Chapter 5 Wayne
WAYNE
Taking a shower and changing into clean clothes doesn’t help my mood. I’m still hungover, still annoyed with my dad and Jenny, and now the biggest nerd I’ve ever known in my life turned me down.
So what if she ditched the glasses and braces and has a perfect ass now? She’s still not on my level.
I’m Wayne fucking Riggs, and I get whatever I want!
I repeat that thought to myself as I hunch over the small metal desk in the corner of my old bedroom and wait for my laptop to boot up.
The room is pretty much the same as it was in high school: Dark blue walls and gray sheets, my old clothes still hung up in the closet.
Movie posters and pictures with friends are tacked up on the walls, trophies and knicknacks lining the shelf on the other wall.
I don’t remember half of the people in the photos or what half of the awards were for, but I was popular.
Most of these people weren’t important. They just came along with the status of being star runningback on the school team.
I tap in my password and connect to the Wi-Fi, ignoring the winding memories that mix with racing thoughts of why Katie would reject me. She must be crazy. I’m a fucking catch.
My scowl doesn’t lighten as I pull up my email.
My inbox is empty aside from a single message from my old boss with the subject Severance Information. If I open that now, I’ll put my fist through my screen, so I forcibly close out of the tab. All of the queries I sent out on networking apps sit unanswered, and my frustration mounts rapidly.
I toss my phone carelessly toward my bed, ignoring the clatter when it bounces off and falls to the floor.
I pace back and forth over the floor of my room, my thoughts going back to Katie as I shove my hands through my hair in frustration.
She was a fucking nobody in school. What, am I supposed to fall over myself to get her attention now that she’s hot?
Put her in a room of people who matter and they’d still flock to me.
All she’s got is brains and a hot body, but you don’t get anywhere in this world without charisma and people skills. I have those in spades.
She’s probably just worried she’ll fall in love with me.
A sharp knock sounds at my door, and it’s unexpected enough to make me snap.
“Fucking what?” I bite out as I whirl on my heel.
Jenny stands in the open doorway, looking utterly unimpressed. She rakes her blistering gaze over me, one brow arched in disdain.
“I really don’t know who you think you’re talking to like that.” Her voice is so careful it tells me she’s looking for a fight, but she wants me to provoke it. I know better than to think I’ll win. “Not me, right?”
Her dark eyes narrow in a challenge, and I grit my teeth so I don’t rise to the bait. I’ve got plenty to be annoyed about right now, and I know arguing with Jenny will only end in me being humiliated.
“Didn’t realize it was you,” I say stiffly, not meeting her eyes.
It’s as close to an apology as she’s going to get.
“You’re usually in such a good mood, Wayne.” The words are pointed, every shift in her tone a twist of the accusing dagger she’s wagging in my face. “What crawled up your ass and died?”
Your fucking attitude.
I’m smart enough not to say that part out loud, even if it’s annoying to no end that my little sister has a sharp enough tongue to make me shut up.
“I woke up on the wrong side of the bed,” I say, rolling my eyes. “What does it matter to you?”
She scoffs, crossing her arms over her chest as she leans against the doorjamb.
“Oh, you’re pissed.” She sounds far too happy about that. God, I really haven’t missed the familial teasing. “C’mon, tell me all about it. I need to know who I should send a thank-you card to.”
“Would you fuck off?” I spit, wishing I’d decided to go literally anywhere but home to sort this out. “It’s fucking… girl problems.”
I wince even as I say it. I didn’t want to tell her about getting fired, and it was the first thing that came to mind, but she’s going to have a field day with this.
Just as expected, Jenny tosses her head back and laughs, loud and unashamed. Her short brown hair flies into her face as she guffaws, and she has to take a moment to swipe it away from her eyes before she continues to laugh.
“Aw, poor Wayne,” she mocks. “The playboy himself got dumped?”
Dumped? That nearly makes me laugh. I don’t date, and I don’t get dumped. This whole conversation is ridiculous, and I’m tired of it.
“Did you need something, or did you just come in to piss me off?”
She stares at me for a moment, unamused, before straightening up from her lean against the door frame.
“I’ve got a few things I want you to look over while you’re here,” she says. “Your timing is actually good for once. We have a few contracts that we need to look into before signing, and it’d be nice to not have to pay someone to check them.”
“So I’m just free legal advice to you guys, then?” I scoff.
“You want to stay on the ranch for free… you do some sort of work,” she says with a shrug. “I’m being nice by offering you work you’re actually good at. If you’d rather go work in the pastures with Tony, be my guest.”
She’s talking to me like I’m an employee or something. Like we’re hardly more than acquaintances.
“What, this Tony kid is taking everything over?” I ask scathingly. “Why would I be working with him and not Al? I haven’t even seen him since I got here.”
Her face twists into true anger at that, a flicker of grief crossing her features.
“Al is in the hospital for his chemo treatments this week. Maybe you’d know that if you’d ever picked up the phone.”
The statement is like a slap to the face, ice-cold and furious in a way that I haven’t seen her since I got back. My blood freezes in my veins. Is she serious?
She can’t be.
“What?” I choke out.
Al is like an uncle to me. To both of us.
“Yeah, and you haven’t been to see him once,” she spits at me. “He got diagnosed a few weeks ago.”
I stare at her in shock, my heart pounding in a mix of anger and fear in my chest. She can’t seriously blame this on me. I hardly ever have time to answer my phone, and she knows that. She could have tried harder, she could’ve fucking texted me.
“Look, just pull your weight while you’re here,” she says with a sigh. “God forbid you do something useful around here or to try to fix your relationship with Dad.”
I refuse to let the chill in her voice hurt, even if the news about Al guts me. I’ve done just fine for myself without my family, but I always thought Jenny understood why I have so many issues with our dad. It’s not like she didn’t watch him give up on everything, too.
I just decided to take care of myself instead of him.
If that makes me the bad guy, so be it.
“You’re just here for a vacation, right?” she asks, the arch of her brow making it obvious she still doesn’t believe that cover story. “So it won’t be for long. You’ll survive.”
I’m not going to tell her my real reason for coming home, which is what she’s angling for. I’m past all the guilt trips. She should’ve gone into law with how good she is at getting people to listen to her.
I sigh in defeat before rubbing a hand over my face, exhausted.
“Fine. Sure, whatever,” I agree flippantly. “Send me whatever you want me to look over.”
It probably isn’t anything difficult, maybe some past due bills or fucked up contracts. I’ll do it and get her off my back so I can figure out what the hell to do.
This conversation has taken the wind out of my sails.
“Knew you’d see reason,” she says. “Mary and I are making dinner. Should be ready around six. Show up or don’t, there’ll be food.”
Her careless attitude stings more than I’d like to admit.
Normally, it wouldn’t matter, but today has been one thing after another.
Every firm that’s worth working for in Billings has seemingly closed their doors to me, and selling my condo to move to another city would be a pain, especially considering the housing market right now.
I’d be bleeding cash, and my old boss has a wide reach across the entire state of Montana.
This could be harder than I expected it to be.
Then there’s Al. I don’t even know what kind of cancer Al has, but if he’s in chemo, they’re probably pretty sure he’ll make it through.
Doctors don’t usually throw treatments at people who are already near the end, right?
I may not feel guilty about leaving my dad behind to figure out his own mess, but Al never did anything wrong.
And through all of it, I still can’t stop thinking about Katie.
With her rejection on top of everything else, yeah, I feel like shit. Usually, I’d roll with it and move on. I already got what I wanted from her, it’s not like I’ll die if I don’t get another taste of her.
But when I glance out of my bedroom window, I catch sight of her.
The sunlight catches her golden curls and casts a warm glow over her skin. She has her head tossed back laughing, as she chats with my dad and Mary. She looks soft and pretty, and I feel that tug of want in my gut strengthen, which only serves to annoy me even more.
How could she turn me down?
I may not be able to fix my relationship with my family or find a job as quickly as I’d like to, or even figure out how to handle the news about Al, but Katie is an easier problem to solve than any of those.
It’ll take more effort than I’m used to, but I can convince her to give me another shot.
I’ll wine and dine her and win her over, and then I can be the one to walk away.
That’ll be enough to get me back on track. I just need to get my fix and then I can figure everything else out.