Chapter 3
CHAPTER THREE
C ade
We are driving back to the hockey house. I feel awful and guilty for ruining Luc’s weekend. He should be annoyed with me after I didn’t want to do anything fun in Florida. He wanted to rent a boat. I wanted to lounge by the pool all day. At night he wanted to go clubbing. I wanted to stay in and watch movies. When my parents messaged they were coming to Riverside on Monday, I realized I forgot to inform them I was in Florida. I was happy to be free of Scarlett, but I wasn’t thinking clearly. I should’ve wanted to get laid in Florida, but that kiss with Annie was sealed in my mind. I changed my ticket to come back a day early, and Luc said he would just come home with me since Hayden was busy doing his thing with the team.
My phone buzzes. I check it then turn it over.
“Was that Scarlett again? I thought you said you would block her,” Luc chides.
“It isn’t Scarlett,” I answer dryly. My mood is low because I put up with so much from Scarlett. She was dealing with a lot and I tried to be there for her. Be a stand-up guy. Not that she appreciated it. She made me look like an idiot in front of everyone I know. Everyone else in the car stays quiet, even though I am sure they have opinions about my very public humiliation where Scarlett is concerned.
“Who else are you ignoring?” Luc asks. He’s being a nosy ass. I get that his worry is coming from a good place.
“It’s Annie,” I reply and Aaron raises his brows. He knows about my little plan with her.
“You should definitely be answering those messages.” Luc smirks. I feel bad about keeping him in the dark. I already told Aaron and having too many of the guys in on the secret is risky.
“I’ll message her when we get back to the house. I think she may be exactly what I need right now,” I say, which isn’t a total lie.
“Now you’re talking.” Luc smacks my shoulder and smiles like he’s proud of me.
“I think so too,” Aaron adds.
I give him a WTF look because he knows this isn’t real.
Annie was messaging me all weekend because she wanted to talk about our plan before we leave for break. I think she is panicking because she thinks I’m not on board. Truth is, I’ve been having second thoughts, even though I am still planning to go through with it. I just figured we could discuss things after break, so I can have my time to figure out what I want from life now.
We arrive back to the hockey house and I head up to my room. I don’t realize Macklin and Ruby are home but when I see Ruby leaving Macklin’s room, we exchange a few words. I update her on how things are going with her brother in Florida, and she lies about leaving the bathroom and not his room.
“I just had the weirdest interaction with Ruby. She lied about being in the bathroom, but I saw her coming out of Mack’s room,” I say to Luc, since his room is next to mine.
I wait for a reaction. Luc doesn’t have one. “They’re old friend’s, dude. That isn’t weird.”
I shrug and leave his room. I know Ruby and Macklin grew up together, but Ruby was acting off. I head into my room to lie on my bed and stare at the ceiling. Florida did shit all for my mood. My stomach grumbles so I head to the kitchen. I find everyone eating grilled cheese sandwiches and Charlie offers me one too. We sit around the table talking. Luc comes up with a crazy-ass idea that Ruby has had a threesome with Finn and Charlie. Finn’s face is turning beet red, to the point I am actually scared he is going to pound Luc when Macklin confesses he’s in love with Ruby. With all the drama going on around me I should be feeling something, but I’m numb. I tried to be there for Scarlett to support her and she goes and stabs me in the back.
My cell rings and Mom lights up my screen. I leave the kitchen, knowing I will need privacy for the call. All the drama seems to have died down for now anyway. Hayden is still in Florida, so Macklin’s life isn’t in danger, yet.
I don’t know how he's going to take the news about his best friend and his sister.
“Hi, Mom, what’s up?”
“Everything is good, sweetie. How are you?” she asks.
“Good,” I lie.
“Are you sure?” she asks warily.
It’s like her Mom radar is working.
“I broke up with Scarlett,” I blurt.
“Really?” She sounds surprised.
“It’s not something I would joke about.”
“No, I know, honey. I’m just surprised is all,” she says.
“I’m surprised too, but I shouldn’t be.”
“What does that mean? What happened?” she asks.
“Nothing, we just aren’t going to work out.”
“That really is too bad. You two were good for each other,” she says.
We were terrible for each other. I stayed with her too long, but I don’t want to burden Mom with how messed up I am because she’ll blame herself. I don’t want to make her feel bad.
“It’s over, Mom,” I repeat. I don’t want to dredge up what happened. I sure as hell don’t want to tell my mom she cheated on me.
I hear Mom sigh. “Sorry. I wish you didn’t have to go through this.”
“I’ll be okay,” I assure because Mom has been through enough. I don’t need her worrying about me.
A knock on the door pulls me from my focus on the conversation. Mom is talking about packing for Mexico. She asks if I’ve packed. I haven’t unpacked from Florida, which I kind of need to do first. Mom and Dad gave me a credit card and they give me a monthly stipend. I use that to pay the credit card, which means there is no way for my parents to know I was in Florida.
I open the door. “Annie?” She’s wearing an off-white puffer coat, a gray hat, and her red hair falls on her shoulders. It looks wet because it’s snowing outside.
“You haven’t been answering my texts,” she states, walking into the house.
My eyes widen.
“Look, Cade. I get things are a little hard for you now. . .” Annie says.
“One second,” I tell her.
“Who is that, Cade?” Mom asks.
“Annie,” I whisper in a daze.
“I heard a girl’s voice, Cade. Why has she been texting you? Who is she? Is she the reason you and Scarlett broke up?” Mom asks and she sounds angry now.
I squeeze my eyes shut feeling overwhelmed. “It’s not like that, Mom.” I don’t like that Mom thinks I would cheat, just because Dad is a cheater. It’s not who I am. In fact, I stayed with Scarlett so long because I was trying to be a stand-up guy.
“So what’s it like?” she asks. I hear the worry and maybe irritation in her voice. “You don’t walk away from someone because they’re having a hard time.”
Here we go again. Mom accepts all of Dad’s faults and she thinks I should be the same way. There’s a line to be drawn. I will not accept her cheating. I definitely won’t be taking her back.
“Mom, Scarlett cheated on me,” I blurt. The words burn leaving my mouth.
I hear Mom’s sharp inhale. “Oh dear.” Her tone turns remorseful.
“Annie is. . .” I am looking at Annie as this train wreck of a conversation happens in front of her.
“Your girlfriend,” Annie mouths.
My brows draw together.
“Put your mom on mute,” Annie mouths some more.
I do as she says. I’m not sure why, but I feel like I’m stuck between a rock and a hard place.
“Tell your mom we’ve been friends for a while and now we are starting to date. That way she won’t worry about you being hurt over Scarlett,” Annie suggests. It isn’t a bad idea to get Mom off my back.
“I can’t lie to my own mother,” I whisper.
“Do you want your poor mother up at night worrying about you?” Annie asks, raising her brows.
“Cade?” I hear Mom’s voice. I unmute her.
“Sorry, Mom, Annie is a friend but we just started seeing each other. She’s been helping me take my mind off Scarlett.” I squeeze my eyes shut. Oops, that sounds like a bad thing to say to a mother.
“Cade,” Annie says my name with a chiding tone.
“Sorry,” I mouth to her.
“Tell your mom you’re being respectful of me,” Annie says.
“I heard that, Cade,” Mom says.
I close my eyes, wanting to disappear, but when I open them, I’m still in the same predicament.
“Sorry, Mom. Annie is a very nice girl,” I say because I don’t have something better.
“Your dad and I are flying out to Riverside in the morning. We can meet your new friend at breakfast,” Mom announces unexpectedly.
“Uh, what?” I ask, my jaw slack.
“We’re coming to Riverside,” she repeats. “We’ll spend time with you there and then we’ll fly to Mexico together. I’ll change the flights now.”
“Wait, Mom,” I begin.
“Love you, honey. See you tomorrow,” she says, and she ends the call.
I stare at Annie in shock. She takes off the scarf she was wearing, followed by her hat. Damn, she is pretty. She has a small smattering of freckles over her cheeks and nose. Her lips are naturally tinged red, and they are shaped like a heart. I remember kissing her and my mouth waters as I lick my lips.
“What just happened?” she asks.
“My parents are coming to Riverside tomorrow to meet you,” I say, but I am still dumbfounded.
“W-why? H-how?” Annie says and now she is stuttering nervously.
“My mom is very focused on my life,” I explain.
“That’s so sweet,” Annie replies.
“Trust me, it’s a little much.”
“Consider yourself lucky. My mom is super self-absorbed in her own life, and my dad is always busy working. Most of the time I feel like they don’t see me.”
I sigh. My dad is mostly checked out and does a bunch of stupid shit that Mom puts up with and, yeah, my family is dysfunctional.
“Look, Annie, this is getting complicated. My parents are coming to town tomorrow. They want to take us for breakfast,” I say to her.
“Oh, that’s weird. It’s a little early for me to be meeting your parents. Don’t you think? We’ve only made out in public once,” she says with a conspiratorial look on her face.
I look at her like she is off her rocker. “Huh?”
She bursts into laughter. “OMG, you have to see your face right now,” she says laughing. “I was joking, Cade. Damn, I know what we’re doing is fake. Trust me, I don’t do real relationships. I don’t believe true love exists. People do what’s good for themselves at the end of the day.”
“That’s the first logical thing you’ve said,” I agree. “I just kept giving and giving where Scarlett was concerned. Did she consider me when she had her tongue down that guy’s throat?”
“No, Cade, I told you people are selfish at their core.”
“I’m not selfish, Annie. At least I don’t think I am,” I say to her.
“Neither am I, Cade, which means we will make good friends, which will help with our little ruse.”
“Are you okay with meeting my parents tomorrow? I don’t want my mom worrying about me and if she thinks we’re together, she won’t worry so much,” I explain.
“A free breakfast sounds perfect,” she says. She places her hat back on her head. “I’m glad we worked things out. I’m really going to need your help next semester. Ford has been texting nonstop the last couple of days. I don’t know what I’m going to do at home over break.”
“Sounds tough,” I say.
She puts her scarf back on. “Okay, see you in the morning. Message me where we should meet.” She gets ready to leave. The snow is blowing hard now.
“You’re going to walk in that mess?” I ask.
“Duh, I don’t have a car. I don’t really like to Uber. It’s only about a ten-minute walk,” she says like it’s no big deal.
“I’ll drive you. I have a car with winter tires.”
“Aw, that’s sweet of you. Thanks, Cade.”
“I’ll go throw on some pants and grab my keys,” I say since I am wearing a pair of shorts.
I head up to my room and change into a pair of jogging pants. I also put on my Riverside U hoodie. I grab my keys and bump into Luc at the top of the stairs.
“Annie’s here. That’s good,” he says with a stupid smile.
“Yeah, bro, I’m just going to take her home,” I explain.
“Okay, okay.” He nods his head repetitively and smiles. I don’t have energy for this nonsense. I don’t say anything. I just head out the door and give Annie a ride home. We are clearly on the same page, so this fake relationship is going to work out just fine for the both of us.