Because of Him Read online

  The brunette turned her wide grin in his direction before it returned to me at the same time the bartender set the Guinness in front of me.

  “I’m reeaallyy soorry.” Gavin caught her tilting before she face planted on the dirty floor. She continued to apologize to me, patting me dry with a handful of napkins. “Can I do anything to make it up to you?”

  She gave me an opening. “How about you convince your friend here to dance with me, yeah?” It wasn’t my best move, but I would take what I could get. No guy wanted to be shot down, including me. Gavin gave me a glance, so I quickly added, “And you dance with my friend here.”

  Pretty in Pink turned around and gave her friend a scathing glare. Still giggling, the brunette waved us off while she said, “Give us a minute.”

  I nodded, taking my Guinness, and walked away to give them some privacy. Pretty in Pink was facing our direction, which afforded me a view of her glare at her friend. She added in wildly gesturing hands and then a bonus eye roll for good measure.

  “This is too easy,” Gavin commented.

  “She’s drunk. You’re not going there, are you?”

  Before he could answer, the brunette turned around and waved us back. She winked at Gavin and strode off with him in tow to the small dance floor. The mass of movement tempted me as music poured from speakers near them.

  Pink stood with her arms folded over her chest like it was a burden to dance with me. Pride finally won and I said, “Don’t bother, yeah. I really wouldn’t want to put you through so much trouble.”

  Down my throat went my fresh drink and I slapped the empty glass with a fifty on the wooden bar counter to pay my tab. I didn’t wait for change. I strode past Pink, not bothering with another glance in her direction.

  3

  REAGAN

  My roommate and best friend rubbed at angry red eyes and accused, “Why did you let me drink?”

  I arched an eyebrow. “Let you drink. You dragged me to that place last night.”

  Megan rolled her eyes. “You never want to have fun. I'm surprised you lasted that long at the University of Maryland.” I hadn't, in actuality. “Now, they know how to party.”

  She exaggerated the sentence like she had inside information.

  “How would you know?”

  She’d attended school here at McClain all four years.

  She circled a finger in the air. “Oh, I have my ways.” She glanced at herself in the full-length mirror. “But I'll forgive you, you being homeschooled and all. Though all the other homeschoolers I know go ape shit crazy as soon as they get out from under their parents. Yet you…”

  “I'm boring,” I answered.

  “Yeah, but I love you.” She turned to face me, pinning me with big brown eyes. “Are you going to lay out with me today?” I sighed. “Come on. Maybe some sun will help take away some of that crabbiness.” When I didn't answer, she added, “Gavin might be down there.”

  It was my turn to roll my eyes.

  “It’s Gavin now? Who’s next?”

  She poked out a lip. “I have to make up for lost time. That asshole took away three of my best years.”

  The asshole was her ex, who she’d started dating within weeks of her freshman year. He’d decided that things were getting way too serious and wanted a break. Gavin was just the next distraction.

  Lowering her voice as if she were sharing a secret, she added, “And that hot friend of his with that sexy scruff had goo-goo eyes for you.”

  She clawed a hand in the air and made growly sounds to punctuate her words.

  I rolled my eyes. The guy in question was so full of himself. Even if I wanted to go there with any guy, he’d be the last one on earth.

  “I'm not interested.”

  She blew out a long breath. “When are you ever interested? Are you a lesbian? You know it’s okay. I'm cool with it. I've kissed a girl once or twice.”

  I pushed my hair away from my face so I could look her squarely in the eye. “I'm not a lesbian.”

  Her eyes narrowed. “Are you a virgin, then?”

  It wasn’t as though I was ashamed of my status, but I wasn’t in the mood to talk about it.

  “Why the twenty questions?”

  She shrugged. “I'm just curious. Gavin's friend was way hot. We had the best two guys in the bar and you didn't bat an eye.”

  He was hot. Tall with a face and body that gave me butterflies—the top two reasons why I needed to stay far far away from a guy like him.

  If he was single, it probably meant either he only wanted to hook up, or other girls realized he was an asshole. Either way, I wasn't interested.

  Though I couldn’t admit any of that to my best friend. God bless her, she’d pounce with her need to help me and my nonexistent social life. She wouldn’t give up until I went out with him. So I gave her the only excuse I had.

  “You know I have a loaded schedule so I can graduate. I don't have time for boys who probably rate low on the maturity scale.”

  I angled my head to look down at my book, not meeting her eye. My hair spilled over my shoulder and shielded me from her view.

  “You sound like my mother.” She pointed a finger at me. “You need to spend more time hanging out with people your own age.”

  It wasn't as if I needed to fit in. At the same time, I worried that Mom's crazy had rubbed off on me over the years, which made it even more important not to be a total loser.

  I wasn't a fan of the water. That made my choice in schools strange. It sat so close to the Chesapeake Bay you could walk to it. In the end, I decided to give in to her request.

  “Fine, I'll lay out with you today.” If only to get her to stop asking questions I wasn’t ready to answer.

  She beamed. “And you promise be nice if we run into Gavin?”

  “I'll be nice, but that doesn't mean I'm hooking up with his friend. No judgment on whatever you do with Gavin.”

  I meant what I said about not needing a guy in my life. In fact, it was the last thing I wanted.

  Not to mention the incessant lectures Mom had given me over the years, warning me about the dangers of boys—and men for that matter—ringing in my head. Dad had to practically fight with her on my behalf to let me go live on campus when it was time for college. Although U of M had been a mistake, Mom's smothering had encouraged me to try again. This time I’d chosen a smaller school. With the help of professors and the school administration, I was on track to graduate on time. But I had no room in my schedule to spare.

  “Reagan?”

  Megan's fingers snapped in my face.

  I blinked, lost in my own thoughts. “Yes.”

  “Are you coming or what?”

  Giving in, I moved to my closet to find a bathing suit to wear.

  4

  TADE

  Freedom out in the open water appealed like nothing else, with nothing to churn my thoughts other than the ripple of the water as my oars barely broke the surface. My biceps burned as the familiar movement became a chore, because I’d doubled my normal morning workout routine. Still, I kept up my pace, sculling the St. Marys River. By the time I made it back to shore, I paid for my efforts as I struggled to carry the boat over my head to the boathouse.

  The sun blazed a fiery path along my skin and I berated myself for not using sunblock in my haste to leave that morning. I wanted out of my head. Pink had starred in my dreams, forcing me to jerk one out before I left. It had been forever since my control had broken and I’d been forced to finish myself off, unable to wait for a girl to do me the honor of sating my needs. Tonight, I thought.

  There was rumored to be a party in one of the upperclassmen townhouse-style dorms where I lived.

  I pulled up short while on my way to the café for a late breakfast. A small area next to the water held a meager amount of sand that emulated a beach. It was littered with bodies lying out on towels catching the sun. It was an unusually warm day in late January, hitting record highs. Everyone was enjoying the mild heat whi
le it lasted. There amongst them was the blonde with pink in her hair.

  Abruptly, I headed in another direction, hoping to avoid her and her brunette friend.

  “Hey,” a bright voice sang out. I continued forward, pretending I hadn’t heard. It was plausible that whoever called out wasn’t trying to get my attention. “Gavin’s friend.”

  There was a decision to be made, and I wasn’t sure which to make. I could blow her off and continue on. Then she would probably hurl curses at me, and I didn’t want the attention. The last thing I needed was a girl with a cause. She might wage a war and Google search me. With my luck she would hit pay dirt and find out who I was. Slowly, I turned around.

  The brunette got to her feet and I was given a view of her impressive breasts. They nearly spilled out of her bikini top. However, I found myself glancing away from her and down toward her friend. Pink propped herself up on her elbows and watched the brunette’s forward movement. I wondered where the third friend who had been with them at the bar was, or had I mistaken a duo for a trio of women?

  “Where’s Gavin?” the brunette asked when she stopped within a foot of me.

  “I’m not his keeper.” I folded my arms across my chest and feigned boredom.

  Ignoring my snark, she asked, “Are you English?” having finally picked up on the hint of accent I had.

  I’d attended secondary school in England. The hope had been that I might have a more normal life there than I could have gotten here in the spotlight as a senator’s son. Being American overseas, I wasn’t that interesting to the foreign press and was able to live life under the radar. I decided to return home for college.

  I’d chosen McClain because they were number two in the country for sailing after Yale. They weren’t yet ranked in rowing, which was my passion, but I intended to change that. I sat in the stroke seat of our crew after putting in the time and work required.

  “Look, I’m sorry for—” she broke off to glance over her shoulder and wave at her friend. “She’s not good with guys like you.”

  A part of me wanted to throw out another sarcastic remark like, good, because I’m not good with her kind either. However, I found myself curious and asked, “What kind of guy am I?”

  Her arms rose and it was hard not to notice her tits bouncing with the movement. I shifted my eyes north just as she said, “You know…pretty.” She animatedly used her hands and arms to gesture at all of me.

  “Look, I’d love to continue this conversation, but the café will close for breakfast soon.”

  “Sure. But can you put in a good word for me with Gavin?” Her eyes held the glassy dreamy gaze some girls got when talking about Gavin. It took me not thinking about Pink to notice that she didn’t sound like Minnie Mouse anymore. Yes, her voice was high, but it wasn’t as annoying as it had been the night before.

  “I don’t know what I can say. I don’t know you, and Gavin has his own mind.”

  Her smile dipped. “Just tell him you spoke to me and I’m not that lunatic girl from last night.”

  My stomach rumbled, and I wanted this conversation to end. Pink lifted up a bit more to see over the bodies in her field of vision. I got the loveliest view of her cleavage. My swim trunks weren’t equipped to conceal hard-ons. I had to move. “Sure.”

  Striding off, I made it to the café with enough time to snag the remnants of breakfast. By the time I got back to my room, my cell rang. A picture flashed on the screen.

  “Mom.”

  Although she wasn’t my mother by birth, she was the closest thing I’d ever had.

  “Tade.” Her soft reply spelled out the reason for her call. “How are you doing?”

  “I’m good. You?”

  She sighed. “I’m worried about you.”

  “There’s nothing to worry about. I’m fine.”

  “Yes but…”

  The but was the one thing I didn’t want to talk about.

  “Like I said, I’m good. You don’t have to worry about me.”

  “We can still get you in to see him before…”

  Mom found it hard to finish sentences on what she liked to call distasteful subjects. And the him in this instance was my biological father, her brother. She was my aunt by birth and the man I called Dad was her husband.

  “I won’t do that to Dad. If the press finds out who he is to me, it will hurt his campaign.”

  “Tade, he’s your—”

  “Father?” I barked a laugh I didn’t feel. “He was never really that to me.”

  The guy wasn’t bad to me. He’d just treated me like a nuisance when I’d lived under his roof. It wasn’t really his fault as my grandfather hadn’t been in his life. He’d been married when he knocked up my grandmother, who’d been one of his household staff. She was fired when Grandfather’s wife found out.

  Having never had anyone show him what a dad should be, I couldn’t really blame him for his shortcomings.

  “Then do you want to go to his…”

  Execution? “No.”

  I wanted to forget that part of my life. When he’d been found guilty of multiple federal charges, the prosecutor had made sure to seek the death penalty. I might have been in jail too if I hadn’t been freed from that life.

  Mom might not have given birth to me, but she’d given me a new life. One that didn’t involve crime and everything else that came with it. The only good thing my father had done was give me to her when she came looking for him after Grandfather died and left him a little money.

  “Will you let me know if you change your mind?”

  “I won’t.”

  She didn’t say it, but she wanted to apologize for the lawyers she’d hired being unable to get him off or at least get a lighter sentence. Mom was good like that. She had a big heart and I owed her my life.

  “How are you doing otherwise? You sound tired.”

  “I was out late and practiced early.”

  “You’re being safe, right?” I groaned and she laughed. “I’m not ready to be a grandmother.”

  “That’s the last thing you have to worry about.”

  Especially since the one girl I’d been interested in didn’t want anything to do with me.

  5

  REAGAN

  “You can’t be serious?” Megan said.

  “I am and you promised.”

  Cue the pouty lips and sagging shoulders.

  “There’s no way Gavin will be there.”

  “Why not? It’s the Great Bamboo Race.”

  “Okay, Charlie Brown.”

  I’d forced Megan to watch the Charlie Brown Halloween special with me. It was a family tradition. My mom was a huge fan. Because I hadn’t been home when it aired, Megan watched it with me.

  “It’s Linus and the Great Pumpkin, actually.”

  “Yeah whatever. It’s January and you don’t even like the water.”

  I didn’t, but that fact hadn’t bothered her earlier.

  “Yet I laid out today with you. And you’re the one who said I should face my fears head on. Besides, I’m not getting in the water and the weather’s great. And—” I stressed, “—it’s a required project for my class.”

  I glanced at my phone. “I need to get there. They’ll be starting soon.”

  She rolled her eyes, but followed me out of the café and down toward the boathouse.

  Bamboo, biodegradable twine, recyclable plastic, and some duct tape were laid out in stations.

  “Do I really have to stay?”

  She glanced around like learning something was an incurable disease.

  Two others from my group came over. Both guys stared openmouthed at Megan like she was a supermodel.

  “Guys this is Megan. Megan, this is Kevin and Scott.”

  “Hi,” she said, placidly, giving them a half smile and shy wave.

  Kevin blinked for several seconds before I cut in.

  “Are you ready?”

  Before they could answer, a voice over the loudspeaker called time and eve
ryone ran to stations to start building a seaworthy boat with mainly duct tape and bamboo.

  Our team had a plan, and for the next four hours, we built what I would call a one-person canoe. Poor Scott, he had to pray it would float because he’d been chosen to captain it during the race in the icy water.

  When the bullhorn sounded, we had to step back from the boats. Thankfully, ours was done. When I glanced around to see if Megan had stayed, I spotted her standing not only with Gavin, but with his friend.

  Eyes like a gathering storm pinned me. I didn’t want to be affected by the tall, broad-shouldered, seriously handsome guy. But even I could admit when a guy was too good looking. Guys that looked like him were dangerous to the heart.

  I glanced away and gave my attention back to the team. When instruction came, Kevin and I lifted the boat to take it closer to the water with the other teams. Scott didn’t help because he would need the rest of his strength for the race.

  Thirty minutes later, we had the boat in the water. I stepped back to watch and someone came to stand next to me.

  Lifting my head, I noticed Gavin’s friend.

  My heart raced and my palms felt sweaty, and I hated my nervousness.

  “Good day for a sail,” he said.

  It would have been better if I could have ignored him. “Good day not to sink. At least that’s what Professor Woods said.”

  Was I babbling? Why would he care who my professor was?

  “Didn’t they do this back in October?”

  Explaining why I was there put me back on solid ground. “This is different, though. It’s a required class project we are graded on.”

  He wore the softest hint of cologne. It was so subtle and alluring, I almost leaned in to get a better sniff. Not wanting to make more of a fool of myself, I quickly said, “I should go cheer on my teammate.”

  I scrambled away. He was a temptation I didn’t need. I was grateful when he didn’t follow, or so I told myself a couple of times before the race began.