AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter 1
present
“Are you sure you want to leave already? We’re still booked in for a few more days, and your brother has already paid for the room. You don’t want to waste his money. This trip couldn’t have been cheap.”
My mom’s scolding is as consistent as ever as I shove the rest of my stuff into my open suitcase. No shit, the trip wasn’t cheap. Brother dearest got married in Mykonos. How else was he supposed to flaunt his wealth to everyone he knows?
“I never asked for River to pay for my room. If I remember correctly, I didn’t even want him to book me one.” I scoff. “I told him not to, actually. He’s the one that wasted his money.”
“Can’t you just be happy for a few days?” Her eyes shut slowly and her shoulders drop like the weight of her disappointment is too much to bear. “You’ve been bringing everybody down since the moment you stepped off of the plane,” she replies with a weighty sigh. It’s odd hearing her speak in complete sentences. Usually, she’s too high to hold a conversation—babbling to herself as if she’s the speaker of the house and itching at the skin on her forearms until they’re raw and bloody.
“My bad.” I push the top of my suitcase down over the clothes I just threw inside and zip it up. Gripping the handle in a tight fist, I pull it to my side and stretch my neck when the wheels slam against the expensive-looking tile floor. “I already changed my flight. There’s nothing I can do.”
Mom closes her eyes and inhales a deep breath through her narrow nose and places a hand on a jutted hip bone. The dramatic action nearly makes me laugh in disbelief: Nora Bateman almost looks like a disappointed mother.
What a goddamn sight to behold. It only took twenty-three years.
“Alright, Tyler. Whatever you want to do. You’ve never been one to listen.”
Yeah, it’s almost like I had no one to teach me how. “Alright. I’ll talk to you later, then.”
“Say goodbye to River before you leave. I’m sure he would appreciate the effort.”
“I’m sure he would.” I snort louder than I intended to and drag my suitcase behind me on my way to the door. A huff echoes behind me as I pull it open and step into the empty hallway. I don’t bother looking back when the door clicks shut behind me.
She can enjoy the rest of her vacation drinking bottle after endless fucking bottle from the limitless bar until she crawls to River’s room, begging for the toilet bowl. And when he flounders at the task of having to take care of his alcoholic mother for once in his life, maybe, just maybe, she’ll realize that I’m the one that takes care of her, and that she’s been taking me for granted.
I shove my palm towards the elevator buttons, wincing as the metal cuts into my skin. The doors open and I all but throw my suitcase inside, grinding my jaw. I didn’t plan on coming to this fucking wedding for a reason. My older brother and I detest each other. I can barely remember a time when I didn’t want to knock him on his ass, and leave him bleeding on the floor.
When it comes to showing our hatred, though, that’s where me and River differ. If I don’t like somebody, they know it. There’s no point in playing games. It’s a waste of time. But River likes to plan — to scheme. He didn’t want me here; I knew that. This was all a power move for him. To show me how much better he was than me. The success, the wealth, and now the wife. A wife who looked like a prisoner at that altar, staring at my brother with eyes vacant of anything but greed. I knew the wedding meant nothing, that it was probably for some sort of money making plan they were both in on.
I guess it just shows how little my big brother knows about me. I may not run a fortune five-hundred company or have my name on a tower. But I have enough money to retire now and never run out, and my name is stitched into the backs of thousands of people who have more in common with me than he ever will. And as far as the wife charade goes, if he was trying to make me jealous, he couldn’t have been farther off.
Euphoria: A feeling you get from a good fuck, or from stepping off of an airplane after spending almost an entire day strapped into a seat so tiny only your left ass cheek fits. Then there’s the crying kids, and the old guys with sweaty armpits that won’t stop snoring in your fucking ear. Even the deafening music in my headphones wasn’t enough to tune it all out. Maybe if I wasn't already on edge from my trip, it wouldn't have bothered me as much. Nah, who am I kidding? Yes, it would have.
My phone hasn’t stopped vibrating since I switched it back on. As message after message flash across the screen, I watch Mom guilt me for leaving. I scold myself for getting her an international phone plan for the trip. I could have at least avoided this for a few days if I wasn’t so damn eager to please her. I know it’s not worth it—the hurt, anger, betrayal. It doesn’t matter what I do, she will always choose River.
I’m about to turn my phone back off when a different number pops up on the screen. "Yeah?" I grumble, answering the call. I spot my Uber from the front doors of the airport and drag my suitcase to the car.
"Just wanted to make sure you landed safely. Flight that bad?" Matt jokes, a quiet giggle sounding behind him.
"Well, clearly I'm alive. You can rest easy now." I pull open the back door of the black SUV and crawl into the backseat, dumping my shit down on the seat behind me. "The flight was brutal. I'm dead tired."
I buckle my seatbelt and we start moving. I let out a content sigh. Almost home.
“You didn’t sleep on the flight? Come on! That’s the only way to fly. If I don’t sleep, I puke.”
The only tolerable way to fly, yeah. But in the rush of packing and hauling ass out of Mykonos, I forgot my insomnia meds on the bathroom counter, so that wasn’t happening.
“Over share, Matt.”
He laughs loudly. "Get some sleep, Ty. Text me sometime this week and we can make plans."
I nod my head even though Matt can’t see me and close my eyes. "Sounds good. Thanks for checking in."
"Anytime. See ya," he says before hanging up. I shove my phone into my duffle bag before I become dead to the world.
Once I get home, I sleep straight through until the following afternoon. And after reintroducing myself to the living world, I spend the next two weeks on the ice. I never take breaks from hockey—not unless I have no other choice—so I guess pushing myself to get back into my routine so quickly is my punishment for leaving town. I can’t afford to lose focus, I’ve already made it so far, way further than I could have dreamed. Hockey is all I have. I can’t fuck it up. I don’t have a backup plan.
