Page 20 of Revenge At Raleigh High
Dad’s bemusement deepens. “I have the Google Translate app on my phone and I know how to use it, Moretti. If you’re planning on using a foreign language to secretly seduce my daughter, think again.I will know.”
Oh, fucking hell. Come on.Really? I screw my eyes closed, groaning as I turn my face to rest my forehead against the door jamb. “Dad, just…no, okay?No.”
Alex stands, shoving his hands into his pockets. He’s the picture of composure as he faces my father and gravely says, “I wouldn’t worry. Your daughter doesn’t know a lick of Italian, either. I couldn’t seduce her with it if I tried.”
I need to go back to bed. I need to go for a run. I need to get the hell out of this house. Basically, I need to be anywhere but here right now. This cannot be happening. There’s no way my father and the guy I most definitely am having sex with are discussing my seduction.
“Specifically,Dolcezzameans sweetness,” Alex continues, smirking. “You really don’t have anything to worry about.”
“Sweetness?”
“Sweetness,” Alex confirms. He says the word lightly, like it’s nothing. Like it’s a saccharine way of showing the affection he feels for me. My father doesn’t know that this is the word Alex growls while his head is between my legs and his tongue is working my clit. That it’s the word Alex grinds out as he licks his fingers clean of me after he’s just fucked me with them and made me come.
“Sounds innocent enough,” Dad announces brightly, shoving away from the sink. I’m pretty sure I’ve turned crimson my face is burning so fiercely. “English for the next three days, though. Probably a good idea, don’t you think?” He slaps Alex on the shoulder, giving him his trademarkthat’s-an-order-not-a-requesttight-lipped smile.
I’m too distracted by what my father just said to enjoy Alex’s poorly veiled awkwardness. “Uh, what do you mean, the next three days?”
Dad swipes his phone up from the counter, making his way toward his office. “Haven’t you checked the Raleigh portal? You’re off,” he says absently. “Too much snow. We’re gonna be trapped here. I’m gonna work on the book, and you two,” he says, eyes flitting from me to Alex and back again, “are going to keep your hands to yourselves. I’m seriously too young to be a grandfather. I don’t want to have to murder anyone, either, Alex. My face is just too pretty for jail.”
7
ALEX
BEN: I don’t like the thunder.
Me: Don’t worry, bud. It’ll be over soon. Did you make the fort?
Ben: Yeah, but it’s not very good. The ones you make are better.
Me: I bet it’s awesome. Why don’t you take your flashlight in there and read one of the Spiderman comics I got you? By the time you’ve finished, the storm will be over.
Sitting on the couch at Silver’s place, watching T.V. alone with her, is seriously fucking surreal. If I were Cam, I’d have left my ass to rot in that trailer and been glad of the fact that my daughter’s loser boyfriend couldn’t get to her for three whole days, but instead I’m full of the Philly cheesesteak he prepared for dinner and I’m curled up with Silver, wondering how the fuck I’m going to do the decent thing and not fuck the shit out of her the moment he goes to bed. I’m not used to all this trust. It’s weird. It’s making mefeelweird.
I’ve been mistrusted and disbelieved my entire life. If something ever went missing at a foster home, I was prime suspect number one. If there was ever the slightest reason for fireworks, it was always my fault, regardless of the fact that it actuallywasn’tmy fault. Made things pretty simple, really. If people expected the worst, there was no real pressure to do better. Under Cameron Parisi’s roof, however, I’ve been gifted with the highest of expectations, and it’s fucking killing me. This is the first real opportunity I’ve had tonotlet someone down. Silver’s father’s a smart man. Smarter than most. I’m sure he knows exactly what he’s done, the sly bastard.
Ben: I can’t find my comics. I wish you were here.
I tighten my grip on my phone, huffing under my breath. The beautiful girl sitting next to me brushes the tips of her fingers lightly against the back of my neck, humming softly. She must feel the stress radiating off me. “Everything okay?” she asks. “This is the season finale. Don’t you wanna know who dies?”
“Sorry. Can’t concentrate. Ben’s freaking out. The snow hasn’t hit Bellingham properly yet. It’s raining like crazy over there. Thunder and lightning. Ben hates thunder. Always has.”
Silver sighs softly, leaning her head against my shoulder. “You’re feeling bad that you can’t get to him?”
I take a second to reply, trying to figure out what’s troubling me the most. “I’m angry at Jackie. Ben’s a super sensitive kid. Afraid of the dark. Hates being trapped in small spaces. Thunder scares the shit out of him. She knows all of this, but she doesn’t do anything about it. She makes him ride out shit like this on his own. She makes him take the elevator up to his therapy appointments every week, even though the doctor’s office is only on the third floor, and it makes Ben cry every single fucking time. It’s like she enjoys scaring him, and…” I work my jaw, attempting to come up with a way to express myself that doesn’t involve murder.
“And it makes you want to kill her,” Silver finishes for me.
“Yeah, it makes me want to fucking kill her.”
Silver’s quiet for a while. A huge battle scene plays out on the television, too dark to really see which of the show’s main characters are surviving and which of them are being cut down by the enemy. After a particularly brutal and bloody beheading, Silver whispers softly, “You’ll be eighteen in five and a half months.”
“Yeah.”
“And then Ben will probably be able to come live with you, right?” She sounds hesitant, unsure, and my palms break out into a nervous sweat. I’ve been thinking about this a lot recently. Ben coming to live with me. I’ll never leave him with Jackie, it’s not an option, but it was just me before. I didn’t have anyone else in my life to consider. Things are going to change if I’m the sole caretaker of an eleven-year-old. I’ll essentially be playing the role of a father to him and that’s bound to have an effect on my relationship with Silver. It’s a lot to take on, dating a guy who has to look out for a child twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.
I fidget, repeatedly winding a loose thread from the seam of my jeans around the tip of my index finger and then unravelling it again. “I get it, y’know. If it’s too much. It’s not exactly every teenager’s dream come true, being landed with a dependent. It’s not…it’s notcool,” I rush out. “If it’s too much to deal with…me taking him on…then I understand. I’m not gonna hate you if you don’t think you can hack it.”
Slowly, she turns away from the television, her posture stiff, her expression unreadable. “Would you walk away if things were different for me? If something happened to my parents and I wanted to take care of Max?”
