Riley's Pond (New Adult Romance) (2 page)

“She likes her
sweetheart
in boxers sprinkled with tiny red hearts?”

“Depends . . . are the boxers on or off?” I answered, shutting him down. I licked my finger and drew an imaginary,
shaky
#1 in the air. “One for the ‘boy,’ zero for the ‘Copper’.” His middle finger gave me a pointed salute. “Nice. Way to corrupt the impressionable minor,” I smirked.

“You
impressionable
? That’s a crock.”

I swallowed the lump in the back of my throat, ready to ask the ultimate question. “Where’s my dad?”

“In the kitchen.”

The breath I held came out in a rush and I fought to keep from collapsing against a surge of dizziness. I folded, leaned on my knees and willed the wave of nausea to cease. “He’s okay?”

“Yeah. He wasn’t in the cruiser.” Pete stepped closer, placing a hand on my shoulder. “Riley?”

I waved him away and straightened. “I’m fine.” My brow puckered. “If Dad wasn’t in the car, then who—” The look on Pete’s face answered my question. “Shit. Jaxson?”

“Afraid so.”

“Damn! What happened? Is he hurt? Where’s Mom?”

Pete’s radio squawked again and he tipped his chin towards the dining room.

I hesitated outside the doorway. Once I crossed the threshold, I’d be sucked into the drama vortex my older brother created. Jaxson proved a magnet for trouble. When the two collided, my life became a living hell. The pressure on me to be the shining example doubled when Jax’s bad behavior threatened to embarrass our family, or corrupt my younger brother.

White glass half-moons covered the glowing bulbs on the fixture overhanging the table, the light way too bright for 3:30 A.M. The kitchen and dining area presently served as the “Martin Family Crisis Control Center.” Dad dictated authority on his phone, pacing the length of the kitchen unaware of my presence. I watched him purposely calculate each footstep to land precisely in the center of a floor tile. A perfectionist to a fault.

Charlie Adams, the owner of the other police unit flashing out front, engaged in a conversation with the tow truck driver as where to take Dad’s wrecked cruiser. They paused and while neither said anything
,
Charlie’s eyes checked off my shorts and the hint of a smile pulled a corner of his mouth.

“Riley.”

“Charlie.”

Mom bustled in from the laundry room and dropped a pile of freshly dried towels onto the dining room table. The smell of fabric softener overpowered the aroma of fresh coffee brewing. I’d watched my mother handle many uncontrollable situations over the years and discovered she dealt best with the stress by
doing
something. Tonight’s project: folding laundry.

Swollen eyes and cheeks shimmered with tears, transformed her otherwise pretty face. Her cherry red nose rivaled “Rudolf’s” and wads of tissues bulged in her robe pockets. My stomach dipped.

“Mom?”

She looked up, surprised. Her bloodshot blue eyes blinked a few times and she gazed about the room as if dropped from outer space, having no idea where she landed. I walked around the table and put my arms around her. She turned into me, laying her wet face against my chest and her shoulders shook when I pulled her tighter.

“Mom, forget the laundry,” I whispered, placing a kiss on top of her snarled hair. “Tell me what’s going on.”

Dad’s choreographed steps halted when he saw me. His gaze immediately landed to my boxers. A slight shake of his head momentarily interrupted the conversation with whoever’s ear he bent. His fingers scrubbed the thinning stubble on top of his head and he resumed his pacing…one step per tile.

Mom guided me to the sofa in the small sitting area off the kitchen. Her voice trembled. “It’s Jaxson.”

“Duh. Isn’t it
always
Jax?” I huffed. She pressed a finger to my lips to stop me before I started one of my Jaxson rants. “Where is he?”

“The hospital.”

“The
hospital
? Crap. How bad? Why aren’t you there?” I asked feeling a niggle of fear at her possible answer.

“Your father wanted to tell me in person and take me himself. It’s nothing life threatening, but still, having one of my boys hurt—”

Suddenly, Dad hovered over us, his expression mixed with anger and angst. “Bev, get dressed. We need to go. Jax will be out of surgery soon and I want to make sure
my
face is the first thing he sees when his eyes open. I’d like to kick his sorry ass to the moon,” he grumbled walking away. “
Bev!
Now!”
he yelled from the stairwell.

My little brother had to be in a coma if not awakened by Dad’s loud demand.

“I’ll call you with details from the hospital. Take care of Dirk, and make sure you’re both out the door in time for school.” She paused at the banister, giving me a no-nonsense glare. “You told me you got rid of those boxers, Riley. Cheeky girl.” I opened my mouth to argue, but she’d already quickened her pace before Dad yelled again.

**

I never officially went back to bed. Instead, I curled under a lap quilt and settled in Dad’s recliner in a dark corner of the sitting room. I played
dead
and listened to Pete and Charlie’s hushed conversation as they wrote their report. The gist of what happened, involved Jaxson getting drunk at some party—a favorite pastime, and stealing Dad’s cop car. What an idiot. However, the title needed clarification as to who officially had earned it.

Dad apparently left his keys in the ignition and the doors unlocked. He’d taken over a graveyard patrol shift because one of his deputies called in sick, and stopped by the house to use the bathroom. He only planned to take a minute, figuring no sane person would be out at one o’clock in the morning on a weeknight. Especially in the boondocks where we lived. He was right. No
sane
person lurked—just his
insane
offspring. His pride and joy and the neighborhood embarrassment, Jaxson Martin, my dad’s favorite jailbird and eldest son.

The whispered report confirmed Dad’s “minute” turned into an entire newspaper section of reading. Meanwhile, Jaxson helped himself to the patrol car. Pete and Charlie speculated, based on some evidence, Jaxson played chauffer to a couple having a “romantic interlude” in the backseat, while he probably received some personal attention from his girlfriend. The end result—Jaxson lost control of the car and crashed into the city’s new stone marquee.

Chips of granite smashed the cruiser’s windshield and those of two parked cars across the street, setting off a melody of alarms and waking the fine citizens of Wellsville. The backseat lovers apparently bailed, leaving intimate apparel strewn across the floor. Jaxson’s partner wandered off until she passed out under a tree a few feet away. The paramedics found Jaxson unconscious and gouged by some twisted metal off the steering wheel.

I worried about my stupid brother, whose insides were being rearranged by doctors at the moment. However, this was by far the dumbest stunt Jaxson had pulled. If what Pete and Charlie said proved true, Jax could find himself spending a long time inside a jail cell.

**

Cold water pounded my back before I gathered the wherewithal to shut the shower off. School. I dragged my naked, dripping body across the hall and face planted into the center of my mattress.

“Your butt’s whiter than an Albino’s,” Dirk said.

My head felt too heavy to lift, but I saw Dirk’s face, twisted with disgust, reflecting off the glass covering Kaylee’s photo on the night table.

“You checking me out little bro?” I teased.

“Ewwe! Gross! No way!” he grimaced.

“Close the door and go get ready for school. I’ll be down in a minute and fix breakfast.” No matter what crisis evolved, Mom insisted our lives remained normal as possible, and ditching school was never an option.

Inching my body upright, I blinked against what felt like tiny razor slices along my lashes. I stretched a T-shirt over my head, wondering if the naked silhouette covering my chest would earn me an excuse to come home and crash. Pulling jeans up my legs drained my last energy reserves. The socks on the floor passed the smell test to be worn another day before being tossed in the dirty clothes hamper. I yawned the same time I pushed my foot into my shoes and stumbled into my desk.

“Damn,” I hissed, shaking the numbness out of my hand. I shoved the math book lying on my dresser into my backpack, snatched my iPod from its docking station, and the sweatshirt off the hook behind my door. I’d need to hide beneath the hood with earphones pushed in my ears to catch some serious ZZZ’s in English. Good thing Bruiser sat in front of me. He was big enough to shield me from Mrs. Bornstein’s iPod thieving eyes.

I tossed a slice of toast onto a plate and slid it down the counter to Dirk, engrossed in some handheld video game. “Put that away.”

“My toast is burned,” he complained.

“So? Shut up and eat. You’ve got ten minutes until your bus comes.” I held my own piece of toast between my teeth, refusing to bite.
Beyond
burned
.

Dirk started whining and the sound grated inside my skull. “Where’s Mom? I don’t want to take the bus. Give me a ride, Riley.”

Mom didn’t give me any instructions past feeding Dirk. Explaining
why
I fed him was another story. I spit my toast into the garbage and grabbed my backpack. “Hey, what’s with the list of demands? Mom had to go into the shop early.”

“You’re lying.”

“You’re a loser. Now get your crap. The bus will be here any minute.”

“Why can’t you give me a ride?” I glared at Dirk over my shoulder when I locked the back door. He gave me a toothy grin. “
Ooooh
, lover boy’s got to pick up his
girlfriend.
Maybe get in some action before school?”

I smacked the backpack hanging off his shoulders. “Geesh, you’re
ten.
What do you know about anything, and her name is Kaylee. And yes . . .” I smiled, not finishing my X-rated thought. The bus horn blared out front and I gave Dirk a slight shove. “Go.”

“Why do you have to be such a butt wipe?”

I burst into laughter. Dirk wouldn’t swear if his life depended on it. Maybe because Jaxson and I cursed enough to cover him.

“I’m telling Mom, ‘potty mouth’.”

Dirk stood in the doorway, face puckered. “
Paleease
give me a ride.”

“Fine,” I surrendered. “Besides, there’s something I should probably tell you.”

I waved off the driver and a cloud of blue smoke rolled up the front lawn when the bus pulled away. Dirk caught the keys I tossed, smiling triumphantly at his little victory.

“I forgot my cleats for soccer practice. Wait for me in the truck, but don’t mess with anything or I’ll purposely run over your skateboard…then your bike. And, I
will
torture you in your sleep.”

**

Taking Dirk to school cut big time into my morning make-out session with Kaylee. By the time we arrived at school, we barely got in five minutes of tongue tagging before we’d be late for first period. Didn’t even steam up the windows, but worked me up enough I held my Chemistry book low and close. Girls had it easy. Kaylee ran her fingers through her hair and applied more strawberry flavored lip-gloss. My
situation
worsened, watching. A serious headache would start within the hour, pissing me off. Damn Jaxson. Even from his hospital bed, he messed with my life.

I helped Kaylee out of the truck and eased my arm around her waist, trying to sneak a feel from one of my favorite places on earth.

“Ouch!” She flinched, moving away from me.

“What? Did I hurt you?”

Her gaze fell. “No, I…um, tripped on the stairs this morning and fell.” She flipped her head of chestnut colored curls back. “I’m so clumsy, sometimes.”

That’s when I saw it, in the bright sunlight, out of the shadow of my truck with my mind clear and eyes wide open—the bruise spreading over a lump above her left brow.

“Kaylee?” When I reached out to touch it, she grabbed my hand.

“I told you, it’s nothing
.
” Her brown eyes peered from beneath her long lashes, her tongue easing out of her pink glossy lips and licking my palm, slowly . . . seductively. I forgot my name and no longer gave a damn about the mark.

Pressing my Chemistry book tighter, I wrapped my free hand behind her neck and pulled her fruity glazed mouth onto mine. The outside bell rang and we jumped, raking teeth. I hissed, licking “Strawberry Delight” off my lips. Carefully, I tucked the loose curls covering her cheek behind her ear.

“Baby, I’m sorry. It looks sore.” I pressed a gentle kiss to the shiner as if that would erase it and the pain. “Be careful. I love you.”

She pulled the curls back over her face. “I will, I promise.” She didn’t say
I love you
back and my brows folded.

“Kaylee, is everything okay?”

“Yeah, silly, but we’re going to be late, so get your horny ass in class before we’re both in Detention.” She backed away, blowing me a kiss before crossing the parking lot to catch up with her girlfriend, Shar, waiting by the doors to the main building. I turned on my heel and headed in the opposite direction towards the gym. A dull headache already thumped in my brain.

**

A call from my mother summoned me out of second period to the principal’s office.

“Riley, did you get Dirk to school on time?”

“Yes,
Mom
. Seriously, is that why you called?” She sighed hard and guilt kicked my gut. Being our mother and the wife of the Sheriff brought her nothing but grief and many sleepless nights. “Sorry, I’m tired.” I blew a long breath. “How’s Jaxson?”

“Surgery went well. His nose is straight again, and he only needed a few stitches for the cut on his stomach. The spleen is the main concern. It will be another twenty-four hours before he’s is out of the woods. The doctor said he’s in remarkable shape, considering.”

“Great. A perfectly shaped nose. Just what he needs,” I sneered.

Jaxson looked like one of those guys sculptors used to pose for bronze figures of Greek gods. He inherited the best genes, leaving me and Dirk with leftovers.