The Entitled Page 4

  “It was humiliating and enlightening all in one.” Jerking my arm free, I ask, “Are you watching porn?” My eyes stare into his. I don’t want to miss the truth.

  God, I’m not even trying to hide my insecurities. Fuck it, this bothers me. It makes me feel inadequate like he’s cheating on me.

  I see it. The second he makes the decision, his eyes change. Holy shit, he is going to lie to me.

  Dropping my arm, he cocks his head. “What did she say to you?”

  “Whatever, Reed! That’s a yes.” Sneering, I breeze past him into my enormous lavender room. Throwing myself on the white lacey comforter, the bed squeaks with my dramatics. So, I toss the Euro pillows across the room to make sure he gets it. He stands there staring at me, his lack of control of this situation making his energy bounce off the walls. I turn my back on him, curling into a ball.

  “Tess?” He’s mad and going to try to turn this on me. I know him so well.

  “Turn around. I’m talking to you.” His voice is harsh.

  Ignoring him, I bury my head in the down pillow.

  “Fine. I’m not watching porn.” And there it is.

  My head snaps up. He must see the devastation in my eyes, for he takes a step back. I see a brief moment of remorse.

  “Why would you care anyway,” he snaps, the bed dipping as he sits down. “Kitten, come on, let’s not fight. It’s Jax who’s into the porn.” He takes my hand in his.

  I pull away, scooting backward until the cold metal of the wrought iron headboard stops me. Reed’s eyes look like they are going to bug out of his head. I have never pulled away from him ever. He’s my lifeline.

  Biting my lip, knowing I should keep quiet, I can’t help myself—I want to hurt him. “I may not be as smart as you, Reed, but don’t ever think I don’t know when you’re lying to me.” Hot tears sting my eyes.

  He stands up, facing me. “Wow… Okay, Tess… yeah, I watch porn! Is that what you want to hear?” Scrubbing his hands up and down his face, he keeps going. “Does that make you feel good knowing that I like to watch hot girls licking each other’s pussies and love it? Do you want me to tell you how I get off watching threesomes too?”

  I can’t hold the tears back anymore. The image of Reed watching those girls makes me want to vomit.

  “Get out of my room!” I scream at him. I must look serious because his face is red and he seems angry enough to strangle me.

  “Fuck this.” He holds his hands up and goes for the door.

  Stopping, his hands open and close at his sides. “You know what, Tess? This is why I didn’t want to tell you the truth. I knew you would act this way. I knew it!” He’s panting.

  “Every guy watches porn. And if they say they don’t, they’re lying. It’s not a big deal, certainly not worth you getting hysterical.”

  “I’m not hysterical about the porn, you ass.” Well I am, but I’m sticking with him lying as the big deal.

  “I’m hysterical that you lied right to my face. Did you think I wouldn’t be able to tell? Think again. Because if you ever lie to me again, we are over!”

  I’m completely losing it, and he’s looking at me like I’m insane. My pathetic hiccups are the only noise in the room.

  At last, he shakes his head at me. “I can’t deal with your insecurities today.”

  Tears blur my vision, and I can’t even see him. But I hear my door slam and that about kills me.

  REED

  Barging into my brother’s room, I practically punch the wall. Fighting with Tess has me wired.

  “Let’s get out of here.”

  Jax swivels his computer chair around. “What’s up?

  “What time’s Zack’s party tonight?” I kick his backpack a few inches across the floor.

  Jax looks at the backpack then back at me. “Six.”

  Not being able to sit still, I pace, adrenaline pumping through me. I fucking hate fighting with Tess!

  “Call Zack. Tell him we’re coming over. I need to get away from here,” I say, running my hands through my hair.

  “Interesting. I take it Tess will not be joining us?”

  Snorting, I look up at the white ceiling. “No, Tess will be crying herself to sleep, I’m sure.”

  Jax raises an eyebrow and closes his laptop.

  “Fuck!” I glance around the room for something to punch.

  “Don’t even think of trashing my room. Go to your own.” His tone is serious.

  Looking at him, I need to get it together. He’s right. Taking my anger out on him is wrong.

  Slumping into a chair, I grab a basketball off the floor and throw it against the wall a few times. The loud thumps bring me some calm. I toss the ball to him. “Sorry about today. I did throw you under the bus. That was wrong.”

  He throws the ball up and catches it. “Are you sure you want to go out tonight? If you’re fighting with Tess, it’s only going to be ugly.” He says it casually as if he’s bored.

  Leaning my elbows on my knees, I crack my knuckles. “Did you know that Mom knows we watch porn?”

  Jax stops throwing the ball. “What?” He shakes his head. “There’s no way. I cover our tracks.”

  “Well, obviously not well enough because she told Tess, and I had to lie.” I lean back in the chair.

  “You lied to Tess?”

  Shame floods me. Tess’s tears are already killing me. I don’t need Jax judging me. “I didn’t want to. She was looking at me with those fucking eyes of hers. You try telling your girlfriend that you watch naked women, and see how happy she is.”

  He shakes his head. “So, if you lied, why are you fighting?”

  “Because… it’s Tess. She knew I was lying as soon as I said the words.”

  Jax snorts. “See, this shit?” He motions with his hands. “This is why I don’t want a girlfriend and why I’m going to get laid way before you.”

  “What the hell are you talking about?”

  Jax smiles at me like I’m an idiot. “Getting laid! It’s quite simple. You love Tess. You’re not going to pressure her.”

  “Yeah… So?”

  “So, while you wait for Tess, I will be getting all kinds of pussy.”

  I can’t help but laugh. “I love how everybody thinks you’re the good one.”

  He’s right though; he is going to be having sex before me. Tess is not ready, and all our firsts will be together.

  “Whatever, man, just figure out how Mom knows.”

  Not being able to sit still, I pace again, his blue walls closing in on me.

  Jax is silent, and I can see the wheels turning. “Fuck!” he says. “You think they have cameras?”

  I shake my head slowly as I think about it. “Mom wouldn’t allow it.” I can’t accept that because I love my mom, and that would suck.

  “I’ll figure it out. I’ll call Zack and let him know we are rolling over now.” Reaching for his cell, he hesitates. “You sure you want to leave Tess tonight?”

  “She’s freaking out about porn, Jax. I can’t deal with it. And don’t look at me like that—it pisses me off.”

  “I want to have a good time. And when you and Tess are fighting, something always goes wrong.”

  He looks down at his phone as he starts texting. “Feel free to stay home and deal with your girlfriend.”

  “I’m telling Mom we’re going,” I say over my shoulder.

  “Okay, but I don’t want to hear you whine like a bitch as soon as you start drinking.”

  Not listening anymore, I slam his door. Gritting my teeth, I force myself to pass Tess’s room. It’s like she has some kind of voodoo spell on me. Always has. All I want to do is hold her and kiss away her tears.

  Screw that. She needs to learn that she was completely crazy today.

  I knock on my mom’s door. My nerves are shot, and I want to erase this whole day from my memory. When Mom casually mentioned this morning that she was going to have some rules, I knew it would probably come up about Tess sleeping in my bed. Fr
ankly, I was surprised it took them this long. I also thought I would be able to guilt my mom into relenting. I mean, she knows firsthand how bad Tess’s anxiety can get. Now we’re going to have to sneak, and if Jax is right and they have cameras…

  “Come in.”

  A burst of citrus overpowers me. It’s so strong my eyes water. “God, Mom! What’s that smell?”

  “My new detoxifying mask.” The whole room is slightly foggy.

  “Jesus.” I grimace, resentful that she’s the reason Tess and I are fighting. “It’s burning my eyes! How can that be good for your face?” She’s starting to do all sorts of pathetic things to keep herself looking like she’s in her early thirties, rather than pushing forty, and it pisses me off.

  “Reed? What is it?” she asks, pushing away the fresh oxygen machine. She sits up on her elbows.

  “Seriously, what are you doing? What is that thing?”

  “My oxygen machine. It blows fresh oxygen on my face, healing and energizing me.” Her tone makes it sound like I should know that. “What do you need, honey?”

  “Jax and I are going over to Zack’s. We might stay the night. Thought I would let you know.”

  She lies down again, making sure her face is directly under her machine. “Absolutely not. No staying the night.” She wiggles, making herself comfortable. “I just set the rules about Tess—you can’t break them by staying at Zack’s.” She closes her eyes on me.

  “Tess is staying home,” I say, not disguising my bitterness.

  She opens one eye. “Why?”

  “I think you have a pretty good idea, Mom. Thanks.” Sarcasm drips from my voice.

  “Reed.” She sighs. “I did what I had to do. I love how I’m the bad guy.”

  “Whatever.” I clench and unclench my teeth, getting angrier by the second, watching her pamper herself while I feel like someone has punched me in the chest.

  “Fine. You guys can go, but have Jay drive you and please be home by midnight.”

  Laughing, I say, “That’s not going to happen. It’s Saturday, Mom. We’ll be home when it’s over.”

  “Reed!” She sits up to look at me, then waves her hand. “Just go,” she grumbles.

  Not waiting for her to change her mind, I hurry into my room. I change into jeans and a T-shirt. Then I raid my dad’s liquor cabinet.

  REED

  Past – fourteen years old

  I find Jax in the garage, waiting and laughing with Jay.

  Jay has been one of our drivers and bodyguard for a couple of years now. He used to be a marine. So, he takes serious care of his body. Jax and I have started training with him in the mornings. He pushes hard, but I like making my body burn.

  “Let’s go. We’re headed to Zack’s,” I say, sounding like an entitled prick even to myself.

  He raises an eyebrow at me, his eyes scanning the garage. “Where’s Tess?”

  I’m gritting my teeth so hard my jaw twitches. I know Jay has a thing for Tess. I have no idea how much—I mean, he’s in his midthirties. I also know he would never dare do anything unprofessional. But the way he looks at her makes me want to punch him and then destroy him. I always have him drive us, so I can watch him watch Tess.

  Jax is convinced I have nothing to worry about with Jay and is always telling me to get over it, but I can’t. With her long brown hair, puffy lips, and sapphire eyes, she puts any model or actress to shame. And her body. Jesus, her body keeps me up at night. She’s tall at five eight, and skinny, super skinny, but with Olive Oyl as her mother, that’s not surprising. She still has curves though: a tiny waist and incredible breasts. Not huge, but full, perky, with big nipples. Yeah, her nipples are mouthwatering. I almost came in my pants the first time she let me suck on them. Christ, now I have a hard-on and Jax is smirking at me.

  “Tess is staying home tonight,” I say at last as I climb into the back of our black Audi and shift my erection to the side, hoping it will deflate if I stop thinking about my girl.

  “Everything okay?” Jay’s brown eyes look at me in his mirror.

  “Why wouldn’t it be?” I sneer at him. Maybe Jax is right. I probably shouldn’t go out tonight, seeing how I’m ready to kill Jay and all he did was ask where she was.

  “Don’t you say a word.” I look over at Jax. He frowns at me.

  Rolling his eyes, he grabs one of the bottles of bourbon I swiped and takes a swig. As I wait for him to pass it back to me, he looks out the window.

  “Are you going to share?”

  “Nah, I think you need to go slow tonight. I can already feel your anger. I don’t want to have to call Dad tonight to bail us out of jail.”

  This makes me smile.

  Zack’s parents are out of town, so he has the entire apartment to himself. Zack comes from old money also. Not as old as my family’s but old. My great-great-great-grandfather was a duke in England. He gave everything up and moved his family to America, and our fortune hasn’t gotten any smaller. Every generation seems to expand the Saddington empire. I don’t even know what we don’t have a piece of.

  Zack’s parents’ penthouse is a perfect place to let loose completely. His mom is into art deco crap or maybe it’s modern. Whatever, it’s easy to clean up. A lot of metal pieces with dark colors and ugly-but-sturdy furniture. I would probably take down some of the art. After all, a Jackson Pollock hangs across half the main wall, but hey, that’s his deal.

  Zack’s older brother, Jason, is home this weekend from Yale. Hence the party.

  I get along better with Jason, probably because his vocabulary consists of more than “damn” and “dude.”

  Music bounces off the walls so loud it pulses in my chest. We must not be that early because the place is surprisingly full of classmates. Most of them are carrying red plastic cups.

  “Yeah, that’s what I’m talking about.” Zack gives me a bro hug and takes our bourbon. “Dude, since Tess isn’t coming, we could…” I must look threatening because he holds his hands up.

  “Damn, Reed, calm down.” He shakes his head. “Jax mentioned it. I thought as the host, I’d give you a heads-up. Tiffany has been asking all kinds of questions.” Thankfully the music is loud. Otherwise it would be uncomfortable.

  Zack frowns. “You okay, man?”

  “Yeah, I’m fine,” I answer, forcing myself to chill. “Tess is sick—that’s why she’s not here.”

  Why the fuck did I say that? Looking over at the Pollock painting, I wish I could smoke some weed and spend the rest of the night staring at it.

  Jax walks up and hands me a plastic cup filled with beer.

  “Oh… dudes.” Zack pats Jax on the chest. “Look at what my brother is bringing in.”

  Jason and his buddies are carrying another keg into the kitchen. A bunch of girls trail after them.

  “Holy shit! Look at the tits on that redhead!” Zack is nearly drooling like a kid in a candy shop as he gawks at the college girls.

  “Pull it together, man. They’re just girls,” I say with a snort before I drink half my beer.

  Zack looks at me like I have two heads. “Dude, if I could get my hands anywhere near one of them, I would die a happy dude. Excuse me, ‘host duty’ calls.” He air quotes and backs away to look for his brother’s entourage.

  I circle back to Jax, whose gaze is fixed on the redhead with large boobs. “Did you tell Zack that Tess and I had a fight?”

  He looks at me, then back at the redhead, taking a sip of his beer.

  “Did you?” I hiss.

  “Reed… why did you come tonight?” Like I’m an annoyance. “You of all people know I don’t discuss your shit with anyone. I’m starting to get pissed. This is not my fault that you lied to Tess.” He drinks his beer.

  I almost slap it out of his hand but control myself. “He said you mentioned it. What the fuck does that mean?”

  “What is wrong with you? He asked me if Tess was coming. I said no. End of story.” That sounds like something Jax would say.

  “Hi,
Reed. Hey, Jax.” Tiffany slithers up to us. Her brown haircut is exactly like Tess’s. Pathetic. I don’t have the patience for her on a good day and certainly not tonight.

  Groaning into my cup, I say, “What’s up, Tiffany?”

  “Where’s Tess?” Her eyes are gleaming like she knows a secret.

  “She’s sick.” Fuck, I never should have come without her.

  “Oh… too bad. Well, at least you guys can have fun, huh?” The look in her eyes says she’s trying to be seductive.

  “Yeah, I’m going to get something stronger.” I leave Jax to deal with her.

  I almost want to play the twin game, where we fuck with everyone, telling them that we are each other. It works great at parties. Tess is the only one who can always tell us apart. We can even trick my parents sometimes.

  Sauntering into the kitchen, I pour myself a cup of my dad’s bourbon. I want to get shit-faced. The first bottle is already gone, and we just arrived.

  “Can you make me one of those?” Looking over, I see a small pretty blonde smiling up at me. The way she holds herself indicates that she’s with Zack’s brother’s group.

  “Sure,” I say, pouring some into a cup and handing it to her.

  “What’s your name?” She licks her lips before she takes a sip.

  As I stare down at my drink, I smirk. She wants me. I should be flattered. Instead, my mind flashes to Tess and how if this situation were reversed, I would freak.

  Quickly I down my shot, letting the burn subside before I answer her.

  “Reed.” My eyes sweep her body. In my defense, most of it is on display. Short skirt, short top, with boots.

  “I’m Zoe.”

  The bourbon goes straight to work. I already feel that magical numbness. “Well, Zoe, have fun.”

  “Wait.” She grabs my arm. “Do a shot with me,” she says, licking her lips again. Her hand casually stays on my bicep. I need to get the fuck away from this one. Looking down at her, I make a bad decision and pour two more.

  “I have a girlfriend.” We clink our plastic cups.

  Her eyes narrow as she slams the shot with barely a shudder. “That’s too bad. Is she here?”