Recklessly (34 page)

“Uh…for?”

“I’m having this thing at my place...a
small
after-party. You know these events get kinda lame after a while.”

“Can my girlfriend come?”

“I don’t take up much room, I promise…” Lana said with a challenging stare and a quiet laugh.

“And I’m not going anywhere Lana doesn’t want to go…or
can’
t go, so…” Wes added. Sloane breathed out in exasperation and whipped out her cell phone. She typed for a few seconds and Wes’ cell buzzed just as she stopped.

“That’s the address. See you there…you, too, Lana…” She spun and walked away.

“Ouch.
Cat-ty,
” Lana said with a giggle against Wes’ ear. “And they say
I’m
the one with the enchantment down there…Wes Elliott and His Magic Stick. I guess you’re the sequel…”

“Well, you
would
know…” Wes teased back, locking his hands against the small of her back.

“I do!” She wrapped her arms around his neck. “Well, I have a feeling Sloane and elevator girl are just the tip of the iceberg, so I’m gonna grab drinks.”

“Vodka soda, please,” Wes said.

“‘Drinks’
plural
are for me,” she said with a wink. Lana pumped out a friendly wave to Abel, as he approached from the other side of the pool. He looked glum but his expression morphed into something even more stoic when he reached Wes’ side.

“What’s up?”

“Heard from mom. She’s back home from Aunt Vicky’s…” For the last week, their mom had been staying with Charlotte’s mom during a tense period with their dad, and Wes had been ignoring her calls. There was always this internal conflict within him, wanting to involve himself enough to stop the strife between his parents but also needing to cut himself off from it completely.

Fiery frustration speared through him like a hot poker.
Of course she is.
“Yeah? What’d she say?” As much as he didn’t want to know, the question just rolled off his tongue; it was hard not to care, hard not to be angry, hard not to feel utterly fucking helpless.

“Wesley…” Abel said in a disapproving tone.

“Abel…” Wes replied, imitating his tone. “You walked over here…you obviously wanted to tell me something.”

Abel sighed. “She gave me some story about the hassle of separating mortgage and car payments, and courts…and she’s
fine
. And life is
fine
, and she just wants to avoid the whole subject. God, why won’t they just sign the fucking papers and get out of that shit?”

Wes clenched his teeth then smirked at his brother. “So it’s starting to bug you too, finally?”

“It’s always bugged me, Wesley. I just know it gets to
you
more, so I don’t say anything…” Abel trailed off as his gaze lifted behind Wes. “Whoa, that’s Char,” he continued, pointing.

“She’s here?”
Of course, she’s here. It’s a party.
Wes swung around and realized his brother meant the large screen of flashing pictures on the side of the building. “How can you tell? Those faces are, like, twenty feet above us.”

“Ankle tattoo. The purple flower with her parents’ names. The script was nearly as tall as we are.”

“God, does she have to go to every party?” Wes shook his head.

“She’s sort of pissed off at you, right? Let’s surprise her with it. I’m sure the guy with the photos will email it to me. We’ll send a smartass message with it about how she even manages to show up to parties that she’s not physically at,” Abel said, and he was walking toward the man behind the laptop before Wes could respond. Wes followed him, motioning his location to Lana, who had somehow gotten herself caught in a group of surfers’ girlfriends.

“Hey, dude, can we get a picture you had up there about two, three seconds ago?” Abel asked the man, and Wes recognized him as a frequent photographer of the many surfing events he went to. He stepped out of the way and let him and Wes peer down at his screen so they could scroll through the pictures.

“Ah! There it is…” Wes said but he stopped Abel from clicking on the photo when his eyes settled on the ones several pictures over. More of Charlotte, maybe partying a little too hard for his liking. Hypocritical of them, sure, but this was their
little
cousin, and especially with Lana’s suspicions about her drug use. His eyes instinctively drifted down a row.
Brody.
And he suddenly couldn’t look away, scanning more of the pictures, because he hated that Charlotte and Brody were at the same party together.
Then he looked down another row.
Lana.
He gulped. She and Brody weren’t in any pictures together, but it was clear that it was still the same party.
Fuckin’ Brody again.

Were these recent? He couldn’t remember her telling him she’d gone to Orange County. She didn’t have to tell him, but to not mention anything at all?
There was a sudden shift in his heartbeats, which were increasing past the speed from when Abel was speaking about their mom. “Excuse me, sir? When was this? When was this party?”

“Uhh…” The man trailed off as he switched places with Wes. “That was the Surf for Life party, and I uploaded them last week, which meant the party was sometime the week before.”

When Lana was “working like crazy,” according to her
, he thought
.
They had spoken every day when he was in Brazil, and she hadn’t mentioned it at all at any point. In fact, he remembered telling her that it was an event he was missing because of the trip, and she hadn’t said anything about going.
She kept this from me?
Sadness and confusion pulled his stomach tight as he turned to look at her, and he didn’t know if he was more upset that she hadn’t told him or because she was there with Brody. Everything was all tangled in his thoughts.

“Hey, can I talk to you a sec, please?” he asked, approaching her. Lana turned to him with a smile, but it fell away quickly.

“You okay?” she asked as they stepped away from the group.

“You were in Huntington at the Surf for Life party?” he whispered, and she went pale. “How come you didn’t say anything? I’m pretty sure we spoke the night of that party.”

“Fuck.” Remorse filled her features. “Wes, I—”

“So, you weren’t
just
working a lot? You were partying with Charlotte…
and Brody
?”

“No, I was working, Wes. That was true. I was teaching at a Bar Method studio in O.C. that needed some extra instructors, and I’m certified so I can teach anywhere. My regular clients also referred me to some of their friends who live down there.”

“And you happened to be working in O.C. when I was out of town, and then you and Brody just happened to end up at the party you decided not to tell me about? I don’t have a problem with you going to parties, obviously, or having a life outside of me, but why go through the effort of keeping it a secret?”

“Well, because I didn’t tell you everything…”

“Oh, you mean the hanging out with Brody part? Uh, that’s lying by omission, Lana. And just like regular lying, it all ends up in the same place! With us getting into an argument. Is that the only thing you’re keeping from me? It only happened that week?”

Her glass slipped from her hand and crashed to the pool deck as she reached to touch him. “You know I would
never
cheat on you, right? I meant what I said; I’m not
in love
with Brody. I don’t
love
him, either. Look, since I knew you were going to be out of town, I figured it was also a good time to handle Sadie stuff, so I decided to work in O.C. as well and crash with a friend, so I could spend the time down there without commuting back and forth. I changed my
Vices
schedule and everything. Brody and I made plans to meet with the Olins and figure out how to handle interactions during their last few weeks here. I didn’t even want to be at that stupid party. I went to coax Brody out of changing his mind about meeting up with them. He’s been frustrated that he can’t just get his way with the Olins and meet Sadie on his terms, and he was ready to give up on having a relationship with them and her. I just want him to have his shit together, so he can be a part of her life.”

Wes growled in exasperation. “Give up? He probably never even wanted to be a part of her life. He really just wanted to see you! Or bait me ‘cause he knew I would find out about it.”

“You’re still stuck on this Brody thing! Like you have been since you found out our history.
You’ve
let it be a wedge between us! I’m not the wave he stole from you, Wes. I don’t give a fuck what Brody’s intentions are with
me
. My only interest is Sadie!” she shot back.

“He’s a d-bag. Maybe she’s better off, Lana…”

Lana pulled away from him and crossed her arms over her chest. “I don’t need your advice. This situation existed before you.”

“And, uh, yeah, a lot of things in my life existed before you, too, and I make an effort to tell you everything! You never even have to ask!” Wes said.

“Well maybe if you weren’t being so psycho about this Brody thing—”

“Psycho?
Psycho
?” His eyes widened in shock as annoyance ripped through him. “Wow, Lan.”

Her face softened. “Okay…I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that…” She dropped a wary hand on his shoulder. “I shouldn’t have called you a name.”

It was Wes’ turn to step back; he didn’t need this on top of his parents’ bullshit. “He’s been trying to
fuck you
this whole time, just like I thought, but I’m the one being psycho. He’s probably been having a really good laugh at my expense, too, knowing I’m getting angry at him over my girlfriend and then being cordial and shaking his hand in elevators, when you’re spending time with him behind my back! You know how that makes me look? You know how that makes me feel?” Wes’ eyes narrowed on her.

Bitterness turned her face to steel. “Wes, you won’t just let me handle Brody. I was doing things
my way
before we started dating, okay? Yeah, I wasn’t a hundred percent truthful, but you don’t trust
me,
anyway, clearly. You think Brody’s supposed desires would somehow override the fact that he was too much of a coward to admit that we were
really
together once? But more importantly, my faithfulness to you? And my feelings for you? I’m being civil to him against my better judgment because of Sadie. That’s always the case. And how can I tell you about any of this when you’re going to be stubborn, shut down because of your issues with him, and not try at all?!”

“Not try? Not try?! I tried in the elevator for
you
! I tried at my U.S. Open party for
you
! Bending over backwards
for you
when he’s apparently trying to bend—”

“Don’t you fucking dare!” she shouted. She clenched her fists at her sides. “Don’t you fucking even say that shit.”

“I’m outta here.” Wes spun, finally getting a chance to see that most of the party guests were staring at them as he headed for the elevator. Without even turning around, he knew Abel was on his heels, and he slid in behind him right before the doors closed. Wes pressed the G button and sighed.

“What was that about?”

“She was secretly seeing Brody while we were in Rio and lying to me about it.”

“Whoa. What? She’s fucking him?”

Wes shook his head. “Not cheating, just not telling me the truth about them spending time together. I mean, I know it’s an adjustment for her letting me into this situation, but…” The doors popped open. “Fuck. I just need to walk this off alone, and she doesn’t know a lot of people here. Stay with her, please.” Wes pushed the up arrow and jumped out of the elevator. He went to the place that always soothed him: the beach, which was just across the street from the hotel. He walked straight up to the edge of the water, nodding politely to the people out there, too. His chest was tightening and he was already regretting what had transpired, but it was just one fight. They had argued a little earlier at the Expo but that was normal. In a weird way, this blowup was a milestone marking the end of the honeymoon period.
Fuck. This wasn’t the place to have this conversation. I hurt her.

Wes pulled out his phone about fifteen minutes later and sent her a text:
I love you. On my way back.

He went back into the hotel, headed for the pool deck, and ran into Abel as soon as the doors opened. “Fuck, I overreacted, didn’t I?” Wes said solemnly. “I mean, I’m mad and I’m sure I’m right, but I should’ve waited until I had cooled down a bit instead of having it out right there. My head just got crowded in the heat of the moment —Charlotte, mom and dad, and then finding out she was spending time with Brody like that. Why am I telling you this? Where’s Lana?”

“She’s not with you?” Abel asked, growing concerned.

Wes’ heart dropped. “Um…no…” He pushed past him and moved through the party crowd, with his cell phone pressed to his ear, calling her. In the short time he’d been downstairs, the place had filled up with more attendees. “Lana! Lana!” Her cell rang until it went to voicemail.

“Wes!” Christian strode in his direction, his expression matching Abel’s. “Are you all right?”

“Have you seen Lana?” He was edging into panic.

“Nope. Is something wrong? Is she all right?”

“I don’t know…I can’t find her. We had a fight and I left. And I think
she
left. She’s not answering. You seen her?”

“No…sorry, not since earlier.” Christian patted him on the shoulder.

“Fuck! I just want to find my girl, dude.”

“Maybe she went down to the room?” The room. He was so out of it, he hadn’t even thought about that until Christian mentioned it.
She probably went downstairs, took a shower and fell asleep,
Wes thought and relief washed over him. He went to the bar first and ordered a drink, vodka on the rocks. He needed it and he drank it straight down.

“Brody slept with your girlfriend…” someone next to him said, and Wes slammed the glass back to the bar before he had a chance to make a stupid decision with it. Teetering close to fury, he turned a scowl to the guy, and recognized him as one of Brody’s friends. Mr. Magical Box. “Whoa. No beef, Deuce…” Although he had a menacing look on his face, he held up his hands in surrender. “I mean,
years ago
. That’s how they made the kid, right? I’ve seen Lana at his place before.”