13. Eli
Eli
Tonight, I have to make up to Jay for this morning.
Dad is pissed at him, and it's my fault.
I should be sharing the blame for trying to derail this marriage.
Instead, I was so hungover I couldn't get out of bed.
At least Zeke has a valid excuse, his flight was canceled and he was rebooked to a later flight.
Drinks and a search. That's our agenda for this evening. All thoughts of Dad and his epic upcoming mistake are being pushed to the recesses of our minds. All I want to think about is the firecracker from the hallway.
My phone vibrates in my pocket and I pull it out to see a message. Elation takes over when I see it's my brother. It feels like ages since all three of us have been together.
As I read his message, a smile spreads across my face.
“Zeke just messaged, said he’s on his way here from the airport,” I call out to Jay, who’s in the bathroom, primping, hell-bent on finding his girl from earlier.
Shit, I can’t even make fun of him. I want to find Veronica.
I know it isn’t her real name, but with nothing else to call her, it’s all I have.
I know realistically my chances of finding her are slim, but I plan to give it my best shot. Because I don’t know what magic she weaved on me during that plane ride, but I don’t want our paths to not cross again.
Jay pokes his head out of the bathroom, removing the toothbrush from his mouth. “Fuck yeah, wasn’t expecting him ‘til midnight. He's gonna go out with us?”
“I imagine so. He was able to get on standby with an earlier flight.”
“Hell yeah. The Carter men are on the prowl tonight,” he practically sings as he ducks back into the bathroom.
My phone vibrates in my hand, and an ominous chill rolls over my body. A part of me doesn’t even want to look at it because I know it’s not going to be good.
“Fuck man, just got a message from Dad. Let me see what he says.”
Could the rehearsal be back on now? That will really throw a wrench in Jay’s plans for the night. Not to mention mine. Added catastrophe, we’d have to see the bitch and her daughter.
Reluctantly, I open the message and read.
Dad: I want you and your brothers to message your new sister and take her to dinner. Get to know her and perhaps persuade her to be nicer to her mother tomorrow. It would make your old man happy.
“Ughh!” I groan. What did I do to deserve this punishment?
“What is it, Eli?” Jay calls from the bathroom.
“Seems Dad wants us to play nice with the new sister and take her out to eat.” He comes out of the bathroom, a scowl on his face as he buttons up his shirt. “No way, man. I want to find my girl, not babysit a gold digger in training.”
Me: She’s not our sister.
Dad: Elias, what does a few hours matter? Tomorrow I’ll be married and she will be.
Not if you come to your senses and cancel the wedding. That’s what I want to tell him, but instead I keep looking at the phone blankly.
Me: Dad. Come on, don't make us. We haven’t even met her. Don’t know her name, or even have her number.
Dad: You will do this because I asked you. Selena is going to be your sister, and you need to get to know her. Here is her number 555-647-9555. Now I expect you and your brothers to do it.
My head falls back and I gaze up at the ceiling, fighting every urge in my body to throw my phone across the room. It’s fine. We can still do this. We’ll bring the bitch with us. Get her drunk and record her telling the truth about her mother. Then Project Find Our Women can commence.
Me: Fine.
Dad: Also meet me in the wedding hall at 9:30 a.m. The wedding planner will be going over how the ceremony will go before she goes and meets with Julia and Selena.
Jay steps out of the bathroom, completely dressed. “So, are we off babysitting duty?”
“That would be a no. Apparently, we have to do it. Make Dad happy. I’m going to message her. Let’s get it over with, then we can dump her and head out and find our ladies, and then find one for Zeke.”
“Damn, Dad’s really buzz killing our plans. By the time we eat and then bring her back, we lose valuable hunting time.”
Needing to get this done, I open a new message and type in her number, making sure to add her in my contacts so I know exactly who she is.
Me: Hey this is one of your soon-to-be stepbrothers. My dad wants us to take you out to eat. Get ready and we can meet you in the lobby.
I figure if we eat in the resort restaurant, we don’t have to worry about bringing her back here. I wait a few minutes, but when I don’t get a reply, I sigh. If she doesn’t want to answer, that’s on her. I can at least tell Dad I tried.
But it seems luck isn’t on my side. A few seconds later, my phone pings with an incoming message.
Stepbitch: Thanks, but I’ll pass. Jose, Jim, Jack, Captain, and I are all having a good time right now.
I knew she was a fucking bitch like her mother.
Me: Wow. You are a slut, aren’t you?
Stepbitch: And you’re a fucking dick, so I guess we’re both good. Now fuck off.
I turn my phone to show him what she wrote.
“She’s definitely a bitch who apparently is screwing four guys up in her room,” I tell Jay as he reads the messages.
“What a slut. Think she learned it from her mother? Eli, are we really going to let Dad go through with this tomorrow?”
“We don’t really have a choice.” I sit on the edge of the bed, then lift my legs, stretching them out as I lean back on the headboard. My arm extends out to the nightstand, picking up the remote and scrolling through channels until I finally stop on ESPN.
Jay continues to bitch about our plans being ruined, but I barely pay attention to a word he says. Too busy fuming at the way the little whore answered me.
“Dad’s going to be pissed at us because she’s refusing to go to dinner with us,” he sighs as he plops down on the bed.
“I’ll just show him the message. We tried. She’s the one being an ass.”
“I’m going to try one more time. And then fuck her,” I tell him. I pick up my phone to type out a message when a knock at the door pulls our attention. Jay jumps up to answer to find his carbon copy standing on the other side.
“Who’s ready to drink?” Zeke asks loudly, stepping past Jay to enter the room, and dropping his bag on the floor. “Did you get to meet the new steps?”
“Nah man, apparently the new sister pissed the step-monster off and all plans tonight were canceled. Then Dad wanted us to take the sister out, but according to Eli, she’s holed up in her room with four guys.” Jay gives him the play-by-play as he flops down on the bed.
“Really?” he asks.
“Yeah, the slut even gave me their names.”
“What are they?” Zeke asks as he sits down on the edge of Jay's bed, facing me.
“Jack, Jose, and two others I can’t remember,” I tell him, as he gives me a weird look before doubling over in laughter.
“Dude. That’s alcohol. The stepsister is getting drunk in her room, not having a train run on her,” he says when he finally catches his breath.
“Whatever, she’s still a fucking bitch. Let’s go. I want to find the woman from the plane, and Jay wants to find his girl from the hallway.”
“Sounds good. Would be even better if my woman was here, but when I get back home, I’m going to find her.”
Our heads both shoot to him, eyebrows raised in curiosity. “Girl?” Jay and I ask in unison.
“Yeah, met the woman I’m going to marry in a bar, had an amazing night of sex and then she was gone in the morning. I plan to find her as soon as we move home,” Zeke says, his eyes lighting up.
Seems the Carter men are doing well in the woman department. We’ve all found someone that has our full attention, and we have no clue who they are or how to find them.
“So, if we’re not taking the new stepsister to dinner, let’s get the fuck out of here!” Jay boasts loudly.
I get off the bed and we head out the door, with me in the rear, making sure to snatch up the key card from the desk.
Fuck the step-monster and the step-bitch. It’s going to take everything in me not to object to this damn wedding tomorrow.