Chapter 26
Ryker
I wanted to work on finishing our project right after class today, but Gwen has plans with her friend Damian who I now know is the guy I thought was her boyfriend.
Apparently, they’ve known each other since like middle school or some shit. Whatever, I still don’t like him. He may not look at Gwen like I do, but there’s no way he hasn’t at one point, and that makes me want to rip his eyes out.
My phone buzzes in my pocket, and when I pull it out to look at the caller ID, I audibly groan, earning a few annoyed glances from students walking by.
Against my better judgement, I answer my mother’s call. I haven’t heard from my mother in weeks, and she only calls when she needs help with my father.
“Hello?” I say, trying to hold back my distaste.
“Hi sweetie, how are you?” my mother’s sugary voice asks. I roll my eyes, because I know she doesn’ t really care.
“I’m fine, mom. What’s up?” I hear some rustling in the background, and then what sounds like a door shutting. Mom lets out a long sigh.
“Nothing, I just wanted to hear your voice,” she sniffs. “I miss you and your brother. I’m all alone in this big house since your father’s always at work.”
I sigh. My mom calls every once in a while to complain about how lonely she is, and how my father isn’t paying enough attention to her.
I mean, I do feel bad for the woman. She married a heartless bastard without a family bone in his body. One that would rather be at work and away from home than spending time with his wife and kids. Honestly, I think he only got married to have heirs for The Steele Corporation.
I know Logan is okay with taking over the company one day. He has absolutely no problem working for our father, but that seems like the worst thing that could possibly happen to me. I can’t stand my father, and being forced to work with him every day would lead to me killing him.
I let out a deep sigh. “I’m sorry, mom. I’ll come and visit soon,” I lie. I won’t be going home until Thanksgiving break. I need my time away from that place. Next year, when I’m fully graduated, I’ll be getting my own place, but for now, I’m stuck at home.
Mom goes out of her way to smother us while we’re there. Making sure we’re eating, making sure we have everything we want or need, making us play games with her, and she only does it because my fathers not there.
That’s the only time she’s ever a real mother.
I hear her small sigh of relief on the other end of the phone.
“Oh, good. I’ll have Tatia make those cookies you like. The ones with the cream cheese and the frosting,” she coos.
Tatia, our home chef makes the best desserts, and when I was little, she’d make these ricotta cookies that were absolute heaven. She’d make them for me when I was upset over my father, when I was scared, or just to surprise me.
One night when I was eleven, my father had screamed at me for getting a low grade on a math quiz. He was so angry that I didn’t do a better job.
He’d said, “I didn’t raise you to be fucking stupid, Ryker. You’re a disappointment to me, and your mother.”
My mother just sat there, not even saying a fucking word. She watched as my father made me feel like a failure of a son, and she didn’t try to stop him.
I ran to my room and cried for hours. Eventually, Tatia showed up with a tray of those cookies, and I was hooked ever since. She’d make them every time I cried.
“Okay, mom. Thanks. I have to go now, okay? I’ll call soon.”
“Okay, sweet boy. I love you.”
I hang up the phone without another word, shoving it in my pocket. I do love my mother, but I’m so disappointed that she couldn’t step in and defend us against our father.
I just can’t seem to forgive her for that.
Instead of thinking about that, I turn my attention over to yet another thing that’s been bugging me lately.
Logan hasn’t spoken to me since the Halloween party when he made that dramatic exit after being questioned about Adrianna. I went to go find him, but I got a bit distracted, what, with throwing Ashton Davis to the ground for touching my rebel.
She’s not yours, Ryker.
Anyway, now that I have nothing to pull my attention away, I need to figure out what’s going on with my little brother. We don’t talk about girls or feelings, or even our father. But he seemed really upset the other night, and he is my brother after all.
I sit outside of Café Grind, waiting for Logan to show up and hoping he isn’t ditching me. I pull out my phone to send him another text asking where he is, but before I hit send, he’s walking up to me with his backpack slung over his shoulder and an unreadable expression on his face.
He pulls out the chair across from me and sits down, setting his bag on the ground. I push the coffee I bought him across the table, and he grabs it, taking a sip. He doesn’t make a face, so I assume I got it right this time.
“So, why’d you want to meet?” he asks cautiously. Honestly, I hate that we’ve let it get this bad between us.
“What, I can’t just want to hang out with my brother?” I ask in mock offense. Logan’s eyes narrow suspiciously.
“No,” he says flatly. Okay, then. This is going to be harder than I thought.
Taking another sip of my coffee, I clear my throat and make eye contact with Logan.
“I just wanted to make sure you were okay,” I tell him honestly. No need to beat around the bush. I guess this is a bit uncomfortable for both of us. Logan grimaces.
“Never been better. Can I go now?” he goes to stand but I grab his wrist, forcing him to sit back down. Christ, he’s just as stubborn as Gwen.
“Logan, come on. What’s going on with you and Adrianna?” I ask. Logan looks down at his coffee cup, swirling it around a few times before setting it back down on the table.
Logan and Adrianna have always been inseparable. I thought they would get married and pop out a bunch of kids, and move far away from here, far away from me, far away from our father.
Adrianna was always a sweet girl. She’s sweet and innocent, exactly like my brother. Honestly, they are perfect for each other. I can’t see her cheating on Logan, it doesn’t even seem possible. I’m pretty sure they were each other’s firsts.
Logan takes a deep breath. “She slept with someone else,” he says simply. Shit. It’s always the innocent looking ones. “I went to her dorm the other night to hang out, and she was naked in bed with someone else. How could she do this to me? After everything we’ve been through,” he sounds defeated, and it causes a pang of empathy to run through my chest.
“Did you see the dude’s face?” I ask. A cold breeze causes my dark hair to fall into my face and I brush it away before taking a long sip of my coffee. Logan looks up to meet my gaze, his face pale. He nods slowly, causing my brow to furrow in question.
“Well, did you know him? We can beat his ass if you want,” I say casually, knowing Pat, Mason, and Holland would have absolutely no problem wreaking a little havoc on some douchebag that slept with a girl who was in a releationship.
Logan shakes his head.
“Yeah, I knew him. And no, it’s fine. I don’t care, she can do whatever she wants. I’m done,” he shrugs. I cock my head to side, recognizing the tactic he’s using right now since I’m the fucking king of it. He’s avoiding. Avoiding what? I don’t know. But I’m going to find out.
“Logan, spit it out before your tongue falls out.” He looks confused. “What do you mean?” he asks.
“You’re not telling me something. What is it? Do I know the guy? Is that why you won’t tell me?” I accuse. My patience is wearing thin, and I don’t have time to sit here with him all day going back and forth.
“It doesn’t matter, Ryker. Leave it alone,” he demands, his eyes boring into mine, challenging me. What aren’t you telling me, little brother?
“Fine. I’ll just pay Adrianna a little visit and get the information from-”
“No! Jesus fuck, Ryker. You don’t need to know everything. It’s my life, not yours.” I laugh at that, because he doesn’t know how wrong he is.
“Tell that to dad,” I say, knowing Logan has no idea what I’m talking about. He doesn’t know our father calls me every other day to ask about his favorite son. He doesn’t know dad avoids calling him because he doesn’t want to push him too hard. That dad doesn’t want him to turn out like me.
“What is that supposed to mean?” Logan seethes. I shake my head, not answering his question.
“Who was the guy, Logan?” I ask again, hoping he understands that I’m done fucking around. I wasn’t kidding when I said I’d go find Adrianna myself and force her to tell me.
Logan looks around as if he wants to make sure no one is listening. Then, he looks me in the eyes and says,
“It was Ashton Davis.”