Page 97 of Bred
OUR ILLICIT DESIRES
TATE MONROE & RORY IRELAND
CHAPTER ONE
ZOEY
Re-MaxAdvantage.That’sthefirst thing I see when I pull up in front of my parents’ house. The sign in the front yard has a sold sticker plastered across the front of it, and once that processes, my entire face goes numb.
I graduated from college two months ago and moved in with my boyfriend, Lucas. We were supposed to go on a vacation together in Mykonos, but that all got shot to shit last night. My bags were packed, we weren’t arguing for once, I wasexcitedto finally have a few days off from the shitty job I’ve been working at for the last four years in a diner near campus.
And then he told me that instead of booking our vacation with the moneyIsaved, he invested it in some bullshit coin pyramid. They promised him he’d make his money back tenfold before it was too late to actually book the vacation, but it turns out that it was all a scam. He lost all of it. And the fucked-up part is that this isn’t the first time he’s done something like this either, just never to this magnitude. I thought he was pushing a little too hard when I said I’d take care of it. He whined, complained, told me that it hurt his feelings that I didn’t think he was capable of handling the money.
And I fucking fell for it, hook, line and sinker.
I packed my shit up, loaded it in my car and took off the next day. He can figure out how to pay the rent by himself. Luckily, when we were moving off campus, his father agreed to put the house in his name and let us pay the rent because I didn’t qualify by myself, and Lucas certainly didn’t. I thought that after dating for so long, trying to make it work over and over with no genuine changes or future in sight that I’d feel bad. I thought I would miss him the moment I drove off campus, but I didn't. I don’t even feel angry either, I feel nothing but relief.
But now I have this to deal with. I lean against the passenger side door of my car and fish my cell phone out of my purse. This is totally something my mom and stepfather would do. Mom has always flown by the seat of her pants, never actually knowing how things are going to work out until they somehow magically do. And Ted, her partner for the last five years or so, doesn’t ground her in any way. He’s just as unpredictable, which I think is good for her, but not for me at this moment.
“Zoey, sweetie! How nice. Ted, come here! Zoey’s calling,” Mom yells into the phone loud enough that I have to pull the phone away from my ear and put her on speaker. There’s so much noise in the background, and I’m not sure if it sounds like she’s under water or being chased by a herd of elephants.
“Mom?” I say with a huff. I should be more patient with her, but I’m frustrated and if there hadn’t still been a sign in the front yard, I could have accidentally walked in on whoever bought the place.
“Yes! I’m here, Zoey. How are you? Guess where Ted and I are!” She sounds so happy, and not at all phased that they’ve apparently sold my childhood home without telling me.
“Mom, I’m at the house. There’s a sign in the front yard and a random truck in the driveway. What’s going on?”
“What house?” I can hear that she’s perplexed by her tone, and I know the exact look that’s gracing her face right now. I’ve had to be the adult for as long as I can remember, and really Ted was a blessing when he came into our lives because I didn’t have to worry about her nearly as much as before.
“Mom. Stop whatever you’re doing and listen to me, okay?” I snap, and then instantly feel guilt when I hear the soft hum leave her mouth, signifying that she doesn’t enjoy being reprimanded. “I’m sorry. I’ve just got a lot going on right now and I was hoping I could come home for a few weeks until I can figure something out.”
“What happened to Lucas? He’s such a nice boy,” my mother practically coos, and my stomach feels sick.
“We broke up because he stole money from me and lost it in a scam,” I say it bluntly because I’m literally loitering in front of someone else’s house and I really need to get to the bottom of things quickly. “Where did you guys move, Mom?” I bite my bottom lip. I feel like I’m going to cry and it’s not over any one thing in particular, it’s just that everything is hitting me at once and I’m tired.
“Honey, we sold the house so we could RV, travel, really enjoy our retirement,” she says sadly, and I realize I burst her bubble of excitement that she had for her new journey. “Is it really over with Lucas? Isn’t everything you’ve been through together enough to try to work it out? It could be a misunderstanding. You were together throughout college,” she reminds me and every point she notes makes me feel sicker because even if he showed up here with a bouquet of roses and all of the money he lost, I just don’t love him anymore. I’m not sure that I ever did. We started out as friends, and I think it just got pushed and molded into something that it never should have been.
“No. It really isn’t. Listen, Mom, I’m not trying to be short with you. I’m really happy that you and Ted are happy, but I need to figure out what I’m going to do, at least for the next couple of nights. He blew all of my savings and I quit my job to come home,” I say with a sardonic chuckle before adding, “At least what I thought was still home.”
“Okay, hold on. Ted! Come here!” she screams again, less bubbly and upbeat than before. Her voice lowers when she’s speaking to me again. “We’ll get this figured out, dear. Don’t you worry. I wish I could be there to give you a big hug.” I can hear the sincerity in her voice and that’s when I finally let a few tears fall, but quickly wipe them off my cheeks and take a deep breath. Whenever something like this happens, there’s always something good that comes of it, so I just need to remember that. I just need to get settled somewhere that I can start applying for jobs. I was supporting Lucas and myself before, so I’ll definitely be able to support myself. I just need to stop feeling sorry for myself.
I hear the phone shuffle and there are definitely buttons being pushed until I realize that they have put me on speakerphone. “Zoeeeeyyyyy.” I can’t help but smile when I hear Ted’s voice. I’ve been away at school for a lot of his relationship with my mom, but from what I can tell he’s always jovial and treats her well. He doesn’t belittle her weird quirks and as far as I know, he hasn’t stolen all of her money and then offered to fuck her to ‘make up’. Lucas is lucky his balls aren’t in a sling, to be honest.
“How are you dear? Guess where we are?” I laugh at the way he mirrored my mom’s exact question from earlier. They really are a good match.
“It sounds like you’re somewhere busy. Is that wind or waves I hear?” I play into it because taking their joy away will not put me in any better of a situation.
He’s halfway through telling me about the really cushy spot they’re camping near the outer banks in North Carolina when my mom interrupts him. “Bunny, we can tell her about that later. Zoey needs a place to stay for awhile. She’s at the house becauseweforgot to tell her about our plans.” I hold my hand over my mouth because I don’t want her to hear me laughing at the nickname she has for him, but it will never stop being funny to me.
“You and my boy Luke are at the house?” Ted asks, and he’s loud because he’s hard of hearing and refuses to wear hearing aids.
“Shhh. Shhh. Don’t say that. They broke up. I’ll tell you about that later. Give Silas a call and see if she can stay with him for a couple weeks,” Mom says, and I can picture her patting his arm the way she always does when she shushes him, which is often. I process what she’s said and I feel my back straighten when I realize she’s mentioned Ted’s younger brother. I don’t really know him other than the few times I’ve seen him on holidays over the last few years. He’s a bachelor from what Ted and my mom have said. He was always standoffish with me, and I never approached him because his whole vibe is intimidating. He and Ted could not be further from each other in looks and personality. He’s tall with dark hair and looks like suits were made for him. He’s serious, quiet, and always appears to be a little grumpy.
“No, you don’t have to do that.” The words rush out of my mouth because I don’t want to be a burden to anyone. Especially someone like Silas Barlow. He barely speaks to anyone for the few hours he’s around during family get-togethers, so I can’t imagine what it would be like renting a room from him. “I’ll figure it out, guys. Maybe I can find a cheap hotel for a few days until I can get a paycheck or two under my belt.” My voice is shaky and I’m not sure if it's because of everything I’ve been through in the last forty-eight hours, or if it’s because I’m afraid Silas will be my only option.
“No, honey. We could pay for you to stay in a hotel, that’s not a problem. I just don’t feel safe with you living in a hotel by yourself. This is a scary world we’re living in, sweetie,” Mom chimes in.
“It’s not a problem, Zoey. Really. I just sent him a text from my phone to give me a call. He never answers when I call him. Says I ramble too much and to write down everything I need to say and email him,” Ted says. His tone is jovial like he thinks Silas is kidding. I have to bite my lip to keep from laughing because even though I don’t know Silas at all, I know two things. He has a dry sense of humor, and when he tells Ted not to call him, he’s not joking.
