Beneath Our Faults (13 page)

“Y
OU GOING
home for Thanksgiving?” I asked Daisy, pulling up to her house.

“Actually, no, my parents are coming here this year,” she answered, stretching her legs out on the floorboard. "Is your mom going to be home?"

Daisy and I had started a friendship after the whole party/ dry humping/ crying debacle. We didn't necessarily hang out with each other on our free time, but our arguments had turned into conversations and tiny jokes during our car rides and Health. I enjoyed my friendship with her, and as much as I was attracted to her, I hooking up with her was a bad idea. It would fuck up everything we had built the last month and I liked having her around. I didn’t want Daisy to end up hating me in the end.

"Eh, I wouldn't count on it," I shrugged, making it known I didn't give a shit. "I usually just chill out at home or go over to Lane's."

"But isn't he going to Cora’s'?"

"I think so," I said, my voice flat. "So I'll probably just hang at home."

"What about your dad?" She rushed out quickly. The fact that she was curious about him didn't surprise me. What did surprise me, though, was that she hadn't already heard all of the rumors about my family already.

I let out a hard laugh. "Even if I knew who the arrogant asshole was, I wouldn't count on him inviting me over for a holiday dinner." I stopped asking my mom about my dad years ago after she finally made it clear that he wanted nothing to do with her or me.

"Why don't you come over and have dinner with us," she said, blowing out a breath suddenly. "I know that my aunt and uncle wouldn't mind. For some weird reason, they actually like you."

I chuckled. "Funny little shit, you are. Everyone likes me, including you. But it’s okay, you don’t have to admit it." She smiled. "Thanks for the invite, but it's cool," I answered, brushing off her invite. I hated having people feel sorry and pity me. Sympathy invites weren't really my thing.

I had surpassed the point where I cared who my dad was, deciding I was better off without him anyways. The asshole had been absent my entire existence, so I wasn't waiting for him to step up to play father of the year anytime soon.

"You're coming," she insisted. "Consider it payback for all the rides and calorie ridden drinks you bring me."

I squeezed out a fake smile. "I'll think about it."

"Please," she stressed, clutching her tiny hands together.

"Okay, fine," I gave in, rubbing the back of my neck, unable to resist her cute begging. I could find a way to back out later.

Her eyes twinkled in triumph. "You promise?"

I nodded. "I promise."

"I take promises very serious, Keegan." With that, she opened up the car door and disappeared down the drive.

“K
EEGAN!”
S
OPHIA
screeched, opening up the front door. “I was sooo happy when Daisy said you were coming!” After internally debating whether to show up or not, I caved. I didn’t owe her anything, but her words kept burning into my brain.
I take promises very seriously.

My original plan had been to grab some Chinese takeout. Those places were always open on Thanksgiving. It wasn't the first time I had spent the holiday by myself and I was positive it wasn't going to be the last, either. The only time I had ever had a real Thanksgiving dinner was when I would go over to Lane’s. Even though he was going over to Cora's this year, I knew if I told my aunt I had nowhere to go, she would prepare some huge ass meal just for me and I didn't want her to stress over it.

Lane's mom, my Aunt Madeline, might have been my mom's sister but they were both on completely different ends of the parenting scale. My aunt was like one of those moms you saw on a family show while my mom could have her own Lifetime Movie made based on her life. Layla Hudson should have been banned from ever being able to procreate. The woman could hardly take care of herself, let alone a damn kid. She didn't have one maternal bone in her underweight body. The only reason she didn't abort me was because I was a paycheck to her. She gladly decided to share this with me on one of her drunken binges when I was ten.

Our house, our cars and the majority of her designer handbags were all benefits of giving birth to the bastard baby and keeping her big mouth shut about it. Sure, she made money from her "movies" but it wasn't anywhere what our monthly allowance was from my sperm donor. Thanks, asshole.

I still hadn't even heard from her today, which was honestly no surprise. The last time I had talked to her was last week and she told me she was in Vegas with her producer / boyfriend shooting a new movie. I had to hold back on the smart ass comments that wanted to come barreling out of my mouth when she tried to refer to herself as an actress.

To be honest, I couldn't blame my "dad." I mean, who would want the entire world to know they knocked up one of the biggest porn stars in the industry? Yeah, not too many fucking people. I remember the exact day I found out exactly what my mom did for a living. It was the first day of sixth grade and an older boy strolled into the locker room bragging about how he had watched a movie of my mom being screwed from behind. I ended up setting him and the rest of the school straight from talking shit about her when my fist clashed against his nose, breaking it.

I followed Sophia into the kitchen as she announced my arrival to the room. I waved to everyone, noticing some familiar and not-so-familiar faces. Tommy was sitting on the couch with a beer in his hand, talking to an older guy and pointing towards the TV playing a football game. I turned around, spotting Jamie and another woman busy in the kitchen with cooking utensils and bowls spread along the countertops. Scanning the room, I looked for the dark haired beauty, but she was missing.

"Happy Thanksgiving, Keegan," Jamie said. "Would you like something to drink while you wait for dinner? It shouldn’t be too much longer."

"If my sister doesn't burn everything," the older guy sitting by Tommy called out from across the room, laughing. “I was frightened when you told me you were making dinner this year. I remember when you tried to cook brownie mix in the microwave instead of the stove.”

“David and Janis, this is our neighbor, Keegan. He's the one who has been giving Daisy rides to school,” Tommy said, introducing me from across the room.

David slid out of his seat. "Nice to meet you, boy." I looked at the guy holding his hand out to me who I was assuming was Daisy's dad. His clothing was the first thing I noticed. While everyone else was decked out in their dress clothes, he was wearing a faded pair of old blue jeans and a red, flannel shirt. His hair matched Daisy's perfectly black locks to a tee. She was a spitting image of her father.

"You, too," I answered, sticking out my hand and grasping his firm handshake.

"Hi Keegan," Daisy's silvery voice sang out from behind me and I spun around to catch her sashay into the kitchen. My eyes swelled. Damn, she looked good. Her curly hair was pulled back with a black headband, which was almost as dark as her hair with shiny small gemstones around it. Her body was covered into a tight, purple dress that hugged every inch of her, causing images to replay in my brain of the night I had to undress her. Even though I was a good boy, I had to admit, I did sneak a peek at her never-ending curves.

With the exception of the drunken episode at Lane's, she hardly ever dressed up like half of the other chicks at school, usually only wearing a t-shirt and jeans. Unfortunately, a pair of black panty hose covered the rest of her legs that weren’t covered by her dress. It was the first time I had witnessed someone under the age of sixty wear those, but they looked bangin' on her. A tall pair of black boots with a small heel hit her directly under the kneecaps. Visions of me taking her only wearing only those hot ass boots shot through my mind. Goddamn, those legs would wrap perfectly around my waist.

"You kept your promise," she said, low, coming in closer. I noticed traces of makeup on her face. Her lips were a dark, crimson red that I wanted to drag my tongue across and taste.

"You take your promises very seriously, remember" I replied, smiling. "You look amazing."

"You don't look so bad yourself," she beamed, edging me with her elbow and walking towards her mother to give her a hug. At that moment, she was a different Daisy than I had grown accustomed to. The fake smile she usually thought she was pulling off, but wasn't, was now a shining, authentic grin. I stared at her; the girl I knew had been hurt deep inside but endeavored to put up a front. I had witnessed her breakdowns twice and I yearned to fix them; to change them into the woman laughing in the kitchen and helping her mom cook.

"Come in here, Keegan," Tommy hollered, patting the seat next to him. I sat down and watched the game with them. I was unable to hold back my laughter when Daisy’s dad shouted at the TV every time the opposing team he was rooting for scored.

“Come on, Luck! Run the damn ball!” David groaned. “You watch ball?” He asked, looking at me when a commercial played across the screen.

“Yeah.” I wasn’t a huge sports fan, but I did make sure I went to all of Lane’s football games.

“David here thinks the Colts are going to beat the Patriots,” Tommy mocked, pointing his beer bottle towards the TV. “Luck will never be able to take on my man, Brady.”

“Bullshit. Brady is getting too old. Luck is new and prime,” David argued. “Ain’t no one that can say the Colts aren’t the best team this season.”

“Brady is one of those top ranking quarterbacks in the country!”

“And the hottest,” Jamie yelled from the kitchen.

“And the hottest, according to my wife,” Tommy laughed. “Who you got Keegan?” He asked, looking my way. “I have fifty on the Pats, you on my side or what?”

“Hate to break it to you, Tommy, but I think the Colts have this one in the bag,” I said, pointing to the screen. I’d known Tommy since they moved next door six years ago and he’s always been cool towards me, but I didn’t think it was a good idea to bet against Daisy’s dad. I needed to be on his good side. “It’s forty seven to twenty,” I added.

David slapped me on the shoulder. “I’m glad a smart man is driving my girl to school.” If I had a dad, I would want him to be like that. Someone I could sit around and place bets with while we watched sports together.

David held out his hand when the game ended. “Time to pay up.”

Tommy pulled out his wallet and stuffed a fifty dollar bill in his hand. “Everytime.”

“Dinner is ready,” Janis announced, walking into the room, with her hands full. “I don’t care if the game is over or not.”

“Games over, honey, and we are fifty bucks richer,” David answered.

Jamie appeared behind Janis. “I told you to quit betting against him, babe. Seven years and you haven’t won once.”

“Daddy stinks at bets,” Sophia giggled, running into the room and hugging her dad’s legs.

“Hey now, you’re supposed to be on daddy’s side,” Tommy chuckled, grabbing his daughter and pulling her into his arms.

She gave him a hug. “It’s okay, I still love you.”

Everyone cleared the room and headed into the dining room where a long table was covered with bowls of food.

“Okay, this is amazing,” I said, pointing towards the sweet potato on my plate.

“Made from scratch,” Janis answered, smiling.

“My mom is seriously one of the best cooks,” Daisy said, proudly. “Unfortunately, that trait wasn’t passed down to me.”

“You’ll catch on, eventually,” Janis said. “Speaking of cooking, I asked Tessa to come with us, because I know how much she enjoys helping on Thanksgiving, but she never returned my phone call. Have you talked to her?”

“Eh, not really,” Daisy answered, stirring her fork in circles in her mashed potatoes. Clearly, the topic made her uncomfortable.

Her mom frowned. “You should. She could really use a friend at the moment.”

Daisy kept her eyes on her plate. “I will.”

“I understand it’s hard for you,” David cut in. “But that young lady needs support. I had to book her dad in for DUI last week. Breaks my heart, seeing their family fall apart like that.”

“What?” Daisy asked, her eyes wide. “Darryl got arrested for drinking and driving?”

David nodded. “That family, they are spiraling out of control. Tessa has been skipping school and her mom quit her job at the pharmacy. Your mother tried to go over there to fix the situation, but they wouldn’t even allow her inside their house. They’re mad I didn’t let him off the hook. Forty years of friendship and they don’t want anything to do with us, now.”