Page 8 of Seize the Night

“Bad. Julien’s mom had had a little too much Christmas punch. It turned into a screaming match that everyone at the party heard.”

“Oh, that’s bad.”

“Very bad. My parents showed up and started defending me. His parents called me every ugly name in the book. My father told Julien’s father, ‘Sir, control your wife.’ And five minutes later, my father and his father were fighting. Like physically fighting. Dad gave Mr. Brite a black eye and Mr. Brite gave Dad a bloody nose. It’s a miracle no one called the cops.”

“Damn.”

“The moms pulled the dads off each other but that almost turned into a cat fight until Mr. and Mrs. Railey showed up and calmed every down. Poor Julien was begging everyone to just shut up and leave us alone so he and I could talk. Instead his parents dragged him bodily from the room, and he’s apologizing to me the entire time. ‘I’m so sorry, Remi. I should have told you. I’m so sorry…’”

She could still hear his hurt, humiliated words ringing in her ears.

“And that started the feud?” Merrick asked.

“That was the beginning. My parents were furious at the Brites for making a scene at the party and accusing me of seducing their baby boy. The Brites were furious at my parents because my parents blamed Julien for lying to me about his age. He didn’t lie, for the record. I didn’t ask him his age. Never occurred to me to ask until it was almost too late. And I just stood there in shock, saying nothing and feeling like I was going to puke and trying to get my dad not to kill his dad. I didn’t get to talk to him, tell him I was sorry, tell him goodbye even. It was awful.”

“You didn’t do anything illegal,” Merrick said. “You were only twenty-two. And legal age in Kentucky is sixteen.”

“Do I want to know why you have that legal factoid memorized?”

“Nope,” he said. “So you never saw Julien again?”

“My parents forbade me from contacting Julien. I haven’t seen him since that night. Not even at any of the races.” And she’d looked. At every race she’d looked. When their families had ripped them apart that night, it had left an open wound on her heart.

“Where did he go?”

She shrugged and tried not to care that she hadn’t seen or heard from him in four years.

“He disappeared. And that was that. Except his family still hasn’t forgiven me for almost seducing their son, and my family still hasn’t forgiven them for publicly humiliating me at the party.”

“Have you forgiven him?” Merrick asked.

Remi smiled. “Julien didn’t do anything wrong. And while his mom was going batshit crazy on me calling me every possible variation of slut, whore, and harlot, he stood up to her and his dad and defended me.”

“Harlot?”

“I believe the words ‘blonde Jezebel’ were also employed. Julien told her off. He told everyone off.”

“Like a man. I approve.”

“He’s twenty-one now. I keep thinking I should…but it doesn’t matter. It was a long time ago.”

Merrick looked at her with searching serious eyes.

“You miss him,” he said. Remi didn’t bother to deny it.

“I had a perfect moment with him. You don’t get many of those in your life.”

“This was four years ago? You’d think your families would be over it after four fucking years.”

“Judging by all the smack talk in the news, they aren’t. In that SI interview, Mrs. Brite called us the ‘white trash’ farm.”

“Classy.”

“Dad called the Brites ‘stuck-up snobs.’ I’m really hoping Julien hasn’t read that article.”

“So what are you going to do when you see Julien again? Jump him?”

Remi laughed at the ludicrousness of the suggestion. She hadn’t seen him in four years and theonlyreason she was seeing him now was to tell him their parents might be fixing races? Hardly cause for an erotic reunion.

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