Chapter 14
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
RORY
“Ifeel ridiculous,” I sighed as I turned in the mirror, inspecting the dress that had been delivered. It was pretty, Tyler had made a good choice, but I felt like a fucking fraud in it.
“You look beautiful,” Caden murmured, the guys mumbling their agreement as they all stared at me.
I’d kept my makeup light with a slight smokey eye, my hair blow-dried and hanging freely around my shoulders. The shoes were uncomfortable, but at least I was a little used to them from the party I’d worn them to.
Tyler looked hot as hell in his black suit though.
“I’m so hard right now,” Jensen grumbled, lightening the mood and making me chuckle.
“She’s mine tonight,” Tyler warned as he draped my jacket over his arm, moving beside me and taking my hand. “C’mon, let’s go.”
“It’s early,” I said with a frown, but he just grinned.
“So? Date starts now. You sure you don’t want some lipstick? It would look really good around my cock later.”
“I’m sure,” I replied dryly, taking one last glance in the mirror before turning my back on it. “What’s the plan then?”
“Get in the car and you’ll find out.”
I humored him, letting him lead me downstairs to find Josie with her damn camera.
“Please,” she said, not needing to tell me what she wanted. It was very obvious.
“Can’t this wait until prom?” I joked, and she raised an eyebrow.
“I can’t rely on you all graduating. Go on, give me a smile.”
Tyler happily tugged me against his side and slid an arm around me to pose for photos, letting the others in on a few as well.
I was pretty sure no one had wanted photos of me for their memories since Mom vanished, and I perked up a little at the thought of having something to show her when we found her.
“Remember to open doors for her!” Josie called out as we headed to the front door, and I rolled my eyes as Tyler grabbed the handle and swung it open with a dramatic bow.
“My lady.”
The guys looked a little miserable, so I quickly gave them all a kiss goodbye before stepping outside, taking Tyler’s hand again as we carefully made our way down the stairs to the car.
He opened the door for me and waited for me to be seated before shutting it again, making his way around to the driver’s side.
This made me a little bit nervous. I didn’t have pockets or a bag, so my phone was currently in Tyler’s pocket. It felt weird not having anything else on me.
The music stayed low as he drove, his hand on my thigh and a small smile on his face.
Being able to cheer someone up after the shit that went down today was pretty special, and I loved that I could calm him just by being here.
“I love you,” I said randomly, making him glance at me.
“I love you too. Thanks for this.”
“You never have to thank me for spending time with you. It’s not a favor.”
“I know, it’s just that this kind of thing isn’t something you really like doing. I promise it will be the best date ever,” he exclaimed as we drove into Rawson Grove.
“It already is because I’m with you,” I said honestly, taking his hand and giving it a squeeze.
“I’m supposed to be charming you.”
“You can charm the dress right off me later,” I chuckled, eyeing our surroundings. “I should have brought a gun.”
“Where would you put it? Strap it to your thigh?” he joked, groaning a second later. “Actually, that would be hot.”
I rolled my eyes, thankful when we made it through Rawson Grove and Stoneleigh safely.
Lightning Cove was beautiful. It was full of fancy beach homes along the coast, and the restaurant strip was lit up with lights and nightlife.
“I could live here,” I sighed, rolling the window down to enjoy the seaside air.
“Not too fancy for you?” he teased, putting both hands on the steering wheel as he slowed and parked in front of the restaurant.
“I’d want one of the old houses.”
“Of course you would,” he smiled, climbing out and running around to my side to open the door. I took his hand, letting him lead me towards the valet. I tried taking my jacket from him, but he kept a tight grip on it, not letting me carry anything.
“Mr. Johnson,” the valet greeted, catching the keys with ease as Tyler tossed them towards him without a word.
“Thank you,” I blurted out on the way past, seeming to surprise the valet, but he nodded and headed towards the BMW to park it.
We were ushered to a table at the window without having to say anything, and once we were seated, I glanced across the table at Tyler.
“How often do you terrorize these people with your privileged rich boy attitudes?” I asked, his mouth curving into an amused smirk.
“Not that often these days. Josie loves it here so we usually come here for her birthday. A lot of business deals happen here, and most of our families have been coming here forever. I ran into the window once as a kid. Fuckers keep them squeaky clean and I thought it was the way out to the garden.”
I laughed, reaching for the menu to have a look and frowning when I noticed there were no prices listed.
“How do we know what it costs?”
“You don’t need to know, and I don’t care,” he answered, not bothering to look at his. “Want the seafood platter and some steak? We can share.”
“That depends what it costs.”
He huffed, flagging the waiter down with the click of his fingers.
The man hurried over, and I gave Tyler a dirty look. “Click your fingers like they’re dogs again, and I’ll call Skeet to pick me up and leave you here, Ty. I mean it.”
The waiter looked worried but Tyler sighed. “Sorry. Can we order the seafood platter, steak, and a bottle of whiskey?”
“Of course, sir.” The waiter bowed and took our menus before scuttling off to the kitchen, my eyes trailing after him.
“They didn’t check your age?” I questioned, making him shrug as he brushed his foot against my leg under the table.
“Nah. Like I said, we’ve been coming here forever, so they know how old we are. They wouldn’t dare tell me no.”
“Why not? It’s illegal.”
He studied my face for a moment before wincing. “I kind of own it. The second I turned eighteen, I spent a lot of my trust fund and bought a bunch of businesses and properties to set myself up. Means I don’t have to touch the accounts my parents keep stocked up for me.”
“Wait, you own the restaurant?”
“I wanted Josie to come here whenever she wanted,” he mumbled awkwardly, a soft smile forming on my face.
“That’s why you bought it?”
“Well, that, and if I owned it, Josie could come without running into Tristan. He’d eat here to spite her. I kind of banned him.”
I laughed, reaching across the table to take his hand. “That’s the kind of petty privilege I can support.”
“No one fucks with Josie,” he said seriously, pulling back as the waiter brought us the whiskey and two glasses, pouring us one each before leaving us alone again.
“What else do you own? I should probably know that,” I asked curiously, taking the whiskey and having a sip.
It was so smooth, and I’d hate to know how much it cost.
“I own three restaurants. The Royal Garden and Seaside Oasis here, and The Glass Tower in Kingslake. The Crystal Chandelier hotel in Crestford, and one of the gas stations in Kingslake. Don’t ask what it all cost me, you’d throw up.”
“Do you all own businesses like that? None of you have mentioned it before. I assumed it was investment rental properties.”
“Caden mostly has rental properties. He owns thirty across multiple towns, but he’ll inherit Holloway Industries and a bunch of Josie’s business investments eventually.
His trust fund is insane and he isn’t trying to get away from Josie like we’re trying to escape our parents, so he’s pretty safe.
Jensen owns two restaurants. Silk in Ashburn, and Douceur in Kingslake.
He has the Caelus hotel in Saint Maple too.
Luke started smaller, investing in a few rental properties and a car rental place.
His mom controls so much, so he didn’t want her to find out about a lot of it.
He did end up buying the Sky Lodge in Mount Mercer just before you rolled into town.
It’s a pretty cool ski resort right up the mountain.
I think he was hoping to get into the hotel industry next.
Josie will probably buy him one for his birthday next year.
She wants us all set up for our own futures, and Luke really needs to be able to financially separate himself from his mother.
It’s bullshit that she has control over everything.
His father had all the money, she was a nobody before marrying him.
If Luke had been older when he lost his father, he probably would have been in the will and inherited some of his shit. ”
“You guys are stupid rich, aren’t you?” I said slowly, always knowing they were loaded, but those restaurants and hotels were famous. Celebrities went there, and the upper class that lived locally loved them too. I’d seen reviews online before.
“Yeah, babe,” he chuckled, turning his attention out the window to the ocean. Waves crashed on the shore, and part of me wanted to walk along it and skip dinner completely.
“We came here when I was younger too. I don’t really remember much, but I know Mom hated it here.
No idea why,” I mumbled, my brow creasing as I thought about it.
“I think someone that worked here hurt her. She came back from the bathroom with a red cheek once, that much I remember. Max was at the table with me, so I know he didn’t touch her. ”
“I can go through employee records. I kept loads of old paperwork,” he offered, and I looked over to find him watching me. “We can talk about it later, if you want?”
I nodded, lost in my thoughts.
Our food arrived soon after and we dug in, the flavors exploding on my tongue. The steak was perfect, and the seafood was so fresh.
“Good?” he teased, telling me I’d made a noise or something.
“So good,” I groaned, letting him feed me a bite of steak. “How dare you not bring me here earlier.”
“I’ve been wanting to but you hate fancy stuff.”