Page 17 of Ice Dance Hockey

Logan, you still there?

How long have I been staring at my phone?

Yeah. Here. I’ve got to go.

Logan. The rain.

Yeah. I’ll get inside before it rains.

Except it already is raining.

Lots of pinpricks.

Across my skin.

Chapter5

Scorpion Bite

Rhett

I’m going to tell Father today. Snugging the knot of my tie to my neck, I rehearse what I’ll say. He’ll reject the idea at first. I’ve got to snap back with something that will make him take pause. I’ve never deceived my father before. Never had to until all of this came up with Jack. The things I’m doing for Jack. It’s freeing. Like I’m a whole new person.

My own person.

I take the McLaren to the club with plans of heading straight over to pick Logan up afterward. I’ll arrive early, which will give me some time to hang around. Just be there to hang out with Jack and antagonize Mercy a little bit.

I meet Father at the club for an early evening drink. We both arrive precisely on time and order a glass of Courvoisier, neat. We order salads, skip the bread, and the reason I don’t order anything else is a good segue into what I wanted to discuss with him. Clearing my throat, I prepare my presentation.

“Just the salad for me, Pops. I have a date.” I place the cloth napkin on my lap, acting like what I said is no big deal.

He freezes, glass poised midway to his mouth. “Oh?” he takes a sip. “Something to snack on while Jack whores himself around?”

Another one of my deceptions for Jack’s protection. Too much heat was landing on Mercy. As much as I’d enjoy crushing him like a bug, if I did, I’d stand no chance with Jack, ever. Jack’s too kind-hearted. Even getting him back into my arms can’t be forced. It will have to come from him. All I can do is be around. It’s a lot more passive than I’m used to operating, but I have few choices.

This unfortunately meant having Jack take what my father perceives as blame for his relationship with Merc. I had to convince him that Jack was doing the seducing. A guy like Mercy is too easy to destroy. He has too many weaknesses. But preying on those weaknesses would have been a much faster and less costly way to put the Jack and Mercy thing to bed.

Father is hesitant to take out an innocent man. It would be too easy for him. With my mother being one of the top lawyers in the country that makes them quite a powerful force. Hell, he’s got so many friends in high places that he knows too many dirty things about, along with the kind of money that too many people would bend over backward for, he doesn’t even need the title of “mayor” to get shit done. He could do very bad things if he wanted, but he’s got a strict set of morals in that regard.

Nothing’s off the table, but he’d rather exhaust all other possibilities before taking drastic measures. Since Father was already sabotaging Jack under the premise that the ultimate end would be in his best interest, and with no plans to stop, it was better for his attention to be there.

That was phase one of my plan. Phase two starts now.

“Actually, no. I’m quite drawn to this one and hoping for more.”

Father smiles demurely and there’s a touch of wryness there. I never expected him to buy it initially, so I roll with that. If I push too soon, he’ll never believe me. Better to show him and let him come to his own conclusion.

He dabs salad dressing from his perfect lips with a cloth napkin. My parents were blessed with the kind of genetics that have people double-taking wherever we go. Father looks young enough to be my older brother. Mother doesn’t have a wrinkle. Both look like they’ve been photoshopped into real life from the pages of a magazine.

Then they made us, me and my siblings. We’re the progeny of two of the most stunning people in the world.

Father narrows his perfect brow. “Tell me then, Rhett, who has your attention?”

It’s a challenge. He’s saying,convince me. I won’t lay it on too thick, but I do remember to smile and put something of my delight over my new paramour in my eyes. People forget about the eyes when they’re trying to lie.

Smiling, I plant a fondness for Logan in my gaze and move lettuce around on my plate. “He’s fierce and as dedicated to his sport as I am.”

Those are things Father will admire and it’s better to build a lie with bricks of truth. They’re things I honestly admire about Logan.

---