Chapter Aspen
ASPEN
I WOKE UP the next morning with my face smashed into a big, plush pillow, a tiny puddle of drool soaking into the soft cover.
I’d slept like the dead, cradled by the super luxurious mattress and silky sheets provided by the hotel Faulkner had rented out for all the guests of his party.
If I wasn’t careful, I’d get too used to all this rich people stuff, and then it’d be a pain to go back to my plain dorm bed.
Caelyx was still unconscious next to me, spread eagle on his back, and snoring. We’d stayed out way too late, the party going on well into the new year. When we’d finally retreated back to the room, I’d crawled into his lap and bounced on his cock until we’d basically blacked out from exhaustion.
The bright rays of sun attempting to peek through around the thick rectangles of curtain on the windows alerted me that it was well past morning.
Carefully untangling my leg from Caelyx’s, I sat up, rubbing the grit from my eyes.
With his shirt thrown carelessly onto the floor, his whole chest and torso were exposed, along with all the little bites and marks I’d left on him.
I’d added a few more since the plane ride, and even some that were hidden by his boxers.
Part of me itched to tug his underwear down and see how they’d developed overnight, but I’d let him sleep for now and admire my handiwork later, once I convinced him to jump in the shower with me.
We weren’t flying back to school until the next morning, so we had plenty of time, though Faulkner had asked us to have lunch with him, along with Caelyx’s mom, who I’d only just learned was named Wilhelmina.
I didn’t know her well enough yet to decide if I liked her, but…
I didn’t anticipate it. The way she talked to Caelyx, like he was disposable and not even worthy of her attention… It was awful.
Seeing the way they had interacted, even just for a few minutes, made me understand where a lot of his issues had come from.
And it definitely helped me understand why he needed positive attention and praise from me all the time.
If that’s what he needed, then I could be that.
I couldn’t believe I was saying this, even in my head, but having such a clingy and needy boyfriend really wasn’t so bad.
Not that I was going to tell him that or anything. I couldn’t let him get too comfortable.
… Even if he really was completely living up to his self-proclaimed title of Best Boyfriend. He’d somehow totally predicted that one.
Hoping we hadn’t slept in too late and wouldn’t need to rush to get ready, I picked up my phone off the nightstand to check the time. It wasn’t that late, but… I had six missed calls, all from my sister.
My stomach dropped, my heart speeding up in my chest as I fumbled to my messages.
You need to call me now.
Shit. Shit. These were all from this morning. Had something happened last night? Was something wrong with Mom? Glancing back at Caelyx briefly, I silently slipped off the bed, padding across the floor to the bathroom and closing the door as quietly as I possibly could.
Putting the phone to my ear, the sound of ringing on the other end intensified all my worries, my stomach clenching in anxiety.
What if she’d had another bad episode and gotten drunk?
What if she’d fallen and hurt herself again?
She’d already torn the ligament in her knee and needed physical therapy, which we couldn’t even afford in the first place.
If she ended up needing surgery… I wasn’t sure what was going to happen.
“Hey.” My sister answered the phone.
“Hey,” I said quickly, trying to keep my voice down so it wouldn’t carry through the door and wake up Caelyx. “What’s wrong, Kristen? Is Mom okay?”
“She’s fine! Sort of. I mean, she is, but… God!” She let out an exhausted sound. “I don’t even know where to start. Why haven’t you answered my calls!?”
“I… I slept in. I went out last night. I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine, just… It’s so weird, I don’t even know what to say.
So, this guy came to our house yesterday and said he was taking Mom to some…
Luxury rehab facility. He had all this paperwork and credentials, and…
Aspen, it was crazy! It’s all expenses paid, they’re going to be doing detox and counseling and drug therapy…
And then there’s this spa thing they’re doing for the physical therapy for her knee.
I-I don’t even know what to say, I’ll have to forward all the stuff to your email or something. But they’re taking care of everything.”
I swallowed hard, the outrageous rate of my heartbeat slowing a bit, but… Not much.
“W-who’s paying for all that?” I asked, even though I already knew.
“I have absolutely no freaking idea!” She answered, obviously still in complete shock. “He said that his boss wanted to stay anonymous! Can you believe that?”
“No,” I lied, gripping the sides of my phone so hard I thought the bones in my fingers might crack. “That’s… That’s really insane. Are you sure he was… Telling the truth?”
“I swear to god, Aspen, he showed me all these receipts of how all the expenses are being billed to this one account, and… And that’s actually not even the craziest thing!”
“What else?” I asked. A drop of sweat formed between my shoulder blades, slipping down my spine. What the fuck had Faulkner done?
“So, somehow he, like… Knew all this stuff about us, and Mom’s address and everything. And, well, basically he said his boss knows that her situation is precarious, what with being out of work, and so he made sure that housing wouldn’t be a problem.”
“What does that mean?” I asked. “He paid her rent in advance or something?”
“He… Or she, because we really don’t know who this guy’s boss is, but… Anyway, they bought the whole park.”
“The… The whole trailer park? And all the houses in it?” I repeated.
“Yeah! And he gave the deed to Mom’s house right to her! He said don’t even worry about property taxes or anything! Like… I seriously thought we were on some prank show or something.”
I was going to kill him. What if Caelyx found out?
What if he thought there’d been some secret deal I’d cut with Faulkner to take care of my mom in exchange for us being together?
Would he… Break up with me? I wouldn’t blame him.
Who would want to be with someone who they couldn’t even trust was genuine?
And then… Everything we’d done together, all of those memories would be ruined and tarnished and he’d only think of me as this horrible person who’d used him for his money.
“How’s Mom? Is she happy?”
“Oh my god, Aspen. You know her. She’s way too trusting. She was crying and everything about how grateful she is. She was ready to pack it up and leave with this guy after like five minutes and I had to stop her until we could verify he wasn’t just some psycho.”
“That’s… Really great.” Fuck. I couldn’t just tell him to cancel everything. And anyway… This was obviously the best case scenario for my mom, something I could probably never provide for her even after I nabbed my business degree. “I’m just really shocked, but… That’s amazing.”
My sister went on for a little while longer about the details of everything, and how generous this anonymous benefactor was, saying there was no limitation on the offer to help get her healthy, and they were willing to pay for as much therapy as it took, for as long as it was needed.
I knew I’d have to tell her the truth eventually, but…
It wasn’t exactly a good time. I hadn’t even mentioned that I was seeing anyone, let alone the son of an actual fucking billionaire.
By the time I got off the phone with her, my blood was boiling, a cocktail of happiness for my mom, anger with Faulkner, and stress for my precarious situation with Caelyx.
It was hitting me all at once how emotionally dependent I’d become on him.
The thought of hurting him with this secret, of making him doubt my feelings for him, was physically painful.
It slashed at my chest until I could feel tears pricking at the corners of my eyes.
The thought of losing him was even worse.
So I would just have to make sure that he wouldn’t find out.
Creaking the door back open, my breath was coming out in harsh little pants as I tugged on my casual clothes from the day before.
Caelyx was still sprawled out on the bed, blissfully unaware of all the turmoil thrashing around inside me.
Those dark clouds were bunching up in my brain again, making it hard to think, but all I had to do was focus on one singular task.
Get to Faulkner before his favor ruined everything for me.
But my mom… She deserved this. From her perspective, it was this amazing miracle, giving her something she’d never imagined having.
They would work with her, as long as it took, to fix whatever thing was wrong with her brain that made her need the alcohol, or at least make it to where she could say no to it when she felt the urge.
She could be healthy again. It wouldn’t be easy, but nothing had ever been easy for her.
She’d raised my sister and I all by herself, never complaining and never making us feel like shit for all she had to do for us.
If anyone deserved such a generous gift, it was her.
So of course I couldn’t say no. I had no recourse.
And it was all done, anyway. There was nothing I could do, nothing I could say to reject it or stop it.
I couldn’t take it from her even if I wanted to.
I was stuck. Stuck in this sticky trap, just waiting for Caelyx to discover all the shit I’d done behind his back, to destroy all the times I’d opened up for him.