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Why do I care?

Lazily, I sip my beer. “I don’t.”

“You’re acting strange, Caydon. When Reece comes back, you better be nice to her.”

“If she’s with Nash, she’s not coming back Maria.” It’s the truth. Nash will have Reece on the back of his motorcycle in no time. If all works out as planned, he’ll have Reece on her back by the end of the night.

Maria is concerned. Her eyes are darting from me to the door. Fuck. I don’t want her to worry. Shorty’s eyes bear down on me. “What?”

“Try redeeming yourself. Go get Reece,” Shorty demands.

I almost spit my beer out. “I’m not her babysitter.”

“Now.” It’s the way he says it that makes my eyes roll. Reluctantly, I start walking to the door.

Reece is in my life for fucking fifteen minutes and already she has me in trouble with her cousin and my friend.

Fucking women.

I walk out through the door that leads to the garage. It takes me a little longer to get outside because I am dodging couples who are making out.
Wish I were sticking my tongue down someone's throat right now.

Once I reach the street, I fear that I may have missed Reece and Nash. Then I hear Nash revving the engine of his cycle. I hate guys that do that. It’s a clear indication that they have “small dick” syndrome. As I get closer, the asshole does it again.

I approach Nash from behind and get up close so he can hear me. “You can damage your engine if you do that too much!” I yell.

Reece is sitting on the curb looking bored. Her eyes perk up a little when she sees me approach.

Nash cuts the engine. I quickly look at Reece. “Maria wants you inside,” I say flatly.

Reece stands up. She looks relieved. As she attempts to walk past Nash, he grabs her arm. It makes me want to rip his arm off. “Baby, you don’t have to go, yet.”

Man, I hate this prick.
“Yeah. She does.”

Still holding onto Reece, Nash begins to laugh. “She’s not your girlfriend, Caydon. You can’t tell her what to do. By the way, I talked to Hannah the other day. She sounds great.” I know Hannah is in touch with Nash. Her parents are good friends with his parents. Nash is on the ‘acceptable to associate with’ list. What gets me is that she barely has time to talk to me but she can talk to this dickhead.

I clench my fists because if I don’t, the fucker is going down. “Leave Hannah out of this, Nash. Go inside, Reece.” Reece is wary. She would make my life ten times easier if she would walk toward the fucking house.

Finally, she starts to walk but Nash grabs onto her other arm. Now, I’m beyond pissed. If Reece didn’t show up tonight, I wouldn’t have had this run in with Nash. I wouldn’t have been reminded that
my
Hannah still talks to him. I grab Nash’s arm coercing him to let Reece go. She looks frightened. And I have the sudden urge to protect her.

“What do you want to do Reece?” Nash asks her.

I hope she speaks up. If she goes silent again, I’m going to have to let Nash take advantage of her. “Let me go, Nash. I want to go inside.”

I didn’t expect her voice to sound so strong. It’s raspy, deep, and sexy. When I met her a little over an hour ago, she gave the impression that she was weak. It’s the tone of her voice that tells me I was wrong.

“Baby, we were having fun, right? What’s the rush to go back inside?”

Reece cackles, “Fun? No, you were having fun with yourself.”

I can’t help but laugh.

Nash grips her arm harder. I can see the skin on her arm turning purple. The smile I’m wearing fades away. I mentally make the decision to kick his ass. But I’m too late. Reece uses her free arm to punch him in the jaw. Nash lets go of her captured arm and rubs his face. “Fucking bitch!”

Again, I try to get a hit in, but Reece brings her right knee up and crunches Nash’s balls. His hands fall to his dick and he eventually hits the ground, writhing in pain. In her spicy, hoarse voice, she warns Nash, “You need to learn how to play nice with girls. Asshole.” As she walks away wiggling her curvy hips, I can’t help but be in awe and a little turned on.

While I ogle her ass as she goes into the house, I hear the notification sound go off from my phone. I must have a voicemail. I dig my phone from my pocket. Before, I can look at it, I see Nash trying to get up.

“Do yourself a favor. Stay away from Reece. And stay the fuck away from Hannah.”

Nash laughs to himself. “I enjoy it when they fight back, Caydon. By the way, have you talked to Hannah? Do you think that she is still yours? Don’t you know that she was never yours to begin with?”

There’s a lump in my throat. I can’t talk. Nash is probably right. Hannah was never really my girl. Her dad made sure of that. The fact that Nash knows this makes me angry. “Keep your mouth shut before I finish what Reece started.”

“Nope. I’ve been waiting for this day since we were in high school. Once you got Hannah, you strutted around this town like you were something. Truth is, you are nothing but a tatted up piece of white trash. I get why Hannah wanted you. All of the good girls want to slum it…get a taste of the bad boy. When it comes down to it, Caydon, the good girls will always go back to their own kind.”

I fear what he is saying is true. My heart is pounding in my chest. What’s sad is that he’s right. I loved Hannah for all of the wrong reasons. I was trying to prove to everyone that I was worth her attention. It doesn’t make what he is saying any less hurtful. “Yeah, you might be right, Nash. But know this…every good girl wants a bad boy inside of her. Guys like you have to live with the knowledge that even though they are fucking you, they are thinking about me.”

“Maybe. That’s what the hood rats are for, Caydon. I can have the trophy wife and the whores, like Reece.”

I’m done. My fist meets the spot where Reece first hit Nash. He falls to the ground for a second time and doesn’t get up. I spit on the ground next to his head. “Don’t you ever…ever refer to her as a hood rat or a whore. Don’t even look at her.”

Nash groans in pain. Three girls I recognize from previous parties approach us. Two of them drop to the ground to help Nash. They scowl at me while trying to get Nash to stand. The third girl, Summer, looms around me. Summer has had a thing for me as long as I can remember. She’s a pretty, plastic-like blonde. If I were being honest, I’d tap it if I weren’t with Hannah.

“What did he do, Caydon?” Summer is amused.

Nash doesn’t have to do anything. He’s just a dickhead. “You know…acting like typical Nash.”

Summer grabs my arm and leads me toward the house. “C’mon, let’s go inside. Hailey and Harper can take care of Nash.”

When Summer and I reach the door, I tell her to go inside because I want to see who left a voicemail. She’s disappointed, but I don’t give a fuck. When I look down at my phone, fury grows in the depths of my belly. It was Hannah. I missed her call because of fucking Reece and Nash.

“Hi Caydon. It’s Hannah. I had a few minutes to spare. I’m sorry about earlier. I talked to Daddy. I can meet you for a little bit when I come home. Goodnight, Caydon.”

So, that’s it. I will get to see Hannah for a little bit. After three years, that’s all I get. If I had the opportunity to talk to her, I may have been able to convince her to give me more time. This is all Reece’s fault.

I find Reece sitting in the corner with Maria. I don’t fight the rage that’s inside of me any longer. I jerk her up from the chair she is sitting in. In the process, I hit Maria’s arm and her beer splashes against the wall. “What the hell are you doing, Caydon?”

A crowd has now gathered around us, including Summer and her friends. Reece’s brown eyes are wide but there is no fear. “Because of you, I missed a call from my girlfriend and I got into a fight.”
I’m acting like the ‘old’ me. I’m not him anymore.

The corners of Reece’s mouth curl. “I think you have that wrong, Caydon. You started the fight. I finished it.”

My arms rest on each side of the wall caging Reece in. “Listen to me. I know your type. You’re the cute, college girl who plays the quiet, little victim to get a guy’s attention. It’s just a façade to get guys like me and Nash to chase after your pussy.”

Again, she smirks. “Oh, Caydon. It’s not my pussy you are chasing after. Is it?” Reece pushes my arms down and walks around me. Peeking over her shoulder, she quips, “Good luck with Hannah.”

* * *

Since that dreadful night with Caydon, I haven’t left my house except to go to school and to look for a job. Maria is a persistent pain in the ass. Every Friday night she calls, begging me to go out. I am too quick to remind her of the fantastic time I had the last time I went out with her.
Not.

To this day, I still don’t know what I did to Caydon to make him so angry with me. Maria explained his ‘girlfriend’ issues. However, it still doesn’t clarify anything. Caydon should be upset with Hannah, not me.

When I walk through the door of my dad’s modest house, there is an attractive woman sitting at the kitchen table. She appears to be about my dad’s age. Her shoulder-length, brown locks have strong blonde highlights that accent her face. There is something familiar in her honey brown eyes.

My dad is sitting across from her laughing at something she said.
It’s nice to see him laugh again
.

I drop my backpack to the floor and walk to the kitchen. My dad stands up and wraps his arms around my shoulders. I smile at the woman sitting at the table. “Reece, this is my friend, Annalisa.”

Annalisa is as nervous as I am. “Hi, Reece. I’ve heard so much about you.”

This is awkward. I’ve heard nothing about Annalisa. “Wish I could say the same.”

My dad lets go of my shoulders and lets out a nervous laugh. “Annalisa organized one of the fights I participated in. We decided to have lunch a few weeks ago.”

Annalisa’s eyes dart from me to my dad. “Yes, I recognized your dad from high school. Of course, he was a freshman when I was a senior. Your dad used to fight after school for extra cash. They were good times.”

I wonder if Annalisa knew my mom. I decide it is a question that is best left for a later time. “Is that so?” I’m doing my best to be as nice as possible. Flashbacks of my dad’s previous girlfriends invade my mind. True, my dad is more mature now, but I still find it hard to believe that he could settle down.

The woman is struggling talking to me. My dad intervenes, saving us both from awkward silence. “Annalisa has a son that is about your age, Reece. I am hoping to invite them to Thanksgiving this year since it is just the two of us.”

And I was hoping it would be just the two of us.

“Sounds great,” I lie.

“Good. We have a few weeks to plan. But Reece and I can do most of the cooking. Reece is an excellent cook.”
I learned to cook because I didn’t have a choice.

“That sounds wonderful, Mark. And I’m looking forward to helping you in the kitchen.” Annalisa gets up from her chair. “I have to get going. Reece, it was so nice to meet you. I can’t wait until Thanksgiving.”

“I’ll walk you out,” my dad offers.

My dad and Annalisa stroll toward the front door. My stalking abilities take over and I immediately run to the front window to check out what is going on outside. Sure as shit, my dad leans toward Annalisa to kiss her. Once Annalisa is in her car and backing out of the driveway, my dad comes back into the house.

I sit at the kitchen table pretending that I was about to open a book to study. My dad opens the fridge and grabs a beer. His skeptic glare is making me anxious. “What do you think of Annalisa?”

I stare at my dad for a minute. “Does it really matter what I think, Dad?”

“Yes. It does. You are a big part of my life, Reece. I want you to be happy too.”

My dad has a heart of gold. If I said I don’t want him to date right now, he would listen to me. That’s not what I want. I don’t want women coming and going in and out of his life. But I don’t want him to be alone either.

“She’s nice, Dad.” It’s all that I have in me to say. “And she’s pretty.” Her eyes are so beautiful. I know that I have seen the color before I just can’t place where.

There is a genuine smile on my dad’s face. “Thanks, Reece’s Pieces. I knew you would like her.”

“Have you thought about going out with Maria again?” My dad tries to change the subject.

Not happening.
“Yeah, that will never happen again,” I huff out.

“Why not?”

“Her friends are hostile,” I point out.

“Hostile? What happened?”

“Long story. All you need to know is that I kicked a dude’s ass.” I’m kind of proud of myself.

“Way to go, Mike Tyson!” I laugh at my dad. He’s obviously pleased with his parenting skills. I think I learned how to fight before I learned to walk. “That’s my girl.”

“I am my father’s daughter,” I beam.

“You certainly are, Reece’s Pieces.” My dad tussles my hair like he used to do when I was a kid. “How’s the studying going?”

I look at the mound of books on the table. Suddenly, I feel overwhelmed. “I’m doing okay, I guess.”

“Rome wasn’t built in a day. Take one day at a time.” My father is an optimistic person.
Wish I were.

“Thanks, Dad. By the way, I’m glad you met Annalisa. I hope it works out.”
I really do.

“Me too.” My dad walks away with a smile on his face.

* * *

The hot barrel of the curling iron wraps around Maria’s hair creating a long, bouncy wave. I take another strand of hair and repeat the same action. Strand after strand, I create a mass of wavy swirls down Maria’s back.

“Thanks for helping me get ready for my date.” Maria thanks me for the millionth time.

“I don’t mind.” I enjoy doing girly things. It makes me think of my mom before she got out of control. Helping Maria get ready for her one-year anniversary dinner with Shorty is actually kind of fun.

“I’m really sorry that you didn’t have fun at the party. I guess that is why you haven’t come out with me the last few times I’ve asked.”

I’ve been doing a good job of blocking Caydon’s face from my mind. Every now and then, it does pop up. The thoughts I have about him should be more repulsive. Now that Maria mentioned the night of the party, Caydon’s pretty face materializes in my mind. Instead of anger, I feel warm and agitated. I’ll be damned if I let Maria know this. “Parties have never been my ‘thing’. It’s not your fault that I didn’t have fun.”