Chapter 10
REID RATHE
“Are you sure your parents aren’t going to mind that I’m tagging along?” Dustin asks. He’s sitting in my passenger seat, playing a bubble shooter game on some app that he’s become obsessed with the last few days. Thankfully, he can still hold a conversation while playing it.
I hadn’t planned on going to meet my parents after school, but when they call, I answer. So, after working out with Dustin, I invited him along. He had nothing better to do tonight, so he had agreed.
The sun is three-quarters through the sky, and the leaves that have already fallen are being pushed across the road by a slight breeze. It’d be pretty if I didn’t have this terrible feeling in my stomach about seeing them and what they could possibly want with me this time.
“It’s just golf. They’re not going to care,” I say as we head out of the city where the traffic is lighter and the road is curvier.
He flicks his attention to me for only a moment before he’s back to his phone. “Yeah, but the last time I met them, I got the feeling that they didn’t like me much.”
I snort. “They don’t like most people.”
“Ha!” he chirps. “Unless they have buckets of money, right? Man, did the apple fall far from the tree.”
I scrub the back of my neck. “Yeah, I guess it did.”
“What do they want anyway?”
Shaking my head, I stop at a useless stop sign. “I have no idea.”
He fist-bumps the roof of my car when he wins a level of his game. “They didn’t tell you anything?”
I shake my head. “They usually don’t. But there’s always an agenda to it, so I’m sure we’ll find out soon enough.”
Dustin pockets his phone in his gym shorts and settles into a slouch in the seat. “Maybe they just want to see how you’re doing in classes or something.”
“They could have just asked that question on the phone. Hell, they could have just contacted the school and talked to the professors.” I wouldn’t put it past them.
They did it a lot last year just to make sure I was getting better grades than the year before.
The year I was dating my ex and sort of went off-road with the energy of the relationship.
It was a toxic relationship, and they knew it.
Hell, even Dustin knew she was just after my family’s money.
Despite my good grades last year, after the breakup and the fallout and the depression that Dustin had to pull me out of, I got my shit together, but they still don’t fully trust me.
“God, your parents are so controlling. I don’t know how you do it.”
I shrug. “I grew up with it. I didn’t know there was anything else until I met your family.”
He turns a smirk in my direction. “I’m sure my parents would adopt you if you divorced yours.”
I snort. “Funny,” I say as we pull into the golf course parking lot.
Once the car is in Park, we climb out and head into the building in search of my parents.
They told me they’d meet me inside, and as soon as we are in, we head right to the bar.
That’s where they always are when I meet them here.
My mother has an addiction to wine and sits down to have a glass at any high-end bar she finds.
Let’s not mention how many glasses she has at home.
I’d hate to know how much they spend on wine every year.
We find them immediately and slide into stools beside them, Dustin on my right, my mom on my left, and my father on her left. They’re laughing at something and don’t immediately notice us until I clear my throat.
My mother turns in my direction with a startled expression. “Darling,” she greets warmly.
“Mom, Dad.” My father nods at me in greeting.
Abandoning her glass of wine, she bends forward and presses the side of her lips to my cheek. Wrinkling her nose, she pulls away. “You smell like sweat. And what are you wearing?” she adds with a hiss. “This is no place for gym clothes.”
Dustin and I are still wearing our cutoff shirts and gym shorts. I peek down at them with a frown.
Deciding not to care, I shrug, though it bothers me that they really care. It’s always about the image. “We came from the gym. If you wanted us here on time, we didn’t have time to change.”
Blinking, finally realizing I didn’t come alone, she looks over my shoulder at Dustin.
Dustin gives her a small wave, and she plasters on a fake smile.
“Hello,” she greets. It’s as genuine as the smile and makes me want to sigh.
For once, can’t she be human? Dustin is my best friend, for shit’s sake.
He’s not going anywhere anytime soon. Even when we’re done with college, he’ll still be by my side. Nothing will change that.
“I’m not really good at golfing,” Dustin begins to warm the conversation. “But I’m sure I can catch on fast.”
“Oh,” my mom says, grabbing her drink once more and taking a sip. “We won’t be golfing. We’re meeting the Kenzy family here.”
My spine snaps straight. “And you invited me for…?”
She places a hand on my arm. “According to the Kenzys, you haven’t been getting to know their Dorothy. Do you share any classes?”
I roll my eyes as Dustin shifts uncomfortably.
He knows about my sort of arranged marriage with Dorothy, and he knows that I didn’t really care about it even though it had pissed him off when I dropped that bomb with nothing but a shrug.
“She’s in a completely different major than I am.
I doubt art school and medical school would share any classes. ”
She pouts. “Oh, come now, Darling. You could at least buy her lunch every now and then.”
Looking down at the bar top, I flex my jaw. This isn’t what I want anymore, and I didn’t plan on having this conversation with them so soon, but…“I’m not buying her lunch, Mom.”
“And why not?”
I snap my gaze back to hers. “Because I’m not marrying her.”
She whips back as if she’s been slapped.
She has no idea I found someone else, and she won’t know until the day I decide to tell her, which isn’t today.
She has no idea that there’s someone in my life that I want to get to know and can’t do it if I’m promised to another.
I want to do this right by Avery. And the last thing I want is to lead Dorothy on.
She’s a nice girl and all that, but she’s not who I want.
“What do you mean?” my dad asks. Dustin shifts at his tone. This has to be awkward for him, but truth be told, I’m glad he came along. He needs to know that I’m no longer interested in doing what my parents want for me anymore.
“I mean that it’s my life, and I’m not going to marry someone you have set out for me.”
“Nonsense,” my mother says, laughing as if what I said was the greatest joke in the world. It makes me want to get up and leave, but I was taught better than that. I was taught respect, and even though my parents are the way they are, I’m still going to respect them.
Dustin clears his throat and coughs into his hand. “I think he’s being serious, Mrs. R.”
Her laughter dies down, and she looks at Dustin long enough to make him realize that he probably should have kept his mouth shut.
“Don’t,” I hiss at her before she can say something stupid to him, something that will make him feel lesser than her.
She can be petty like that sometimes, even if it’s in the most polite manner.
She flicks her gaze back to me. “This is already all been arranged, Reid. The Kenzys are expecting you to marry their daughter once you’re both out of college. They’re looking forward to it, in fact. I’m sure their daughter is too.”
I roll my eyes.
“Don’t roll your eyes at me, Reid Romaine Rathe.”
“Sorry, but I seriously doubt Dorothy is going to care. She hasn’t even made an effort to get to know me. In fact, I haven’t even seen her since school started.”
“Maybe she’s shy,” my father chimes in.
My mother nods. “She’s always been so shy to approach you at our parties. I bet that’s it. You’re just going to have to approach her.”
I shake my head. “I’m not approaching her for anything other than being her friend.”
I look over her head when I see familiar faces entering the room. Mrs. Kenzy’s eyes land on mine, and a big smile takes over her face. Mr. Kenzy looks as grumpy as he always does, and Dorothy, who is fiddling with her hands nervously, follows her parents dutifully as they make their way to us.
“Ah, there you are,” my mother says as they approach. She and Mrs. Kenzy peck each other’s cheeks.
“Sorry we’re late,” Mrs. Kenzy says. “Dorothy’s study group ran late.”
At the mention of her name, Dorothy’s eyes slide to mine.
She’s a pretty girl. She doesn’t wear too much makeup, and her red hair is always tidy.
She doesn’t dress like a college girl though.
With her pencil skirt and light blue blouse, she dresses like her mother still picks out her clothes.
My father is right about her being shy. As quick as she looks at me, she looks quicker at her feet.
“This just got real awkward,” Dustin whispers in my ear.
“Reid,” my mother says with a forced smile. “Aren’t you going to say hi to Dorothy?”
I clear my throat. “Hey,” I manage.
Her gaze flicks back to mine, and when her mother nudges her shoulder, she straightens her back and grows a little bit of a spine. “Hi, Reid. How are you?”
“Good,” I answer. This is stupid. I try not to, but that one word comes out as being anything but interested in having a conversation with her.
Any other time, if our parents hadn’t said we were to marry one another, this would be a good opportunity to talk with a friend, someone I grew up with, but now…
It’s hard to sit here.
“How are your classes this year?” Mrs. Kenzy asks me.
“Fine,” is my only answer.
“Do you guys want to grab a table while we catch up with your parents?” she asks, her face hopeful.
Yeah, that’s not going to happen.
“Actually,” I say as I stand up. “We were just leaving.”
My mother frowns. “So soon?”
“Lots of studying to do,” Dustin answers with humor in his tone as he stands up with me. I knew bringing him along would come in handy. While I hadn’t anticipated him being my backup, that’s exactly the role he decides to take.
I hug my mom around the shoulders, and in her ear, I whisper, “Remember what I said. I’m not marrying her.”
She stiffens in my grasp but doesn’t say anything.
Probably because the Kenzys are here, and she doesn’t want them to know what I’ve proclaimed.
Knowing her, she’ll probably try to make this work despite my protests.
But I won’t have it. I want to date Avery, and I can’t do that with Dorothy chained to my future.
I shake my father’s hand and say farewell to the Kenzy family, and then Dustin and I are leaving the golf course. Dorothy looked slightly put off that I’m leaving, but I can’t do anything about that.
Fresh air greets us outside, and Dustin says nothing to me as we get in the car and drive away. But that all changes once the golf course is in the rearview mirror.
“Man, that was awkward as hell. Is that why you brought me along? To endure the shit show with a friend?”
“Sorry,” I grumble under my breath, holding my steering wheel a little too tightly.
“No, it’s fine. I get it.”
“If I would have known—”
“I said it’s fine, Reid.” He blows out a breath. “I thought the last time I met them and your mother pretended I didn’t exist was hard enough. This topped the cake.”
“Yeah,” I murmur, my mind reeling.
“That Dorothy girl was into you though. She was checking out your muscles.” He pokes my pec, and I slap his hand away.
“She’ll find someone else if she is.”
“You’re really not going to marry her?”
I shake my head.
“What changed?” he asks, his tone serious.
Glancing at him for a second, I decide how to answer him. There’s no real way to tell him the truth.
My silence must speak volumes because he sighs. “This is about that girl you slept with, isn’t it?”
I shrug.
“Sarah, right? Have you seen her since that night?”
I nod, deciding to give him truths to the questions I can answer. “We share a class.”
“And?” he presses. “How did it go? Does she like you as much as you like her?”
I nod again. “Though she refuses to admit it. She thinks I’m too much like her ex.”
He laughs out loud. “You have your work cut out for you then.”
Rubbing my forehead, I answer, “Yeah, I sure do. And I have no idea what to do.”
“Just keep after her, man. She’ll come around.”
God, I hope so. I didn’t just stand up to my parents for nothing. If only she could see how serious I am about her.