5. Oliver
CHAPTER FIVE
Oliver
“Ow!” I hiss as Gerald bites my hand.
“Oh, Ger, let the nice man go!” Glynda chides the old hound.
I half expect the dog to ignore her, but he lets me go and looks at her like he deserves a treat for it.
Glynda fishes out a biscuit for him, and the dog munches down before going off to the other side of the room.
“Sorry about that, Oliver. He can be a bit temperamental. I think he assumes you are going to adopt him every time you come.”
A ping of guilt hits me. I come here weekly to handle any maintenance our towns humane society needs. They don’t have much, just donations from the town, but I cost them less than one of the other companies in town.
“Make sure to grab a treat from the break room.” Glynda hands me my pay for fixing some of the kennel doors.
“Same time next week?” I ask with a smirk. They call me weekly, and they always have the break room stocked full of treats for me.
Glynda waves off my insinuation. “The place is old. It needs a lot of maintenance.”
With that, I grab a cinnamon bagel from the break room and do my round of saying goodbye to all the ladies and animals.
The Alliance sun is out, warming my skin to just the right amount that makes me want to jump in the lake and get another morning swim in. Not the best idea, though, since I would need another shower.
Adulting is hard.
The fact that I’m already worried about stuff like the water bill blows. Though, I’ve been taking care of it for the past eight months since Pops decided to dip.
I pull out my phone, ready to see if Jaxon or Tyler want to hang when I see two unread messages from an unknown number. The same number tried to call me, but my phone was on silent. They didn’t leave a voicemail, though.
Unknown
I want to see you
My brow furrows at the first message, not even processing the second text yet. This can’t be someone I don’t know. I might be a nice guy, but I don’t just hand out my number unless it’s for a friend or work-related.
Unknown
Oliver, It’s your mom…
My brain freezes.
This doesn’t make sense. Why would she be texting me after ten years? How did she even get my number? No, this can’t be her. Someone must be playing a sick joke.
My fingers hover over the keys before a text from Tyler comes in.
Tyler
Hey, man, I just got the new game if you want to come over and test it out. Also I got a fourth of the good stuff.
Me
On my way, I’ll bring Jaxon too. Could already use a drink.
Tyler
I’ll make sure to have a cold one waiting for you. Just don’t make a mess. I’d rather not piss my parents off while they are at work.
Me
When have we ever gotten you in trouble?
Tyler
Want me to write a list?
Ten minutes later, after picking Jaxon up from the garage, we arrive at Tyler’s place.
Tyler’s family is more well off than Jaxon’s or mine, but still nowhere near Casey’s or his girlfriend, Piper’s. He lives in an actual house with a garage, backyard, and white fence. He’s also the smartest one out of all of us and got a full-ride scholarship to the same school Piper is going to.
Pretty sure his parents hate us just a little bit but are too nice to say anything. I know we are a bad influence on their scholarly son since we introduced him to weed as a way to de-stress, but he’s also helped us come up with some pretty fun pranks.
“Come on out, Ty-Ty!” Jaxon whistles.
The front door opens, and Tyler comes out, already flipping us the bird.
I pucker my lips, blowing him a kiss before we all walk inside. Just like Tyler promised, on his bedroom desk are three beers calling our names and a joint already rolled.
“You guys are lucky my parents are out until late afternoon,” Tyler says. “You’re also lucky that my parents never pay attention to the beer in the fridge.”
“We can always go to my place if we need a place to hang, or we can go to the shack,” Jaxon adds before taking a big gulp of beer.
“True,” I agree. “But we don’t have the latest console at our places now, do we?” I grin at Tyler before swiping a controller and landing on his couch with a thud.
Tyler grabs the joint, and we walk out of the house through his back porch. There’s a little pond just outside of his house, and it’s perfect for smoking a joint.
“What’s Piper doing tonight?” I ask because they are basically joined at the hip since they started dating.
“Yeah, where’s the ball and chain?” That earns Jaxon a smack on the back of his head, but the blond just grins at him.
“Do you guys only hang out with me because of Piper?”
I sling my arm over his shoulder, pulling him closer and stealing the joint. “No, dude. We hang out with you because you have the best place to crash, and somehow you sweet-talked our dealer.”
We introduced Tyler to our dealer because he had the cheapest shit that wasn’t trash, but guess what? They became besties, and now Ty gets the expensive shit for cheap.
Tyler shares my grin, but rather than it looking like he’s joking, there’s a sort of fondness when thinking about Piper.
“Gross. Stop thinking about fucking your girl.” Jaxon takes the third spot and slaps him on the back. “Some of us don’t have anyone.”
Tyler eyes him warily. “You could have someone if you tried.”
Jaxon’s face scrunches up at the thought.
After finishing our hits by the pond, we make it back inside feeling a light buzz and ready to mess up whatever game Tyler has for us to play.
“Never mind, you might be a lost cause, but Oliver over here might finally get the girl.”
That sparks my attention. “What girl?”
“Jade,” both of them say at the same time.
Now I’m the one scrunching my face up.
“Dude, that girl wants you so bad,” Tyler says with a chuckle.
“We are just friends…with benefits. Lots of benefits.”
“That’s what I’m talking about, my boy.” Jaxon takes the other controller and starts up the game. “We don’t need a girlfriend to tie us down.”
Tyler rolls his eyes as we play the game, but my mind isn’t on it. Jaxon has scored on me three times in the past four minutes without much effort.
My head keeps going back to the text from earlier.
Should I reply to them? I could try to get some info out and see who it really is.
I know it’s not my mom. She left to have a better life.
Why would she want to uproot it by contacting me?
Plus, there’s no way she could have my number. It has to be a prank.
“Tyler?” I ask, getting his attention. “Did you text me from a burner phone yesterday?”
That catches his attention and even has Jaxon pausing the game—not before getting another point, though.
“No, I haven’t had those burner phones since, like, junior year. You know, after Dad caught us trying to sell them for extra cash at school.”
“It was good while it lasted,” Jaxon says before turning full to me. “Did something happen? Forget a girl’s number? Don’t tell me you forgot Jade’s number?”
I snap my mouth shut before telling them about the fake texts. I don’t talk about the past often. They know my mom isn’t in the picture anymore, and Dad is away for work, but they don’t know how shitty life was before Simon.
“Yeah, it must be the brunette from chemistry.”
“The one that always wears a push-up bra and practically begged to be your lab partner. You never got her number.”
I did, and we had lots of fun in one of the school closets. “Nah. I never got around to it. I bet you’re right.”
“You better tap that unless you suddenly want to be exclusive with Jade?” Jaxon lets out a snicker at that last part like he already knows the answer.
No, Jade and I aren’t exclusive at all. I’m pretty sure we are both averse to that idea.
All three of our phones ping at the same time, which can only mean the girls are hitting up the group chat.
Casey
Y’all, I need a drink. Dad won’t shut up about me finding a husband already. I’m only eighteen!
Piper
Are we hitting up the cove fire tonight, or will it just be a chill night at the shack?
I look at the guys before replying because I don’t want a chill night. I want to have fun and forget.
Me
Cove fire. We can pregame at my place, though.
Casey
Also, I invited some tourists to come tonight. They said they couldn’t make it but be on the lookout for a couple new faces. The girls are so pretty, and they have an adorable little brother.
Casey is always so excited to meet new people. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not upset with entertaining some tourists—especially the hot ones—but I don’t want our group dynamic to change.
Running away and seeing every river, lake, and ocean is my dream, but I want Alliance to stay the same when I come back. I’ve already dealt with more change than I liked six years ago.
I doubt these tourists will matter a few days from now.