19. Back-rank Mate
Back-rank Mate
Luke
As I walk into the dining room, Sidney straightens and flashes me a smile. Her blond hair is curled, and she’s worn makeup to emphasize her green eyes. She’s a beautiful creature. On the outside.
Penny sits across from my spot with Sidney next to her. I pull out my chair and sit, never taking my eyes off Sidney. She smiles like my attention doesn’t disturb her. I don’t smile. I don’t show any emotion.
For an awkward couple of minutes, no one speaks. Tension weaves through the air as Penny plays with the napkin in her lap and takes a sip of water.
I reach for something on the table and knock over my drink. “Oops.”
A server hurries over and towels up the water. Another takes the glass away, brings back a fresh one, and fills it with water before they both blend back into the woodwork.
I snap my fingers and a server rushes forward. “Can I get a fresh bottle of Coke please? Leave the lid on.”
The server nods and rushes away. I wait to see if Sidney thinks I thwarted anything, but she doesn’t so much as flinch.
“Children.” My father walks in and takes his seat. His gaze settles on Sidney, and he smiles. “And a pleasant surprise.”
He’s not surprised. There was an extra dinner setting, and Penny told him about her guest.
“I’ve missed seeing you at the dinner table, Sidney.” My father lifts his hand, and a flurry of motion surrounds us as our salad course is placed before us. “How’s your mother?”
Sidney smiles softly and preens. “I’ve missed being here, Mr. Foster. My mother is doing well. She’s busy working on that plan you wanted for the hospital. She’s very excited about it.”
“I’m glad to see you reached out to my daughter. She doesn’t seem to know how to be everything her brother is. But I guess she only shares some of his genes.” My father’s smile doesn’t reach his eyes. Asshole. “She should be on the cheerleading squad with you. Don’t you think?”
Even I can see the cracks in Sidney’s smile. She doesn’t think that at all. The only reason she’s being friends with Penny is to get to me.
“She’s at every game.” Sidney turns and touches Penny’s hand on the table. “She supports the team well from the stands. If it weren’t so late in the season, she could have tried out, but I’m sure she’ll have other opportunities.”
How Penny doesn’t roll her eyes I’ll never know, but I’m proud of her for just smiling. This has to be hard. For someone who wanted to be popular to finally have the attention she sought. It’s why I worry our plan to use the girls as turncoats might backfire on us.
Except for Penny. Maybe she was using Harper to get closer to me, or maybe she honestly wouldn’t mind having Harper as a friend.
But right now, I’m counting on Penny’s desire for real family to, at a minimum, keep me out of the crosshairs. At least when it comes to Sidney. She can’t protect me from my father. No one can.
“I appreciate you taking her under your wing. I’m sure she’ll thrive under your mentorship.” Fuck, my father lays it on kind of thick.
“Of course.” Sidney turns to me and smiles. “I’m glad she has someone like me to look up to. I’d hate for her to have only Luke’s girlfriend to aspire to.”
“The Davidson girl?” My dad narrows his eyes on me. “She seems smart enough, but she does lack qualities we Foster men look for in a life partner.”
Fuck him. My insides churn, but I don’t make any remarks. I just sit back and let the server take away my salad plate.
“I’ve told Luke he should be looking for someone like you. Smart, cunning. An equal. Someone who won’t cry because sometimes you have to do something they don’t agree with.” My dad claps his hands and the servers bustle, taking away the others’ plates and returning with the dinner service.
Sidney smirks but doesn’t look my way. “You know how it is, Mr. Foster. He needs to experiment before he settles down with his true partner. I doubt any of them really intend to keep Harper.”
Penny’s eyes widen and meet mine. But my father already knows we’re all dating Harper. So it’s not like Sidney let anything slip, though she probably thinks she did. Especially when she turns to meet my eyes with a gotcha attitude.
I lean back in my chair and smirk. She’s not cunning enough to play this game. She may think she’s all that, but she’ll be surprised how easy it will be for us to take her down.
My father sighs and cuts his steak. “You’re probably right. She’s a novelty, but she serves a purpose too. I’m glad you understand and won’t hold it against him in the future for this... straying.”
“Luke and I have always had an arrangement that doesn’t lock either of us in.” Her green eyes meet mine and narrow. “We’re young. If we don’t get this out of our systems now, who knows what would happen when we’re older. What regrets we might have.”
My dad nods like he isn’t a cheating asshole.
“Sidney’s dating Zach Gray,” I mention and take a drink of my soda.
My father nods. “Now Alec Gray is an interesting man. Self-made. Intelligent. His son might be an equally good asset.”
Not friend. Asset. Someone to use. That’s all people are to my father. Including his own children.
Sidney sighs. “Luke and Zach don’t get along. It’s okay though. I don’t plan to keep Zach much longer.”
Funny how I don’t get along with a guy who wants to rape my girl.
“You don’t have to like someone to use their talents.” My father slices into his steak. Is he thinking about Sean Davidson? How he used him for years?
I bet he sleeps like a baby even though he has everything to do with Sean’s absence from Harper’s life. Whatever happened at the quarry wasn’t “accidental” like my father said. He played a part in it.
“I aced my physics test.” Penny’s voice rings through the room like she’d been holding it in, and it burst from her. “The best score in the class.”
“That’s nice, dear.” My father nods to her like she told him she colored inside the lines in a coloring book.
His eyes narrow on her. “It would be better if you were taking an AP class at this point in your high school career, but I’m sure it will help you secure a spot in the state school of your choice. ”
Penny’s face falls. She’ll never get what she wants from him. He’ll never accept her. He barely accepts me. And praise? Forget that. All he knows is how to keep someone down.
“Your mother didn’t push you enough. That’s my fault. I should have stepped in earlier.” My dad shakes his head.
We eat in awkward silence for a moment, only the scraping of utensils against the China fills the room.
I glance up at Penny, but her gaze remains on her plate.
I can’t fight back, even for her. He’ll use any perceived weakness against us.
And if I step in to defend her, he’ll know I care about her, even if it’s a little.
“How close are you to Harper?” my dad asks. His tone is calculating.
I look up but he’s looking at Sidney. What’s this new hell?
Sidney smiles. “I’ve tried to help her, but she’s not really anyone to worry about. She’s just a new toy. You know, boys and their toys.”
She laughs, but there’s no humor in it. There’s hate in her tone, knowing that I’ve given Harper something she’s never gotten from me. A commitment to be only hers.
“She’s up for Homecoming Court,” Penny says.
My dad actually looks at Penny with interest. “She is?”
“Yes, but she won’t win.” Sidney straightens. “Everyone knows Luke and I will win. We win every year.”
“I was thinking about stepping off the court.” I watch her carefully as I cut my steak.
Her lips tighten, but her smile holds. “Why would you do that?”
“I have other things to worry about.”
Sidney laughs. “Don’t be ridiculous. You have to be on the court.”
“I was Homecoming King.” My father sits back and looks at the three of us. “It means you’re the most popular, which is exactly what we want. It’s power.”
I could say no, but fuck that. My insides burn with hate for this man. Everything he’s done to me and to Harper. “Of course. That’s what Fosters do. We rule the school. Date the most popular girl. And use everyone who’s useful to us.”
My father’s eyes narrow as I stand. “If you’ll excuse me, I find my appetite is lacking this evening.”
When I reach the door, my father’s voice stops me. “Luke.”
That tone. He’s pissed but doesn’t want to alarm the girls. My hand shakes, knowing what he’s going to do. I catch my hands together in front of me and squeeze my traitorous hand.
I turn and meet his eyes, holding his gaze, because he only has me one more year. And there’s no way I’m going to bend for him. Ever.
“You have room for dessert.” My father gestures to my chair. “We wouldn’t want to disappoint our guest.”
Sidney grins. She’s seen this song and dance before. My bruises and scars that I wasn’t always able to hide from her. She never cared enough to ask, and I never confided in her. Not like with the guys. Not like with Harper.
I drag in a breath and turn to take my place.
My dad continues to eat his dinner and talks quietly to Sidney about her grades. Penny’s attention is on me. There’s concern in her eyes. Fuck, she needs to learn to hide that better.
Hide any weakness my father will clutch onto and use against us.
The minutes tick by before my dad signals that it’s time for dessert. The servers bring out chocolate cake and set a piece in front of all of us.
When I lift my fork, I want to get this part of the night over with, but Dad says, “Wait. The three of you are staying in tonight. We should have a treat with our cake.”
A server comes in with glasses of maybe sherry. The wine glasses are small and the liquid dark.
“A peace offering from Sidney’s mother.” My father’s eyes dig into me. They set the glasses in front of each of us. “Luke, I’d like to speak to you in the hallway.”
I set my fork down and rise, laying my napkin alongside the plate. Penny swallows, but smiles at Sidney.
I walk away and my dad follows me out into the hallway.
Once the door is closed, he eats up the space between us and pushes me back against the wall.
I clench my fists. I’m bigger than him now.
Stronger too, but I have to stay here. And knowing my father, he’d have me arrested and not charged, just to fuck up my life.
“You will do better, son.”
“Better at what?” I cock my head.
“That’s your future wife sitting in there. The money they have combined with ours would make us unstoppable.”
I press my lips together. Harper is hearing this. But she knows that I’m hers.
“You can fuck your little plaything with your friends, but when the time comes to grow up, you need this girl at your side. We need this family on our side.” My dad thumps me against the wall again. “That means whatever she wants, she gets.”
I could leave. Right now. Be gone. I could stay at Harper’s house or even at Caden’s with the two of them. No one would question it, but that would leave Penny here alone with him.
Even if I don’t trust her intentions, Penny is the closest thing I have to family. Harper would never forgive me if Penny got hurt because of me.
“I’ll eat your dessert and toast whatever the fuck you want me to,” I concede that, but that’s the end of it.
My father picks some fake lint off my shoulder. “Good.”
He steps back and leads the way into the dining room. He didn’t press for more, which puts me on edge. I didn’t fully agree to his terms. He’s smarter than that. There’s a reason he wanted me out in the hallway.
I study the waitstaff and then check on the girls. Penny’s eyes widen and she looks at my drink, pointedly.
“Have you heard anything from Harvard?” my father asks when he sits. He shakes his napkin out with a flourish before laying it across his lap.
I take my seat and look at my glass. “Nothing yet. It’s still early.”
“I’ll need to call my contact to double-check they have your information correct.” He sits back in his chair and studies me.
Forcing my body to relax, I lean back and smirk. “I’m sure they have everything they need. And if I don’t get in, I’m sure you’ll buy my way in.”
“That’s ridiculous. There’s no way they would turn you down.” He hasn’t reached for his drink yet, but I know when he does he’s going to make a toast and force us all to drink. Did Sidney do something to my drink?
Is that what Penny’s look is for? If there’s a reason to be wary, I can’t knock over the glass like I did before. Not without taking a beating. I don’t want Harper to have to watch that.
“Harper applied.” I don’t know why I say it. Maybe to delay the inevitable.
His eyes narrow on me. “She won’t get in.”
“I applied.” Sidney strokes her hand down her glass and looks up at me through her eyelashes. “With my grandfather’s legacy, I should be an easy admittance.”
I definitely don’t want to go to the same school with Sidney. Besides, we know her first choice of school isn’t Harvard, she’s just saying what she needs to get my father’s attention.
“Harper has a better chance of getting in than I do.” I shrug. It’s not fact, but it could be. I’m just another rich white boy from a rich family. Harper is smart enough, and with her history, she could make it in. “If she goes, maybe I’ll go to college nearby to be close to her.”
Rage lights my father’s eyes, but his focus is on me, so he doesn’t notice when Penny knocks her fork off the table.
“Oops, could you get that for me, Sidney?” Penny gives her a wide smile.
Sidney bends over, but my father looks to a server and tells him to bring a fork for his clumsy daughter. While their attention is shifted, she quickly switches our drinks. I give her a quizzical look, but she shakes her head.
The server comes over and takes the fork from Sidney and gives a new fork to Penny.
“Thank you,” Penny says softly.
“I’m sorry. My children don’t seem to know how to have dinner anymore.” My father glares at each of us before lifting his glass.
Sidney takes hers and watches me lift mine. Penny swallows and lifts hers.
“To your futures.” My dad’s stony gaze lingers on me. “May they be everything we’ve prepared for.”