Return of the Jerk (Sweet Life in Seattle, Book 2) (4 page)

Tori laughs. “Very funny. I just talked to Road. I want you guys to come over tomorrow.”

“Why?”

“Because I haven’t seen my brother in ages, and I want to see you, too. Oh, and my mom’s throwing a ‘welcome home’ party for him this weekend, and you have to come to that.”

Blair gets into Isadora’s driver’s seat. “
Me
, why?”

“Because you’re invited, that’s why.”

“I can’t believe you gave Road my address. You could have at least warned me.”

“Look, I didn’t know he was planning to stay with you. I gave him that address months ago.”

Blair wonders if that’s the truth, or if Tori thought she was being helpful in some misguided way. They talk some more and Tori still tries to convince her to come to the party, with Blair finally agreeing to think about it.

After they hang up, she heads over to the library. She remembers how Road used to occasionally hang out at the library downtown back when they were in high school. She’d noticed him there one afternoon, sitting in a remote corner with a book. It had surprised her. As far she could tell, Road’s life centered around football, partying, and girls, with the priorities changing weekly. His whole family used to show up for his games, all of them drunk and rowdy, hollering over every play. Luckily, he was good, so they were usually hollering with approval.

When Blair mentioned seeing Road at the library, Tori told her how Road also kept a secret journal. “I found it under his mattress next to a couple of
Penthouse
magazines.”

“Did you read it?”

“No,” Tori admitted. “That didn’t seem right.”

Blair agreed it wasn’t right, though she wished she could read it anyway. What did he write about? Did he ever mention her? She doubted it. He barely knew she was alive.

The next time Blair saw Road at the library, she decided to push through her normal shyness and say hello to him.

“Hey.” He glanced up at her then looked back down. She noticed he didn’t use her name. She’d bet money he didn’t know what it was, even though she hung out with Tori and was at his house all the time.

“What are you reading?”

He glanced up again. “Nothing much, just doing homework.”

Blair knew he was lying. He did homework at his girlfriend’s house after football practice. She knew his schedule inside and out, the secretary he didn’t know he had.

“Can I see?” she asked.

“It’s just homework.”

“What kind?”

“Nothing.”

“That book looks familiar. What is it?” She knew she was being bizarre, but couldn’t help herself. Her curiosity was overwhelming.

Finally, he showed her the cover. It was
The Razor’s Edge
,
and she sucked in her breath. “I love that book!” It was one of her all-time favorites.

“You’ve read it?” Road’s eyes widened.

“I’ve read it like three times.”

“So have I,” he admitted.

“Larry is an interesting character, don’t you think? And Isabel, wow, she made some awful choices.”

Road laughed. “Yeah, I agree.”

He reached over to take his backpack from the chair next to him so she could have a seat. She discovered that Road was surprisingly well-read, though he played it down. Blair got the sense few people, if any, knew he liked to read. She tried to imagine the kind of grief his friends would have given him. Apparently, there was more to his life than partying, girls, and football after all. They talked for a while, and though Road didn’t exactly fall in love with her that day, one thing did change for the better.

Every time he saw her after that, he knew her name.

Blair manages to stretch her errands out all day by going over to see her parents, who live in an upper-middle-class Seattle neighborhood near Lake Washington. On the way over, she replays her conversation with Tori and decides there’s little chance she’ll want to go to a homecoming party for Road.

When she arrives at her parents’ house, she sees her dad’s at work, but finds her mom in her studio—an extension they built on the back of the house. Her mom took early retirement a couple years ago from a successful corporate career to become a painter.

“Hey, Mom.” Blair cringes a little as she always does when she’s surrounded by her mother’s paintings. The canvases are huge and they’re all various sizes, shapes, and colors of cacti.

Cacti that happen to look like penises.

Blair walks over to where her mom is mixing some cerulean paint. Her mom’s red hair, the same cinnamon shade as her own, is pulled back into a high, messy knot. Her shirt is covered with paint splashes. “What do you think?” Her mom motions at her current work in progress.

Blair’s eyes roam over the cacti penises. There’s a group of them in this painting, all lined up like little soldiers—a smorgasbord of prickled dicks. “Looks good.”

Her mom has pursued her painting with the same single-minded determination she does everything in her life and as a result, she’s quite successful. A few galleries in town carry her work, and she also sells her paintings on the Internet. Blair knows her mom manages her art with a keen eye for business and keeps close track of all expenses and inventory. Unlike the usual messy artist’s studio, her mom’s is organized down to the last paintbrush and tube of paint.

“I’ve already sold this one,” she tells Blair proudly. “Just putting on the finishing touches.”

Blair nods. “That’s fantastic.”

“So, what’s up?”

“Road showed up at my condo this morning.”

Her mother’s eyes widen. “Well, that’s good, right? You can finally file for divorce.”

“That’s true.” Her parents were never crazy about her city hall marriage to Road, and of course, hated him after he left.

“I’m having a gallery event in a couple weeks. I hope you can make it,” her mom tells her. She’s cleaning some paint brushes with a terry cloth rag. “Why don’t you bring Graham?”

“Sure, I’ll ask him.”

“Ian can’t make it, but Scott and Ashley already said they’re coming. Apparently, they have an announcement. I have a feeling they might be getting engaged.”

“Really?” Blair wasn’t sure what to say to this. Ian and Scott are her two younger brothers. Ian is a civil engineer who travels a lot for work, while Scott works at Microsoft. Unfortunately, Scott’s girlfriend is something of a twit. Yes, Ashley is skinny and pretty, but she’s shopping-obsessed and lives at the mall. She also squeals a lot. Blair has tried to befriend her, but it’s impossible.

“Though I could be wrong.” Her mom shrugs.

Blair imagines Ashley as her sister-in-law. She isn’t crazy about the idea, but figures as long as Scott’s happy, that’s what matters.

When she arrives back at her condo, Road isn’t there. The bedding is still in a neat pile on the couch where she left it, and his leather bag is gone. It’s late, just past nightfall. There’s a pizza box on the kitchen counter with half of it missing, so obviously he ate dinner before leaving. She stayed and had dinner with her parents and was feeling guilty for ditching Road, but not anymore. Now, she’s glad.

He left without a word!

She shouldn’t care, should be relieved, but instead she’s pissed. She lets out one frustrated breath after another as she starts putting all the groceries away. The veggies and chicken for his stir fry. The beer.

Rude jerk!

She still doesn’t see Mr. Maurice anywhere, and when she’s done with the groceries starts searching for him. She checks on her deck. The sliding glass door has a pet door built in and he likes to sit outside, but she doesn’t see him and finally goes to check under her bed.

When she enters her bedroom, though, she stops. There’s someone lying in her bed.

It’s Road.

She glances down and sees his bag next to her dresser, his computer on her nightstand. The window blinds are closed.

He didn’t leave after all.

A strange mix of emotions runs through her, relief followed by irritation. Blair moves forward slowly, trying to be quiet. Road is asleep on his stomach—head to the side, hands tucked under the pillow. He’s not wearing a shirt, and her eyes drift down his muscular back. The room is dark, but with the light from the hall, she can see the new ink is a mandala. And as she moves closer to get a better look, she finally finds Mr. Maurice.

“There you are!” she whispers.

Mr. Maurice, her large gray tabby, is sitting beside Road. His tail flickers as his golden eyes take her in. He gets up and comes to her, so she sits down on the edge of the bed to pet him.

“I thought you were still hiding.”

Mr. Maurice purrs, rubbing against her hand.

Road shifts position. One of his legs escapes from under the sheet, dusted with dark blond hair.

When she glances up to his face, she’s surprised to discover his eyes are open, watching her. He doesn’t say anything and for some reason, it reminds her of her erotic dream, the one where he torments her in a shadow-filled room.

Their eyes meet and stay on each other. Seconds go by. Neither of them speaks, and Blair gets the peculiar sense that Road is finally seeing her. That he’s noticed her at long last.

But then she remembers all the other times she got her hopes up over the years, and how they were always crushed.

She turns away and concentrates on petting Mr. Maurice. “You’re supposed to be sleeping on the couch,” she finally says.

“Couldn’t. It was too bright.”

Blair sighs to herself. Seattle is gray and rainy most of the time, but of course, today was sunny.

“How did your errands go?” he asks, his voice husky with sleep. “Did you buy groceries?”

“Yes, I got everything you wanted.”

“Why were you gone so long?”

Blair sniffs. “I was avoiding you, if you must know.”

He grumbles at that. “Had to order pizza. Didn’t want pizza.”

“Why didn’t you just go out to eat? There’s plenty of restaurants nearby.”

“You didn’t give me a key.”

He’s right. She didn’t give him a key, and she doesn’t intend to, either.

“You’re going to have to move to the couch now,” Blair says firmly. “You can’t sleep in here anymore.”

He doesn’t move.

“Look, you have to leave.”

“Too tired, babe.” His eyes close.

“I need to go to bed, though.”

Road shrugs. “So? Get in bed. Nobody’s stopping you.”

“I can’t sleep with you in here!”

“What do you think is going to happen, princess?”

“
Nothing
is going to happen.”

His eyes open at that. “Then what are you afraid of?”

“I’m not afraid of anything.”

He smirks. “You
did
say you needed more sex. Maybe I’m the one who should be afraid here.”

“That’s not what my list said!”

He closes his eyes again, still smiling. “Unfortunately, I’m too beat with jet lag to help you out tonight. Maybe tomorrow, but only if you ask me nicely.”

She scoffs. “You’re so full of yourself.”

He chuckles softly.

Blair studies him in the darkened room. His back is exposed, the white sheet draped across his middle. “You’re not naked under there, are you?”

“Come find out.”

She tugs on the sheet a little, pulls it lower on his hip until she sees it. The band that shows he’s wearing underwear.

Mr. Maurice, who has gone back to his spot beside Road, is watching her. She’s surprised he’s being friendly. His tail twitches and his eyes narrow, as if he’s waiting to see what Blair is made of. Despite his shyness, Mr. Maurice loves to throw attitude.

Blair sighs and gets up, going into the bathroom to change into her pajamas—a white T-shirt from La Dolce Vita and a pair of loose men’s boxer shorts. Then brushes her teeth.

She checks to make sure the front door is locked and all the kitchen appliances are unplugged.

When she heads back into the bedroom, Road is already asleep, so she slips into bed beside him. She lies still for a moment, but then starts to wonder about the door.

Did I turn the deadbolt?
She resists the urge to check it again, but the familiar anxiety sets in and she knows she won’t be able to sleep unless she gets up. She goes out to check the door again, along with the kitchen appliances.