Page 70 of Vile Boys

“Caleb, finally. I’ve been trying to call you all day.”

“Sorry. Been busy, Dad,” I mutter, walking out of the maze.

“Studies, right?”

“Um … Yeah.” I lie, but there’s no way in fucking hell I’m going to tell him about Crystal.

My dad would die if he knew what I did to her.

And then he’d kill me too.

Nope, not happening.

“So here’s the thing, I’m going to a barbecue next week, and I want you to come with me,” he says.

“A barbecue?” I frown. “Really?”

“Yeah,” he responds. “Is that so odd?”

“You haven’t done that in years.”

“I know, but I thought it’d be fun. So what do you say, boy?”

I roll my eyes. “Do I have a choice?”

“C’mon, humor your dad for once,” he says, chuckling. “It’s not often we get to do things together.”

“Because you’re always working,” I reply.

“Exactly. So it’s a date, then. I’ll text you the address because I haven’t memorized it yet.”

Memorized?

“But I’ll see you next week. Also, don’t stay up too late.”

He hangs up before I can say another word.

That was weird.

A barbecue? He’s literally not shown any interest in that since I was a kid.

What’s going on?

My phone buzzes, and in comes the text with the address. The second I see where it is, my skin begins to crawl, and my fingers cramp around the phone from holding it too tightly.

The same place we went to when he told me who he was dating.

Crystal’s mom’s house.

“Fuck!”

ARES

A week later

I rollthe dice and lean against the wooden table to see them settle. Loud cheers erupt from the women behind me, one throwing her hand around my face and kissing me on the cheeks.

“And another win for this fine gentleman right here,” the dealer says.

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