Perfectly Messy (18 page)

Justin

Hell must be filled with baggage claims. Where are our frickin’ bags? Give me a break. We’ve waited thirty minutes! Dad steps up from the bench and places his hand on my shoulder.

“Someplace to be?”

“Dad, it’s New Year’s. I promised Lucy I wouldn’t miss it.” The gears of the conveyor belt start moving. Finally! Nothing drops out of the chute, but at least it’s moving.

He checks his watch. “It’s almost eleven-fifteen. You should be able to make it in time.”

“Yeah, in time to say goodbye.”

Dad laughs in a way that’s too similar to my own. I used to like it, but now it pisses me off. It’s getting harder to be his son after being around his fakeness this year.

“You’re eighteen now,” he says. “I’m not holding a curfew over you.”

“Lucy’s sixteen. Her parents will be expecting her home shortly after midnight.”

He nods. “Good parents.”

“Yeah.”
Clunk.
Something bounces on the metal above. There’s an ear piercing creak while the door opens. A purple bag tumbles down the ramp and bangs into the baggage carousel, just below the sign that states
Handles With Care
. Yeah,
right.
I step up to the carrousel, away from Dad. He’s been on his Bluetooth since we got off the plane. It’s like he was replaced with a clone that’s just a little off. I can’t stand it. I eye Dad, wondering if he is backing Paul’s recent approach about the reality show.

A chunky gray duffle gets stuck up the ramp, clogging the bags behind it.

Are you kidding me?

The other passengers from the flight start mumbling. Someone steps away to call security.

Nope. No time for that.
I jump up on the belt and reach up the ramp. “Justin!” Mom calls sharply in the background.

I yank, and the bag drags free.

There.

I jump down to a short applause. I swear, if this ends up in the paper tomorrow, I’m going to freak. We were in the paper three times in Hawaii. Why? Umm, we climbed a volcano. That’s the opposite of newsworthy in Hawaii. Heck, it’s highly possible we were in the paper here and Lucy didn’t tell me.

I whip out my phone as more unrecognizable baggage falls.

Me: Dude, were we in the paper here?

Alex replies immediately.

Alex: Heck yes. Did you forget to work out while you were there? Getting a bit of a belly.

He attaches a photo from The Trib of our family with surfboards on the beach.

Me: Whatever, I look totally ripped.

Alex: One person’s opinion. ;-) Happy new years.

Me: You too. Don’t be an idiot.

I worry about Alex. He’s always been a lot of fun but the past few months on JV have gone to his head. It didn’t even faze him when Suzie dumped him a few months ago. Since, I’ve counted a rotation of four different girls clinging to his arm after our games.

I’m going to have to have a talk with him.

Finally, a purple piece of luggage falls from the chute onto the ramp. Mom’s bag. All right, here we go. I haul each of our bags over to my lazy family on the bench. “Okay, let’s go.” I kick Tonya lightly in the shin. “Come on.”

She stretches and feigns a yawn. “Just five more minutes of sleep?”

I reach out, yanking her off the bench. “Now.”

“Ouch!”

Dad steps between us. “Justin, a word.
Now
.”

He puts his hand on my shoulder and leads me a few steps away from the bench where Mom continues to gather our things.

“Your attitude needs to stop. Listen, I know you miss Lucy. We’ll get you to the party in time. Relax.”

“It’s not that.” But it is. I mean, it is but it isn’t. God, it’s everything.

“What’s going on?”

“Why did you invite Paul?” I say between my teeth, hating that this is coming out here.

“Justin, we went through this a few days ago. I didn’t invite him. He flew in when the opportunity for the meet and greet arrived. It was a prime chance to make connections. I didn’t realize it bothered you so much.”

I suppress an urge to throw my hands up. My insides roar.

“Why are you so angry?” he says.

“Did Paul tell you the other reason he came?”

His brow furrows. “No, what’s up?”

“He asked me to be on that reality show again.”

Dad shakes his head, stepping away from me. “I made it clear you’d do the interview, but no show. Paul knows that.”

I puff out my cheeks, thrilled I stopped myself from ripping up the proof. I pull out a folder from my carry on and hand it over. “He showed up with the contract, Dad.”

Dad reviews the pages and his face pales. “Justin, I didn’t know. I thought this was taken care of.”

“Yeah, you messed up.”

“This should be a non-issue now. I’m sorry, son.”

He waits for me to apologize, but I can’t. For the first time, forgiveness isn’t quick on my tongue. The whole puzzle hasn’t come together yet. It’s too slimy and invasive.

“I promise I’ll deal with this,” he says with a thick slap to the contract.

Right.
That’s his “I promise” phrase he uses on the campaign trail.

Mom and Tonya are waiting near the skyway to the parking lot. We all wheel our bags across, waiting while Dad grabs the car. I’m glad we drove ourselves. It’s way too pretentious to ask Dad’s driver to pick us up on New Year’s.

“Where’s the party, Justin?”

“Watson’s.” He always throws the New Year’s Bash. Parents think it’s clean, because for the most part it is, but someone always sneaks in booze. When we pull onto the highway, he pushes the speed limit. He gets it. At least there’s that.

Finally, at a quarter to twelve, we pull in front of Watson’s mansion. Music blares from the windows. I climb out, thanking them, and run to the front door. I don’t even care what they think. Tonya yells something from the window. The longer we were stuck in that condo together, the more we fought. It’s annoying, but I’m okay with it. At least I’ll always know she’s my sister. Amazing how Jackson’s death still makes me appreciate her more.

I yank open the huge oak doors. Immediately, I’m stuck in the clog of the entrance, people way too close. I push through elbows and a couple grinding to find a clearing. Then the recognition begins. People cheering my name, like I’m some sort of Frat King. It’s easier to wave back, pretending to give a rip about them when the only thing I care about is finding her.

I glance through the living room, looking for that dark flash of auburn hair, as people pull me into photos. Someone gives me the lowdown on drinks. Red cups have the booze. Yellow is free. All right, avoid all red cups, not even holding it for someone. There’s no way I’m going to be implicated in underage drinking tonight. With Dad’s inauguration only a few days away, I’m not that stupid.

Pretty sure I’ve said, “The volcano was awesome!” about one hundred times by the time I get out of the living room. In the game room, I finally spot her leaning on a bar stool, looking unbelievably squeezable in tight jeans and a pink sweater. She laughs and Ian claps her back. She’s back here with Ian? Well, okay, Laura, Luke, and Jen are there too.

But still.

Ian.

I take a deep breath, pushing away my desire to slug him in the face. Not reasonable. From the way it sounds, he did everything right. I redirect, focusing on Lucy’s bare skin where her sweater drops away from her shoulder.

“Hey, Lady,” I say as I touch it.

She whips around and screams, smashing her face into me as she wraps me in a hug.

A band of barbed wire removes itself from my chest. I take a deep breath with her in my arms. She still smells like apples. My muscles loosen.
Finally.

“I thought you weren’t going to make it,” she whispers.

“I’m here.”

“Good.” She smiles, pulling away, letting others say hello. I never let her out of my reach though. I hug Jen and Laura and fist pump Luke and Ian.

“Nice to see you again, man. Trip good?” Ian says after he pulls back.

“Yeah, it was awesome. Hey, thanks for helping Lucy out in the storm.”

“Nah. She helped me. If it wasn’t for her, I’d have been sleeping on a tiled floor.” He claps her shoulder making the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.

“Yeah, she’s pretty awesome.” I say, pulling her a little closer. Jen lifts an eyebrow.

Okay, yeah. I’m being possessive. Kill me.

“So, how was your flight?” Jen asks, breaking the tension I’d just made.

“Good.” I step back from Lucy a bit. I’m cool. Relaxed. “Long though. Happy to be back. What’d I miss over break?”

“Lucy got a new ride,” Laura chirps.

“What? A car?”

“My parents gave it to me yesterday. I was planning on telling you but thought it’d be more fun to show you in person.”

“Sweet. Can’t wait!” This is awesome. I don’t have a ride home. More time with Lucy! “Did you drive?” I look around for a red cup, just in case. She puts a yellow one to her lips and takes a sip of something clear. Sweet.

“I did. Need a ride?” Her smile lifts to the left and her eyes bore into me. With that one look, I’m ready to leave with her. This party is lame in comparison.

“That’d be great,” I say when I come out of the when-can-we-make-out trance.

Suddenly, someone cuts the track of Justin Timberlake and announces through the intercom, “Two minutes until New Years.”

“I’m
not
missing the ball drop this year,” Laura pulls Luke off the chair. “Come on, we’re going downstairs to watch in the theater. Want to come?”

“Why not?” Lucy answers.

Ian rubs his palms against his pants. “I’ve actually got to cut to pick up my sister from her party.”

“But it’s almost midnight!” Laura pretends to pout.

“It’s a half an hour drive. Got to get us both home before one. Curfew.” He gives Jen, Laura, and, of course, Lucy a quick hug. “Great to see y’all.” I wave to him as he disappears into the living room crowd. I know his game plan; leave before the pressure to kiss. It’s balls-less, but I get it. If it wasn’t for my fake relationship with Jen, I would’ve done the same thing the last few years.

We all weave our way through the party as the music starts to blare again. Lucy pauses for a second, watching Marissa twisting high to low on a table with a skirt that hides nothing. All she needs is a stripper pole. I put my hand on Lucy’s shoulder, giving her a reassuring squeeze. I lean in. “I’m so happy you’re not friends with her anymore.”

“Me too,” she says, but there’s an odd tone in her voice. Huh.

On the way to the basement theater, a few more people stop and snap quick photos with us. Our faces will be all over Instagram and Facebook tonight. Thankfully, Lucy doesn’t seem as attached to her phone as most girls. She probably has no idea how often we are tagged on those apps.

The theater’s packed. Alex is standing up front, shouting something obscene at the screen with a red cup sloshing in his hand.

Seriously? He’s a freshman. Who the hell invited him here?

I wrap my arms around Lucy, keeping myself from running across the room and dragging him down. I’ll do that later.

Finally, the ball starts to drop and the lights lower. Lucy steps backward towards me, and I snuggle my nose to her hair. Once the apple smell gets me, my lips are lost. I start kissing behind her ear, then down her neck. She pushes back into me and I turn her, finding her lips long before everyone shouts Happy New Year.

Those lips are so soft, fitting perfectly to mine. I need more of this, but not in front of everyone. This kiss will not end up on Instagram.

I pull away for a second. “Want to find someplace else?”

She doesn’t answer with words. Her lips find mine, pushing me out of the room.

I beeline for the second stairway that no one really knows about. Watson gave Jen and me a tour long ago, in case we ever needed a room. Lucy and I fumble up the stairs as we kiss, coming out briefly in the kitchen where I open another door for the backstairs up to the bedrooms. Lucy stumbles on the stairs behind me with a laugh.

Finally, we get to the top together and I throw open a guest room door.

Empty.

Thank God.

I wrap my arms around her waist. I can’t get close enough though and it’s not until she lands on her back on the bed that I realize I pushed her there. I roll next to her, bringing my fingers through her hair as my tongue explores her mouth. We kiss like that forever as I summon superpowers to keep my hands from wandering.

“Screw it,” she whispers as she reaches under my shirt, resting her palm against my abs. Her skin is like fire as her touch explores. Holy hot.

“I’ve missed you,” she says.

The room becomes a humid inferno. My hands fly under her sweater then, resting against her undershirt. I slip my fingers under that too. Her skin is so smooth over the curve of her hip. She takes a moment’s break from kissing my neck, yanking her sweater over her head, leaving on a tank top that shows more boobs off than ever before. Holy hell, she’s gorgeous.

“It’s too hot in here. Sorry,” she says, wiping her brow.

“Do not apologize for that.” I pull her near, kissing her neck. “You’re the hot one.”

Her palms find my bare skin again and then she moves to take my hoodie off. It gets caught over my head and she giggles as I yank it off for her. Before I have a chance to joke, her lips find my collarbone and her hands are electric on my chest.

This. Is. Amazing.

I press into her hip, no use trying to hide the evidence that she’s driving me wild. But I can’t let this go further. I will not let her feel uncomfortable.

This is it.

I will not be a douchebag boyfriend, not when we haven’t talked about this yet.

When her lips meet my stomach, I start to shutter. Insanity.

“You okay?” she whispers.

“Yeah, I…” I take a breath. “I’m…” but I can’t find a word. There are no words for this.

She smiles before wrapping her arm around my chest and curling into my side. We don’t say anything as I calm down. I stroke her back until my shuddering stops.

There.

Control.

“I love you,” I say, kissing her hair.

“I love you too.”

“So, what’d I miss while I was gone?”