Falling for Seven (14 page)

“Why do you let him treat you like that?”

“Ugh, not this again. The topic of Jordan is a deal-breaker, let’s get that clear.”

“No, really,” I said, “I want to know. From what I’ve seen, you’re no pushover. Only with him, and I want to know why.”

“First, I am not a pushover. And I know I can be a little over-lenient with Jordan, but that’s only because I know him, I know his heart. He just needs to get to know mine.”

She believed what she was saying. I was starting to think it wasn’t that she was weak, she was under some kind of fucking spell.

“Okay, fine. I would never treat you like that, but okay.”

Angel laughed at the same time my eyebrows knotted together. “What?” I said.

The sun dipped behind a blanket of clouds and Angel’s eyes shaded darker. She arched a trim eyebrow. “Would you treat me as well as Kit?”

“Not my girlfriend,” I pointed out. Second time today I’d cleared that up. “See, my girl, when I decide I want one, she’ll be the only girl I look at. There’ll be no one else.” I curled my fists closer to the material of her jeans while I had her whole attention. I could feel her warmth and I tried my luck, brushing my palms up the sides of her thighs. I left them to rest just below the curve of her ass-cheeks. “She won’t ever have to doubt if I think she’s the sexiest woman in the room, because I’ll tell her every day. Fuck, I’ll show her every day.”

I could have leaned in right then, while she was staring at me, her snippy sarcasm stunted.

“She won’t ever work harder than I do to keep things sweet. She won’t feel like shit while I step aside so she can kiss other guys. She won’t want to kiss another guy again when I am finished with her.”

Angel swallowed, loud and slow.

I pushed my luck further. “If Jordan can’t look after you, Angel. Someone else will.”

I DROVE BACK TO THE student villages. I needed a nap after Jordan’s mixed messages and my hour in the twilight zone with Julian. Between the rain and my perpetual thoughts, my mind couldn’t find a way to power down. Needless to say, after over an hour of trying to reach that perfect, dark spot that would send me unconsciously into the land of oblivion, I couldn’t fully grasp it and I looked and felt like shit. I had to go and see Nelly. I needed a calming presence to set me steady for the rest of the night. I had to be at my dad’s for dinner at seven and I sure as hell needed to be calm if I was going to get through that.

Nellie was on the balcony with a shawl wrapped tightly around her shoulders. Jennifer sat with her and they were piecing together a jigsaw. Nellie smiled at me when I approached her side and kissed her on her temple. “How lovely to see you. Are you just starting work?”

“Yep. Just starting,” I said. There was no use in arguing. I’d rather be her nurse than nobody at all. If there was one great thing about Boston, it was my grandma.

Jennifer winked at me as she got up to leave. “Call if you need anything.”

“Thanks,” I said. I took Jennifer’s seat and fixed a piece of the jigsaw in place. “You look happy.”

“I’m always happy.”

“That’s true,” I said, squeezing another piece of the puzzle in place. “It’s why I love you so much.”

“I wish you and Michael could work things out. A baby should grow up with two parents.” Nellie pulled her shawl tighter around her shoulders and squinted into the dying sun. I left the puzzle, focusing on her grasp of reality and her family. These moments were rare, and getting rarer. “Now by all means, my son isn’t perfect. Most days he is a downright selfish moron. That boy can say what he wants, but your body—your heart—never lies.”

“What are you saying?”

“What’s that, dear?”

“What did you mean by that? What you just said?”

“What was I saying?”

I exhaled with twinges of disappointment. “Never mind.”

<>

I pulled up on Beacon Hill and braced myself for an afternoon with my dad. He’d asked me to come for dinner and it was one luxury I figured I could afford him. I hardly had to see him anymore and a few hours wasn’t exactly the end of the world. I looked up at the brownstone that was my home for little more than a year, and pushed open the carved black door. It was unlocked, so he was expecting me. I assumed he’d think I wouldn’t show.

This house and neighborhood screamed exclusivity and wealth. But it did so with class and sophistication. I might not like who was currently inside, but this house was beautiful.

Georgian windows looked out onto the cobbled street and an imposing marble fireplace dominated the living room, holding a blazing log fire. The French sofa and armchairs were all sensual curves, costing more money than they were worth in comfort. But they looked good, and my dad was never here anyway, so it wasn’t like he ever had to sit on them.

He could thank pops for this house. It was practically handed down to him when grandpa Killian moved farther into the country, hoping to move into retirement but never actually doing it. I felt robbed that my dad hadn’t turned out more like his own dad.

He was in the kitchen-dining area getting wine from the fridge—and he wasn’t alone. A tall blonde wearing her hair in a slick chignon and a black pencil skirt and cream blouse stood next to him, her hand flat against the counter. He passed her the bottle and had a go at a smile when he saw me. I looked at both of them and I saw my dad’s dream right in front of my very eyes: elegant, young, beautiful woman with smooth, porcelain skin, dressed smart yet sexy and both drinking expensive wine from a kitchen that belonged in Home & Garden.

I had never quite fit into this picture. I was the error that needed to be photo shopped.

My dad’s arm wrapped around the beautiful woman’s waist. “Angel, I would like you to meet Elena.”

Elena swept her hands over her tight skirt and her heels clipped over the hardwood as she came to greet me. She held out her hand, looking nervous and unsure under a brilliantly-white smile. “Hi,” I said, shaking her hand. “I’m Angel.”

She could relax. I wasn’t about to make anything difficult for her, I could care less what my dad did or who he saw.

“I know,” she gushed. “I’ve heard so much about you. This one never shuts up once he gets started on his daughter.”

My dad pulled on the neck of his work polo, popping the second button, then gave a subtle shake of his head. “Now, now, Elena, I wouldn’t go that far.”

“No, neither would I,” I said, taking my hand from her grasp.

“Michael, you forgot to mention she was so stunning.” She shot Michael an accusatory glance and he waved his hand at her to say it wasn’t important.

“Like father like daughter,” he said with a bashful smile.

I side-eyed my dad.
Er, hardly,
I thought.             

“No.” Elena shook her head and clip-clopped her way over to his side, to help him lay the dining table. “She looks nothing like you. Her features are too delicate, too…” she flapped her fingers in front of her. “What’s the word?”

“Should we eat?” my dad suggested before any mention of Mexicans could ruin his dinner. Elena lost all train of thought and agreed readily.

Easily placated, I see. No the wonder my dad likes you.

I mostly picked at my chicken and vegetables, moving the food around my china plate.

“Michael tells me you are a figure skater and on your way to the Olympics,” said Elena, smiling at my dad’s proud, nodding head.

“Yeah, that’s the dream,” I deadpanned. Or his dream. You couldn’t just
do
a sport in my dad’s eyes. You went the whole way or you might as well stay in bed.

“I always thought figure skating was fabulous. I never tried it of course, but I wish I had given it a shot. I only wish I was that graceful.”

“Honey, you are like a swan. You are the epitome of grace.”

I giggled quietly at my dad’s observations. His compliments were so boring I could fall asleep. Nellie would be choking on her cough candy if she were here now. He was far too polite for his own good—when he wasn’t being a racist bigot of course.

“Angel,” he dabbed at the corners of his mouth with a cotton napkin. “Do you have your dress for the dinner this Saturday night? I don’t want any excuses for you not being there. If all else fails, there is always the maternity section.”

Elena’s eyes bulged and my dad covered his hand with hers, seeing her reaction. “Inside joke,” he explained, wearing a haughty smile.

“No, it isn’t. He’s just being an asshole.”

“Language!” my dad scolded. “Now, do you have your dress or not?”

“No, but I have all week. I’ll buy one.”

“I’ll have a car pick you up at seven-thirty. Make sure you are ready. We will be arriving together and I can’t be late to your grandfather’s event.”

“Are you coming?” I asked Elena.

“Yes, I’ll be there.” She popped a miniscule piece of chicken into her mouth.

“As my dad’s date? That’s what you are, right? His girlfriend?”

My dad was glaring at my rudeness but he didn’t bother me. He was the rude one for not introducing her properly or accurately. He probably thought I’d care, be jealous or something just as dumb. “Yes, we are dating,” he confirmed. “She will be there.”

“Will Pamela be there?”

Total wrong thing to ask. My dad’s fork stopped before it could reach his mouth and his cheek twitched. “I wouldn’t be surprised if she was on the invite list. Although, I certainly haven’t spoken to her.”

So Marilyn might be there. I’d have to speak to her when I got back. And if she wasn’t coming, I’d have to change her mind.

Halfway through my dinner, I said, “Are you going to tell me what’s happening with the apartment?”

It hadn’t taken as long as I thought it would to become annoyed with him. If he wasn’t going to bring it up then he really left me no choice. He could act like my mom was dead as much as he wanted, but I would do no such thing. She was a ghost in this house, and my dad refused to be haunted. He didn’t believe in ghosts.

He stood to clear away our plates. Elena sat focused on her nails, trying to act like the frosty atmosphere didn’t exist. “Do you want me to?”

“No, I don’t want you to. You should want to. You should want to tell me what is going on and if my mom will no longer have a home.”

“She’ll be fine. She’s tough as old boots. Did you ever think that she shouldn’t have wandered off in the first place? Besides, she was raised on the streets.” He dropped our plates into the sink, smiled and said, “Pie, anyone?”

<>

My Sociology class the next day was… strange—and hot. Marcus wrote, ‘Taboo and normality in relationships’ on the whiteboard behind him. He sat on his desk, his slacks straining against his muscled thighs. I’d even go as far as to say they were too tight. He was grinning as his gaze swept across the auditorium and then landed on me.

“Did you just lick your lips?” I could feel Julian looking at me, but I was invested in this lesson.

“Shut up,” I said.

“Angel.” I clamped my mouth together at the sound of Marcus calling my name. “What is a taboo?”

“Forbidden actions that belong to social control,” I said automatically.

“I can think of a few forbidden actions I would like to do to you,” Julian whispered from under the peak of his cap.

Marcus raised his arm for more, pleased with my answer. “Give me a for instance.”

Why was he picking me? He had me on the spot, and I felt like throwing the student-teacher relationship out there, but Julian would love that. “Incest,” I said, instead.

“Very good. One of the most famous examples of all.”

“Julian,” said Marcus. I turned to smile at him beside me. He lifted the bill of his cap. “Give me an example of normal relationship ideal.”

He sighed, aggravated he had been disturbed from his afternoon snooze. “I don’t know, getting married and having Kids.”

“Good enough,” said Marcus. “And is this what you would consider the
norm
in your own opinion?”

“Fuck, no.” The class burst into laughter and Marcus raised his hands to quiet everyone down. “Go on, Mr. Lawson.”

“God put me on this earth with a dick in my pants and cum in my balls. He put women on this earth with tits and a hole and his plan was for me to taste them all. Why would he make the female body so tempting if the idea was for us not to stray? He knew what he was doing when he created those curves. Even women are enjoying other women. It’s a beautiful thing. I don’t want to have to bring up Adam and Eve, but I will.”

I looked at Julian. In his own disgusting way, he had a point.

“I see what you’re saying,” Marcus said seriously. “And you’ve made some valid points.” He was so devoted he had managed to skim right over Julian’s dirty mouth. “But I’m afraid you’ve gone onto a whole other topic of debate. But the female relations, now that was once classed as a taboo.”

“You hear that?” Julian said to me. “I’m like Einstein.”

“So, Julian, you don’t believe in monogamy?”

Another worn-thin breath. “With the right girl.” Julian levelled me with a look that made my heart stutter, his deep-blue eyes sliding toward me only just visible under his cap, but enough that I felt his gaze in every part of me. “Yeah, I could go for it. But, you know, she’d have to be hot as fuck and interesting as hell. I get bored easy.”

Done with Julian, Marcus decided to pick on someone else. I looked away from him, wondering what the fuck had just happened.

Twenty minutes later my phone buzzed silently in my pocket and I pulled it out to find a message on my screen.

Jordan:
Can I come over tonight?

My stomach flipped and I nipped the corner of my bottom lip with my teeth to keep from yelping how ecstatic I was.

Me:
Sure. I’ll be in after six.

I looked up and caught Julian watching me. My euphoria nosedived at the prospect of what he was thinking. Since when did I care what Julian thought? And since when did I care enough that the hypercritical look in his eyes had me questioning myself?

Just before class was about to end and I was gathering up my books, Julian said, “You want to work on our paper tonight?”

“I can’t,” I said, locking my phone, the screen switching to black.

“Why can’t you?”

“I have plans.”

“With?”

“Someone else.”

“Cancel.”

“No. We can do the paper another day. It’s not like you actually care about it. Besides, I know you have practice tonight.”

“I’m free tomorrow.”

“I have to go shopping tomorrow.” I checked to make sure Marcus couldn’t hear our exchange in the silent auditorium.