Page 60 of Wreck Me

I walk through their house, knowing that my dad will be in his office or the formal dining room where the bar is. Whiskey runs through his blood, having grown up on the grounds while his grandfather and father continued to grow the distillery to what it is now. Their shoes are hard to fill, and while it seems like my brothers aren’t feeling the pressure of that, I sure as shit am. Especially because my position is new, as in, I’m the first person to ever hold it.

“Hey, Dad, you busy?”

“C’mon in.”

“I wish I was coming here with good news, wanted it to be a surprise once it was done, but now it’s not going to happen, and if it does, it just may not be great, and I want to let you know face-to-face.”

He takes a seat on one of the barstools that surround his in-home bar and gives me his full attention. His words come out slightly slurred, with a bit of a stutter, but he holds strong and doesn’t let it stop his communication. He’s such a strong role model for all of us and always has been.

“You can tell me anything, and we’ll figure out how to get through it as a family.”

Here we go.

“A few months ago, I was contacted by a big magazine about doing a feature on our family and the distillery. Which was a huge deal. But then they started rescheduling our meetings, taking longer than necessary to email me back, just dicking me around. And . . .” I swallow the lump in my throat before continuing. “I could be being overly skeptical and worrying for nothing because this may be a stretch, but Idon’t get the feeling that they want to do a feature on us, but more of a smear campaign. Their writer tailed me and, without giving you too much info on your son’s sex life, got some info on me that may not be great for the family or the distillery to have exposed.” Even if it’s not going to surprise anyone.

“What kind of info?”

Fucking kill me now.

“Can you keep it from Mom for as long as possible?”

“Jesus, how bad can it be, son?”

“I’m a member of a sex club.”

His facial expression doesn’t change, which surprises me.

“Oh, that’s not that bad. Not ideal, but you aren’t exactly quiet about your sex life, son. Is it seedy or clean?”

“Dad, Jesus. Of course it’s safe. That’s the appeal: safe, clean, and it was supposed to be discreet. But there are red flags everywhere I look. I haven’t gotten to the bottom of it, but I don’t want to be the reason the distillery gets dragged through the mud. If this gets out, they could make it look way worse than it is. I don’t know what way this is going to go, and I regret getting myself tangled up in it, but I need to protect you all from everything you’ve worked hard to create and how far you’ve come. I think that we should be prepared for me to step down from my position at the distillery to avoid any negative press it could bring.”

“Carter.” My mom’s voice comes harsh, a tone I’d grown up hearing when she scolded her five heathen children. “That will never be an option.”

“How much of that did you hear, Mom? Or do I need to jump out that window?”

“Stop it. You think I don’t know about sex? You’re almost twenty-six, and I knew you were going to be a wild one the moment I saw you sneaking Savannah Erikson out of the houseat fifteen. Plus, how do you think I got five children and two granddaughters?”

God, if you’re real, strike me down right now.

“You’re being rash in your decision, and it sounds like there’s more to it than just your worry over the distillery.”

She could always read every single one of her kids like a book.

“What magazine?” my dad asks, saving me from having to discuss my sex life with my mother.

“The Northwest Explorer.”

Both of their eyes get big, and that constant friend of mine rears its ugly-ass head and sends ice through my veins, my heart rate picking up its pace.

“What am I missing here?”

My dad opens his mouth to speak, but my mom’s hand covers his, resting on the bar. My mom speaks up instead. “It’s just a large magazine, very . . . well-known. But whatever happens, we will face it as a family. Is there anything else?”

It’s on the tip of my tongue to tell them that I’ve been hooking up with the man I’m worried could cause all this damage, but I feel like one bomb in an afternoon is probably good. Plus, have I even accepted the fact that I’m bisexual?

“No, I’m on my way to the distillery to talk with the boys. I just wanted to let Dad know face-to-face because everything is so unsure.”

“This is why we have lawyers, Carter, if you’re really concerned about it. But I highly doubt that such a well-known travel magazine would publish something that would be better suited for a gossip magazine. Talk with Sawyer, get the lawyers into a meeting, and then we will navigate it. This isn’t the first time we’ve had a scandal.”

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