Chapter 16 #2
They kept talking about what we’d done today, and maybe I zoned out a bit and focused on Nora. She’d taken one hell of a beating from me today, but the smile on her face calmed me down.
I was just rusty. It took some time to get back into the mind-set.
I folded my arms over my chest and glanced at her. “I know you’re gonna fuck off with your Mistress as soon as this is over, but I expect frequent updates on your mood after that beating. You hear?”
“Yes, Sir,” she said cheekily. “You can relax, Big Bear.”
I was trying—
“Anything you wanna share with the class, Ash?” Reese asked.
My bad. I faced forward again. “Sorry about that, sugar. Please proceed to tell us who won.”
“Oh, we’re not doing that today,” he laughed. “You fuckers’re gonna wait till we post the results online.”
What the hell? We’d gone through all this slave nonsense today, and we weren’t even gonna know who won?
“And that includes the vote on our mascot challenge!” Penelope added.
Ugh. I zoned out again.
What felt like an eternity but was probably just two minutes later, the thing was finally over, and I watched Nora sprint into Penelope’s arms.
I scratched the side of my head and looked over at KC and Noa. Okay, time to hug the shit out of that little brat. I strode over there before they could get interrupted by others, and I squeezed Noa tightly from behind.
“Who dat!” he cried out.
KC grinned. “It’s Ash.”
“Oh.” The boy relaxed and patted my arm. “Not that I don’t appreciate a hug from a sexy beast, but what’s this about?”
“I overheard you with Hallie yesterday when that little motherfucker disrespected her.”
He spun around as I released him. “Oh man, I wanted to kick his fucking ass! But Hallie did good. I’m trying to teach her as many creative insults as I can. I take my responsibility seriously, Sir.”
I shook my head in amusement. “Whatever you’re doing is working. I appreciate it.”
He smiled goofily and leaned back against KC, then peered up at him. “Can we play with him sometime, Daddy? He’s really revving my engine.”
I let out a laugh.
That was a nice ego boost.
“You already know he’s the most unavailable single guy out there,” KC chuckled.
“Hmpf.” Noa eyed me. “You should make yourself available, Sir. Lots of brats are crushing on you, you know. You have a responsibility.”
I laughed again, and I locked eyes with KC. “That’s twice in thirty seconds a brat talks about responsibility.”
“I know. Something isn’t right here.” KC kissed the top of Noa’s head. “Daddy needs to sit down, freckles. How about you go grab us some snacks?”
“Yeah, okay. I’ll meet you on the deck,” Noa said.
As he walked off, I noticed KC was supporting himself heavily on his cane, so I didn’t ask. I just sidled up next to him and cupped his elbow.
“Thanks.” He released a breath. “My useless legs are about to cave in.”
“Buddy, we tell subs not to talk down on themselves. You might wanna set a better example.” I wouldn’t stand for him talking shit about himself.
The man had survived an actual avalanche a few years ago, leaving him with a spinal cord injury.
Partial paralysis, or whatever it was called.
“Want me to get Lucian or your wheelchair?”
“None of it. I’m okay.” He shook his head, and we walked slowly to get to the other side of the pool. “Noa isn’t completely wrong, by the way. You may not have a responsibility toward any brats out here, but you do have one toward yourself and your children. You need to find happiness.”
Dammit.
“I feel better when I’m the one preaching to you, not the other way around,” I informed him.
He smirked and gave my cheek a smooch. “This is only the beginning. Penelope talks.”
Well, fuck her, then.
I scowled.
“What did she say?” I muttered.
KC didn’t reply until we were out of earshot of Macklin, Lane, and Kit.
“That you can’t crawl out of your depression long enough to make proper progress,” he said. “She may have mentioned a married couple that’s interested in playing with you too.”
I’d said that shit in confidence, for chrissakes.
But this was a solid reminder. I remembered now that members out here tended to nip things in the bud by forcing you to address a problem head on.
It was bullshit.
“You need to give that Daddy in you some playtime,” KC finished.
I didn’t reply. Technically, I knew he was right. I just wasn’t so sure about James and Jordan, because the prospect of getting involved with them led me to think up scenarios in which I suddenly won Nate back. Because what if he joined us?
That was a slippery slope that could shove me even deeper into a depression.
Nate had practically spelled it out already. He didn’t love me anymore.
“I knew it was a mistake to come back out here,” I half joked. “You’re all happy and shit.”
Literally all of them had found partners while I’d been on my hiatus. Not just play partners either, but true love. Even River and Reese. Shay was perfect for them. And Greer was in a foursome, much like KC and Lucian.
“Sounds more to me like you’re scared,” KC noted.
I wasn’t scared. He could be scared.
“I’ll have you know I’m extremely busy at the moment,” I said.
“I have a cat now. I’m driving my kids around.
I have work. And I’m in the middle of solving a mystery.
” I glanced around us, trying to spot a brat who might collect ducks.
It was a long shot, though. It couldn’t be anyone out here.
Could it? “Does Tate by any chance collect little duck figurines?”
Because in the end, many of the brats out here now were fairly new in the community.
They hadn’t been here toward the end of 2018.
Noa was new. Kit and Shay were new. Corey had been here last time, but he’d been paired up with someone I hadn’t really liked, so we hadn’t talked that much.
Who else? Lane and Nora were even newer.
“What’re you talking about?” KC couldn’t look more confused.
I suppressed a sigh and helped him up on the deck, and I gave him a brief rundown of the duck appearances in my life the past several months. And the suspects I’d crossed off my list.
He chuckled. “Definitely sounds like a brat prank.”
Yeah, but I didn’t fucking know any brats—
Wait.
You know of one. He lives right next door.
Holy shit. Could it be Jordan?
He loves birds too, doesn’t he?
“Jesus Christ, I think I just figured it out,” I said.
“Daddy, over here!” Noa called.
Three hours later
Arlington
Nathan Riley
How could he act like nothing was wrong?
Had it not occurred to him that this could be our last dinner as a family?
“Forget it,” Ash laughed, grabbing another pizza slice. “What about you, Mikey? You wanna come running with Daddy tomorrow morning?”
Micah did not.
“You indicated last week it would be okay,” Hallie insisted. “Come on, Dad—please?”
I cleared my throat. “We indicated it would be okay if you spent the night with one of your girlfriends,” I corrected. “You’re not having a sleepover with that boy. End of discussion.”
Ash wagged his slice at me. “What Dad said.”
“Ugh! That’s so unfair.” Hallie sat back and folded her arms over her chest. “Dylan has sleepovers with girls all the time.”
“No, he doesn’t.” Ash shook his head. “He sneaks out, and then he gets grounded. There’s a difference.”
Dylan sulked and ate in silence.
Today, he had lost phone privileges, he wasn’t allowed to drive for a week, he was grounded for two, and he had to clean the house.
“Whatever. Can I be excused? I’m full,” Hallie said.
“Sure.” I took her plate and brought it to the sink, no longer hungry either.
We’d made things clear to her. We trusted Hallie, but we didn’t trust the boy she liked. Because he was a year older, he skipped school sometimes, he’d been caught vandalizing school property, and he drank. It wasn’t happening.
Dylan was soon done too, and Ash reminded him to hand over his phone.
It was eight o’clock.
“Christ.” Dylan rolled his eyes.
Ash merely made a fork-it-over motion.
I didn’t say anything, but I wanted to. I wanted to shake Dylan and tell him to lose the attitude, I wanted to hug him and ask if this was our fault, I wanted to study him like a book and see what was wrong, I wanted to know if we were messing up with his punishments since they weren’t working well, and I wanted a goddamn parenting manual.
I’d never been this anxious when the kids were younger.
Micah announced he was gonna watch TV, and Lily skipped after him.
“Don’t forget to wash your hands and mouth, princess,” Ash called.
She made a sharp turn for the half-bath under the stairs.
A breath gusted out of me, and I realized how tired I was.
“You look like you’ve had a rough day,” Ash murmured.
I took a deep breath and tried to pull myself together. “They keep fighting.” I went over to the table again to clear it.
“They’re teenagers.”
I paused, looking at him, then slumped down in the seat closest to him. “Are we sure that’s all it is? What if it’s us? What if they’re acting out because—”
“Nate.” He cut me off and covered my hands with his on the table.
“I understand you’re worried, but please trust me.
I grew up with a sibling. We were at each other’s throats the moment Theo became a teenager.
At that point, I was just the annoying kid brother—and it was like that for years.
And now? Come on, he’s one of my closest friends. ”
I stared at our hands.
Deep breaths.
“I want to talk to them, though,” I replied, keeping my voice down. “I want us to sit down with Dylan and Hallie and tell them what’s going on—ask for their input.”
“We’ve done that before.”
Well, sure, we’d given them an update here and there on the situation, but this was it. This was the big talk. This was divorce.
“In a way, yes,” I conceded. “But what if now is a bad time? Hallie is going through a lot at school. She becomes incredibly upset if she doesn’t bring home straight As—meanwhile, she’s clearly discovering boys, and not the good kind—and Dylan is…”