Can't Let You Go: A Wheeler Brothers Novel (7 page)

"She still loves you," Rita says, pulling another cigarette from her bra. How many of those things does she smoke a day?

"She doesn't think of me that way anymore. She's moved on. She's dating other guys."

"Then I guess it won't matter when I tell her about your little fling in the parking lot."

"Rita—" I stop myself before I go off on her. She makes me so damn angry. I take a deep breath. "Do not tell her that. Please. It'll just hurt her, and do you really want to hurt your daughter?"

"It's for her own good. She needs to feel the pain of betrayal. That's the only way she'll know what men are really like."

Coming here was a waste of time. I just need to go.

"I'm leaving," I tell her. "Get your ass down to the pawn shop and sell that ladybug because you're paying that parking ticket."

She takes her cell phone out of her bra. How big is that bra? And what the hell else does she keep in there?
 

"I think I'll tell her right now," she says, smiling.

"Fine," I say, giving up. "Go ahead. I'll never date her so it doesn't matter."

She holds her phone up but doesn't make the call. "Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why won't you date her? I know you like her so I could never figure out why you wouldn't date her."

"She's moving." I shouldn't say that because I don't know that for sure, but I'm pissed at Rita and I knew saying that would get to her.

"Moving?" She stands up, her phone slipping from her hand onto the couch. "She got a job?"

"Not yet, but she will, and she sure as hell isn't going to stick around here."

"She'd never leave me." Rita nervously puffs on her cigarette and paces the floor. "She loves her mama. She'd never leave."

"I gotta get back to work." I wave as I go out the door.

Walking to my truck, I smile, knowing I got to her. In all the years I've known Rita, I've never been able to unnerve her, make her unsure of herself and the world she's so carefully constructed over the years to get what she wants. If Jen leaves, Rita will not only lose her stream of cash. She'll also lose her driver when she needs a ride home from the bar. Her caretaker when she's sick. Her housekeeper when she's too lazy to clean. Her grocery shopper. Errand runner. And the list goes on. She depends on Jen to do all that stuff and more, so if Jen leaves, Rita is screwed. Which is exactly what I want. I want that bitch to finally have to do things herself and maybe then she'll finally appreciate all that her daughter has done for her over the years. I doubt that'll happen. Rita doesn't appreciate anything. But if Jen is gone, Rita will at least be forced to get off her lazy ass and do things for herself, or whatever she can't get her man of the week to do.

As I'm driving back to work, Jen calls. I smile, like I do every time I see her name pop up on my screen.

"Hey, what's up?"

"Did you have lunch yet?"

"No. I got busy and didn't get around to it. I'm in my truck so I'll just stop and pick something up."

"Are you near campus?"

I'm not, but I say, "I'm not that far. Why?"

"I was just about to have lunch. Do you want to join me?"

"Sure." I pull over into a gas station and turn around. "Where are you?"

"At that burger place on the corner."

"Just wait by the door. I'll be there in a few minutes."

I don't have time for this. I need to be working on the kitchen or it won't get done on time. But I have a hard time saying no to her.

I wonder if Rita's really going to call Jen and tell her what I did. At first I was sure that she would, but now I don't think she will. If she tells Jen, then Jen will think our kiss meant nothing, and if she thinks that, she'll give up hope that we could ever be together. That will make her want to leave Chicago, and that's the last thing Rita wants. Now that I think about it, maybe I should tell Jen myself. Maybe that's the push she needs to leave Chicago.

But I can't do it. I won't. It would hurt her too much. She knows I've been with other girls, but not right after our kiss. In this case, timing is everything. I never should've been with that girl, not right after kissing Jen. It was wrong and I shouldn't have done it.

My phone rings and I put it on speaker.

"What do you want?" I ask, seeing it's Rita calling.

"You should be nicer to me," she says. "You don't want to get on my bad side."

"And you don't want to get on mine. Now what do you want?"

"I was thinking about what you said, and I think maybe I shouldn't make Jen pay for that ticket."

I'm quiet, waiting for the catch. There's always a catch. Rita wouldn't just volunteer to pay the ticket after Jen already agreed to do it.

"Bryce, are you there?"

"Hurry up. I don't have all day. Just tell me what this is about. I know you're not paying the ticket."

"No. YOU are."

I let out a laugh. "Yeah, I don't think so."

"Then I guess it's time to tell Jen about the night after graduation."

"So you're blackmailing me? All because of some stupid ticket?"

"You'd be helping Jen out. She'll have to work extra hours to pay for it. You make a lot more than her so you should be the one to pay it."

"No. YOU should be paying it. It's your fucking ticket!" I yell at her.

"Pay the ticket or I tell her."

I take a calming breath, trying to control my anger. "And what are you getting out of this? I know you're not doing this to help Jen."

"I want her to like me again. She hasn't been coming to see me as much as she used to, and I don't like it. I want to see her more."

"She doesn't go over there because every time she does, you give her your fucking bills to pay."

"Well, now she'll have one less to pay. Do we have a deal?"

Am I really doing this? Being blackmailed by Rita? I don't want Jen knowing what I did that night, and I don't want her working more hours just to pay for that ticket.

"Fine." I grit my teeth. "I'll pay it."

"Good boy," she says like I'm a dog. "I knew you'd see it my way."

I end the call before I scream at her again.

I'm at the restaurant now but the lot is full so I park across the street.

"Bryce!" Jen waves at me as I get out of my truck. She's standing near the door to the burger place, her dark blond hair blowing in the breeze. God, she's beautiful. Her mom had me in a shitty mood, but now I'm feeling better, seeing Jen there with that happy smile on her face.

She's wearing a light green cotton dress and a jean jacket. She wears dresses and skirts more often than jeans, and I like that about her. I like that she shows off her girly side, maybe because I'm always surrounded by guys, working in construction and having all brothers. A pretty girl in a dress is a welcome sight, especially when that pretty girl is Jen.

She's so freaking beautiful. I just want to wrap my arms around her tiny body and kiss her.

But instead I hold the door open for her and say, "Sorry for the wait. I hit some traffic."

"It's okay. I don't have class until one-thirty."

We get in line. The whole place is full of college students because we're just down the street from the campus.

"It's on me," I say, "so get whatever you want." I take her backpack from her because I can see it's hurting her shoulder. The thing must weigh at least thirty pounds with all her books in it and Jen doesn't weigh more than a hundred and ten. She's so tiny, and looks even tinier next to me. I'm a foot taller than her and at least a hundred pounds heavier. I'm built wide, like my brothers. We're all big guys.

"Bryce, you're not buying me lunch."

"I just said I was. Did you not hear me?"

She smiles. "Yes. I heard you. What I meant is that—"

"I know what you meant." I set my hands on her shoulders and turn her around toward the menu that's hanging on the wall. "Now hurry up and decide what you want. I'm starving."

"You're always starving." She puts her hands over mine on her shoulders and tilts her head back against my chest. "I'm getting a cheeseburger and fries. How about you?"

"Two double cheeseburgers, two large orders of fries. I'm eating light today."

She laughs. "Yeah, that's half of what you normally eat."

She's kidding. I eat a lot, but not that much. And lately I've been trying to clean up my diet. I've cut back on the burgers and fries and have been eating more chicken and vegetables. My younger brother, Austin, is a health freak and he gave me a food plan to follow but there's no way I'm eating the shit he eats. Salmon, canned tuna, cottage cheese. I know they're high in protein but they're all foods I'd never eat.

Austin also has me on a weight-lifting plan. He's totally ripped so I figure he knows what he's doing. I've been going to the gym with him a lot the past few months because working out helps burn off the stress I feel over Jen leaving in a few months. It's what's best for her, but I'm going to worry about her constantly. And I'm going to miss her so damn bad.

We reach the front of the line and order.

Jen points to her backpack which is slung over my shoulder. "I need my wallet."

I hand the girl at the register a twenty, then say to Jen, "Can you get us a table?"

She sighs. "I'm paying you back."

She walks off as I wait for our food. Jen doesn't like it when I pay for stuff. She'd be okay with it if we were on a date, but as friends, she doesn't like it. She also doesn't let me fix her car, which drives me insane. Fixing cars is a hobby of mine. I actually like doing it, but whenever her car breaks down, she takes it to a mechanic instead of letting me fix it. She says she doesn't like using her friends, meaning she doesn't want to be like her mom. I get that, but letting me fix her car or buy her lunch is not using me. I want to do those things. She's not forcing me to.

"So what do you have going on the rest of the day?" I almost have to yell it at her it's so loud in here, and the tables are so close together that people keep bumping into us with their backpacks and laptop bags.

"I have class at one-thirty and three and then I have to work at the library until seven." She wipes her hands on her napkin and takes a drink of my pop. She ordered water even though I knew she'd want pop. It's a Jen thing. She orders water, trying to be healthy, then sees my pop and wishes she'd ordered pop. So then she ends up drinking mine. This has been going on since freshman year of high school so now I just assume we'll be sharing a drink whenever we go out.

"How about you?" she asks.

"I'll be working until midnight," I say, dunking a wad of fries in some ketchup.

"You really have to work that late?"

"If I don't, we won't be done by Sunday. But Nash and Jake will be back to help tonight. And Austin will be there. Ivy's doing the trim work so she'll be there too."

"And Callie said she's bringing dinner, so I guess I'll be the only one not there."

"You could stop by after work. I'm sure there'll still be food left. You know Callie always makes too much."

"I can't tonight." She takes a drink of my pop, then bobs the straw up and down and takes another sip. That's a benefit of her drinking my pop. Knowing her lips have been where mine just were. It's as close to kissing her again as I'll ever get.

"Jen," a guy says from behind me. He comes around to the side of the table.

It's Chad. I'd been trying to forget about him, but here he is, wearing another pair of khaki pants along with a button-up shirt and a tie, like he's going to work. Who dresses that way for class? He dresses like an old man, but seeing him up close, he looks like a kid. He has a baby face, with not a trace of stubble, unlike me, who's got a five o'clock shadow and it's not even one o'clock. And that hair. He's got so much product in it, it doesn't even move. But he'd need that much product to keep it swept to one side like that.

"Hey," Jen says to him, then glances at me. She's uncomfortable having me around her date. I wonder how it went last night. She never said. But she was home early so it couldn't have gone that well.

"Are we still on for tonight?" he asks.

"Yeah," she says.

So she's going out with him again. Two nights in a row? I guess that means she likes him. I still can't figure out why. For one, Jen likes tall guys and this guy is only 5'9, if that. And he's small. In fact, I bet he even wears size small. Jen likes big guys. And she likes guys with ink, and I pretty much guarantee this guy doesn't have any. He's Mr. Clean Cut. Does what he's told. Never gets in trouble. Probably never even gets mad. Both times I've seen him he's had that stupid smile on his face with those teeth that are so white they could blind you.

"Then I'll see you at seven-thirty." He walks off, not even acknowledging me.

Why the hell would she like that guy? Is that really what she wants? Someone like him? I never imagined her with a guy like that, but maybe that's what she needs. When she's working at some fancy job someday, she can't show up at a work party with a guy like me. A blue collar guy covered in tattoos. She needs someone like Chad, with his shirt and tie and ink-free skin and squeaky clean face with that blinding white smile.

Even if Jen's mom weren't in the picture, Jen still couldn't be with me. I'm bad for her. Bad for her career. Bad for her future.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Jen

"Sorry about that," I bunch up my burger wrapper and toss it on the tray.

"About what?" Bryce asks.

"Chad. He didn't even say hello to you and then he walked off before I could even introduce you."

"I didn't need an introduction. I have a feeling Chad and I wouldn't get along." He adds his wrappers to the tray. "He's that guy from the news, right?"

I laugh. "Yeah, I know. His haircut could use an update."

"What's with the shirt and tie? Does he always dress like that?"

"Only on the days he has his internship. He works at a place downtown."

"Why don't
you
have an internship?"

"Because most internships don't pay and I need to make money."

"If you weren't paying for your mom, you could've had an internship," he says under his breath.