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Tonight was a Fourth of July party hosted by my cousins Phoenix and Shane. They’d thrown one every year since we were in fifth grade, and each had been better than the last. The fraternal twins were going into their sophomore year of high school, like my brother, Damon.
All of us played football for Hidden Valley Academy. This was my junior year—when NCAA rules allowed coaches to talk to me. I had big plans. Take the high school football team to States my last two years, secure the wins, and gain the attention of the coaches from Thane University for a full-ride scholarship. Damon and I didn’t need scholarships to attend college, but our cousins did.
Everything was going as planned. Until I walked out of my room to the unmistakable sound of Mom and Dad arguing. I couldn’t remember when they’d gotten along, but it seemed to be getting worse, and thank fuck I would be out of here soon.
The farther I went down the hallway, the clearer their voices became. Particularly Mom’s.
“You can’t go. It’s a weekend, and you should be home with the family!”
Dad’s reply was muffled, but I could imagine he’d said there was no canceling the trip, that it was business related. I doubted his trips ever were. There was a second of silence, then the front door slammed, and I cringed as Mom screamed at the top of her lungs, which was followed by the sound of her footsteps thundering up the stairs.
As I passed Damon’s door, I pounded on it, yelling, “Ready?”
“In a minute.”
He had to have heard the fight too. They had argued in the foyer. It was better when they fought in their room, as it was on the other side of the house. Their constant bickering was exhausting. I hated how he treated her, that he cheated on the regular.
The sound of the garage door slamming preceded a car leaving the driveway. Dad must have left. Mom would crumble or go ballistic at him leaving in the middle of their discussion, not that it had been a discussion.
A crash sounded from outside, followed by Mom’s blend of yelling and crying. I left through the front door to see what could have happened and almost tripped over a pile of Dad’s suits. One of the neighbors across the street stood on her porch, watching Mom make a scene from the open upstairs window. We lived in a gated community—our house the nicest one on the beach—and this was what Mom wanted our neighbors to witness? I didn’t care. Fuck ’em. But I knew Mom would care what the neighbors thought when she came to her senses. She wanted the perfect family, the perfect marriage, and the ideal image. We were anything but.
I sidestepped a handful of watches that crashed on the cement driveway. This had to stop. I grabbed an armful of Dad’s belongings and headed inside, dumping what I’d gathered near the bottom of the stairs before I took them two at a time. I jogged down the hallway to my parents’ suite then burst inside to find her flinging shoes at a trajectory that would scatter them farther than the rest of his belongings.
“Mom.” I rushed into her bedroom and gently grasped her arms, halting an impending closet evacuation. Her dark-brown hair was a rat’s nest around her head, and deep circles hung beneath her red-rimmed eyes. When her lip quivered, I wanted to murder my dad. “Why can’t you just let it go?” The words tumbled unchecked from my mouth. She had a beautiful house with nice shit. Material things were so important to her. I didn’t understand her destructive tendencies when she was trying to keep Dad by her side.
“He’s never loved me.” A tremor ran through her body. “I thought I could change him. I had so many plans.” Anger tore through her dull eyes, bringing light to them that had been missing. “Having you”—her hand cupped the side of my face—“changed everything. But it didn’t last. Nothing with that man does.”
She wasn’t making sense. A scuff sounded behind me, and I released her. Damon leaned against the door. “Cleaning house today?”
He joked with her, and it usually brought her off the ledge. I didn’t have his affinity for making light of our parents’ fucked-up relationship. All it did was harden me toward them and marriage.
We exchanged glances that Mom didn’t notice. It was what Damon and I did. He would calm her down in a way I never could, disguising how much he despised her. I didn’t feel quite the same way. I hated our dad, while Damon tolerated him.
I left the room while he continued to crack jokes, and Mom calmed down, for now, anyway. While he did that, I went outside and picked up the rest of Dad’s stuff, dumping it inside the door where someone on staff could take care of it.
I would never be like our dad—an asshole who cheated on his wife. Or like Mom—weak and whiny. Furious that Damon and I were left to pick up the mess, literally, from one of their fights, I texted Dad.
Me:Mom’s losing it.
Dad:Handle it.
Me:Come home.
Dad:No. It’s time the adults in this family handle their own shit.
What a fucking asshole. I shoved my phone into my pocket, desperate to hit something. His face would be ideal, but he was at aworkmeeting. Doubtful. He was probably at some hotel with whomever he was screwing from the office.
After several deep breaths, I got control of my anger. Mom was too unstable for us to leave her alone. It was Dad’s mess. He shouldhandle ithimself. Since he wouldn’t and Aunt Cece wasn’t working tonight, I took a shot at asking if she would come stay with her sister.
Damon and I had a party to go to tonight, and nothing was going to stop us, especially one of the fights between our parents that happened on the regular.
CHAPTER THREE
RILEY
It didn’t take long for Mom and me to put away the groceries and bring in the few boxes that made up our lives. We didn’t have much, but we had each other and my uncle. That was all we needed.
The drive had made me restless, and the last thing I wanted to do was go to bed. We were close to the beach, and I could use some time outside. Mom was unpacking her clothes, so I shouted over my shoulder as I headed toward the door. “I’m going for a walk on the beach.”
