Collide: A Riverbend Novel (16 page)

“Oh I am. Don’t you worry
for one second, Aunt Jenn.”

Aunt Alyson laughed and
gave me a sideways hug. “Boy you better stop growing or they’re
gonna have to make a special house for you! Please tell me you plan
on playing basketball like your father did?”

“No ma’am. I tend to stay
as far away from sports as possible.”

“Ah, you must be one of
them hipsters. I forgot. Too cool for school,” Aunt Alyson teased.
We all laughed.

I looked at Reese. “See you
two met Reese.”

“She’s lovely!” They both
squealed at the same time. I nodded and took a good look at her.
Was there a good reason she looked so good? Not that I’m
complaining but I have male cousins that are on their way who will
notice her low cut shirt and skin tight jeans. And why is her hair
all straight and fixed? And make up? Then it hit me. Mom was all
over this situation. She was so dead. The door opened, and I could
hear squeals and laughter. I knew everyone else must have just
walked in. I gave Reese one last look then turned around. I had the
immediate urge to stand in front of her with my arms sprawled out
to the sides to block her.
Nothing to see
here, she’s mine, carry on with your lives.
Then mom just had to come over. She grabbed Reese’s arm and
guided her to the center of everyone. Did anyone else think it was
hot in here? Or was it just me? Oh that was just me and my anger
making my blood boil when I saw the way Matt and Aiden looked at
Reese. Mom introduced her to everyone and they all “oohed and
ahhhed” like she was a pretty new car.

Matt walked over and patted
my shoulder. “Hey, your sister is nice.” As in nice he meant hot,
and I wanted to punch him in the face.

“She’s not my sister,” I
mumbled. I needed a cigarette. But mom would bitch, and I didn't
feel like hearing it after everyone left.

“Dinner time!” Mom
announced and everyone congregated to the dining room.

We have a small table in
the kitchen but the dining room has a large table we use for
holidays. I sat down and watched while everyone else took a seat. I
wasn’t particularly happy when Matt and Aiden sat on either side of
Reese. I saw Garrett watching me from the corner of his eye. He
knew me too well. It was only a matter of time before I claimed
what was mine and I’d fight tooth and nail to let everyone know she
belonged to me.

As dinner went on, everyone
talked and got caught up on everything since the last time we saw
them. I found a new love for ranch potatoes smothered in bacon and
cheese. They were amazing and the only thing semi-distracting me
from my two cousins making googley eyes at my girl. I was just
about to enjoy another bite when Aiden turned his attention to me.
He was pre-med at Harvard and thought of himself as a god of
brilliance.

“So, Havock. You haven’t
said a word.”

“The potatoes seem to have
shut me up.” I honestly didn’t mean for my tone to be so asshole
like that time, but it did. I wasn’t apologizing,
though.

“They are good. I hear
Garrett got accepted to Florida State on a football scholarship.
Have you decided what you’re going to do? It’s about time to
decide, don’t ya think?”

“I have decided.” I wished
everyone would stop looking at me and enjoy their food.

“And what have you
decided?” he asked with a condescending grin. He knew I was smart
as hell and it intimidated him. It always had. No one could out do
Aiden, he'd make sure of that.

“That I’m undecided.” I
smirked and shoved my mouth full of potatoes before I could say
anything else. He laughed and so did everyone else. Everyone else
except my princess. By the look on her face, she knew he was
pushing my buttons.

Aiden nodded. “Right. And
that will get you where in life?”

“Anywhere I
want.”

“You have to do something
for money.”

“I’ve saved plenty of money
to have time to decide. I want to travel for a while. Get to know
this big world we live in before I decide what I want to be when I
grow up.”

"What on earth could you
have done to save up enough money?” He laughed.

Does anyone else at this
table besides Reese see what he’s doing right now? She’s too nice
to shut him up. And if I shut him up it won’t be good. Someone
could make him stop any second now. I looked at his mom, Aunt Jenn.
I turned my eyes back to him.

“Since I was old enough to
use a lawn mower I mowed yards in the summer and when I was old
enough to actually have a real job, I started work at Bill’s Auto
Repair. I help him out in the summers. Mom won’t let me work during
school or I would. I’ve saved every penny. Do the math. Or do you
need a calculator?”

Everyone’s faces turned
serious. My last comment was the kicker. Mom looked at me in shock.
If there was ever a time I was on my best behavior it was at these
stupid gatherings to make her happy.

“Havock! Apologize to your
cousin!”

“
Seriously?! Am I the only
one who noticed what he was doing?! He was pushing my buttons on
purpose!” He did that all the time. Just not in front of
everyone.

“Havock, apologize! He was
not! He was just asking you questions like normal people do!” Mom
was fuming.

“Like normal people do?” I
laughed coldly. Sorry mom, but shits about to get real in here. “He
was taunting me because he knows that I could take his pre-med
bullshit and dance circles around it! He wants to be the big
success in the family and I’ve always intimidated him! He wants to
see me fail!” And that was the truth. In everything he has always
tried to be better than me. Trip me up if he saw I was doing
something better than he was. It was so damn annoying. Everyone’s
eyes were huge. Maybe I went overboard, but just before he decided
to play 100 questions, I saw him flirting with Reese and it sent me
over the edge. Everyone started awkwardly playing with their food,
but dad and mom kept their eyes on me. I knew I wasn’t welcomed at
my own dinner table, so I stood and walked outside. I couldn’t
stand to be in there any longer.

It wasn't long and I felt a
tug on my pant leg. I looked down and saw Scott. "Hey," Reese said
from the other side of me. She looked at the snow falling down and
smiled. "I've never seen so much snow here. It's really coming
down." She laughed a little as Scott started trying to catch snow.
He'd barked at it, wagged his tail, and then bit at it.

I pulled a cigarette from
my pocket and lit it. "Go inside, Reese."

Her smile faded. She walked
off after Scott. She scooped him up and went back inside. I heard
the door close but then it opened again. Garrett came and sat next
to me on the tailgate of my truck.

"Plan on staying out here
all night?"

I flicked the ashes off my
cigarette. "Do you plan on being annoying the rest of the
night?"

"Could you be serious long
enough to have real conversation?"

"I can try, but I'm not
promising anything."

"I knew what he was doing
but you can't let shit get to you like that. He wanted to piss you
off. You should've just let it roll off your shoulders and not let
him get to you like that."

"I should do a lot of
things..."

I finished my cigarette and
stood. "Are we done here?"

"Whatever," Garrett said
then followed me inside.

I would've sat down by
Reese but my two cousins were firmly planted beside her.

I rolled my eyes and got a
chair from the dining room and pulled it into the living
room.

"Time for our family game
of charades!" Mom said excitedly.

I should've stayed
outside.
Aiden tried to pet Scott but Scott
snipped at his fingers and snuggled closer to Reese. Reese smirked
then petted his head.

"Alright, time to break up
into teams." Mom gave everyone a few minutes to split
up.

"What's charades?" Reese
asked Matt.

I looked at Reese. "It's
dumb. You don't have to play if you don't want to."

Mom cut her eyes at me then
looked at Reese. "Don't listen to him. It's so much
fun!"

Mom then filled her in on
how to play.

I was going to refuse to
play, but I've caused enough trouble tonight.
Mom put Reese in a group with Matt and Aiden. She held Scott
and looked uncomfortable. I watched as Matt and Aiden's eyes
flicked to her chest.

Garrett pulled up a chair
next to me and nudged me with his elbow. "They leave tomorrow," he
whispered.

"Plenty of time to kill
them in their sleep." I didn't whisper.

Mom looked at Garrett and
I. "You boys get to go first."

Reese chewed on her lip to
keep from laughing. She looked pale. Really pale.

Mom brought the bowl over
with the different things written on folded up paper. Garrett
pulled a paper out and looked at it then showed it to me. I was
worried about Reese. She probably hadn't checked her sugar with
everything going on, but I knew if she needed to she would. Maybe
she was just nervous. Reese excused herself from the room for a
moment. She whispered to mom then went up stairs with Scott. I
wanted to follow but that would be suspicious. If something was
wrong mom would've followed her.

Garrett and I discussed how
we'd act out being a janitor. I talked Garrett into being the
toilet bowl. I, all of a sudden, loved this game when he knelt on
the floor and made his arms in a circle out in front of him. He
looked like an idiot, especially when he stuck out his tongue as
the flush handle. I took off my shoe to be the toilet scrubber and
pretended to scrub around his arms.

Our team was shouting out
answers when dad finally got it.

"A cleaner person...I
mean...oh shoot...JANITOR!"

Reese had come back down
and she smiled and laughed at us.
I sat
down, thankful my turn was over, but more thankful she looked a lot
better. Her eyes locked on mine a second and she smiled.

Mom wrote down a point for
our team on her notepad then went over to Reeese. "You want to go
for our team? You and Aiden?"

I bit my tongue.
Reese looked nervous and looked like she wanted to
say no but everyone agreed so she did it. She looked at me and
walked over. She handed me Scott then walked back over to
Aiden.

Scott snuggled against me
but watched Reese's every move. When Aiden touched her he growled a
little. Well, a puppy growl.

"Good boy," I whispered as
I pet him.

"Smart dog," Garrett said
with a smile.

Scott licked mine and
Garrett's hands then watched Reese who looked
uncomfortable.

Aiden kept leaning in close
to whisper in her ear and look down her shirt. Was, I the only one
who noticed? Reese kept taking a step back or leaning away.
I handed Scott to Garrett. Garrett was kicking my
foot with his, but I didn't turn to look at him. I kept my eyes on
Aiden and Reese.
They started acting, Reese
tentatively laid down. Her eyes closed. Aiden pretended to drink
something then smirked mischievously. He then kissed Reese. Reese's
eyes popped open in shock then she pushed him away. By the look on
her face that had not been part of the plan.
Aiden laughed and took a bow. As he started to come back up. I
was standing eye to eye with him.

He laughed a little. "What
the hell cuz?"

“Havock?” Mom said
suspiciously.

I shoved him hard so he
fell back onto the couch. The room feel silent. I held out my hand
to help Reese stand up.
Reese took it and
got up. Her cheeks were bright red.
I
didn't let go of her hand as I led her to the chair I was sitting
in on the other side of the room.

"Kitchen, NOW!" Mom yelled
as she pointed at me.

I followed her
in.

"What the hell is wrong
with you?!" she snapped as she started cleaning up the kitchen. I
don't think she knew she was cleaning, she was just so mad she had
to do something to keep her hands from strangling me.

"Did you not see the look
on her face?! He made her uncomfortable!" And she's mine. Not his.
Not Garrett's. Not Matt's or any other guys. She is
mine
.