. I don’t look great, but I managed to throw on basketball shorts and a t-shirt, which was better than pajamas. My signature—I don’t care—look.

Everyone else will be dressed like they just came from church. Sorry, but dressing like a frat boy and going to see Ethan Blackwood preach on forgiveness isn’t exactly on my to-do list. His own daughter doesn’t even show up.

I guess that is my fault, too.

Oh well… she had to see the truth somehow. I couldn’t take her defending her dad anymore. Especially not when my mom was paying for what they did, while he stood at the pulpit in front of the whole town like Jesus himself. Everyone worshipped the ground he walked on, and my mom was dying inside. No.

I try to rid myself of the memory because it puts me in a bad mood.

These Sunday cookouts typically turn into a town event, but it doesn’t look too crowded today. Which is good because I feel like garbage after last night. So the fewer people, the better.

Carson’s eyes find me as I walk out the back door, where everyone is crowded around the grill and tables eating.

“Was beginning to think Mom was gonna have to come to drag you out of bed.”

I sigh, thinking about what she would’ve walked in on, who she would’ve seen.

“We gotta upload a video soon,” he turns his phone to show me his DMs. “People are getting impatient. They want us to build that ramp.”

Right, Carson’s YouTube channel featuring Nash Langdon. Crazy, wild, and reckless Nash. In the last wakeboarding video we made, I mentioned building a ramp, so I guess that’s what we’re gonna do.

I nod in agreement, “We will need to go get the plywood and foam. I’ll borrow dad’s boat, but your mom will flip, so it needs to be when she’s not home.”

Carson laughs, “Yeah, you’re right. She’ll have a stroke.”

“Ask for forgiveness, not permission,” I grin.

He holds his fist out for me to bump, “Exactly.”