Page 26 of Charming Cruel Boys

Duke eyes me as he stops mid-sentence and Mom swivels her head my way. “Hi, honey. How was practice?” she asks, cheerful as always and completely oblivious to the death threats Duke is mentally sending me. Yeah, I fucked up his dinner proposition to Remi earlier. Do I feel bad? Not at all.

I smile at Mom, licking the spicy goodness from my fingers before answering. “Good. Coach warned me about some scouts coming to the next few games. Told me I’m a top choice for a full ride somewhere.” Just saying that has me itching to go back to the field and practice some more. All I’ve wanted since I was in middle school and first picked up a football was to be one of the greats one day. A household name, a star that kids look up to, and a wet dream to all the bored housewives with fat, lazy husbands. That’s the goal. I just have to keep everyone I love alive, pray my ass off that I get scouted for a good college, and live the rest of my life like I’m not tortured by my demons every time I close my eyes.

Damn, I’m tired just thinking about it all.

Mom’s eyes light up as she claps her hands before she can contain herself. “Yeah? Knight, that’s amazing. I’m so proud of you.” She looks at Duke, who’s trying not to scowl at me. “You too, baby,” she tells him. “Both my boys are so talented. You must get it from me.” She winks and Duke and I laugh. Mom is a great person, but talented, she is not. The amount of times throughout my childhood where she’d pick up a new hobby only to fail miserably is too high to count. She enjoys herself, though, so that’s all that matters.

She walks to the fridge, rubbing my arm affectionately on the way. Pulling out a cardboard to-go box, she sets it on the counter and gets out three spoons. “Charles was too busy to join, but I went cake tasting today during my lunch break. These are the three I liked best. You boys help me pick a winner,” she exclaims with a wide smile, opening the box and showing off the three huge slices of cake. Chocolate, vanilla, and a super fucking yellow one.

“What the hell is that?” I ask, scrunching up my nose and pointing at the Tweety Bird inspired slice.

Mom laughs while Duke takes a big spoonful of it, shoving it into his mouth and humming. “Lemon,” he tells me, a few crumbs falling from his lips onto the counter.

“Gross.”

“So Knight’s a no for lemon,” Mom teases. “I just thought it’d be nice to have another option besides the basics. But I guess you can never go wrong with a rich chocolate cake. Charles doesn’t care what I pick, and everything was so decadent at the bakery today, it’s impossible to choose one. Dig in, tell me what you guys like.”

“I really don’t understand why you’re marrying the prick. He can’t even be bothered to give his opinion on cake. What about the bigger shit? I bet you’re planning the entire wedding yourself,” I drawl after trying the chocolate cake. Duke stuffs his face with vanilla, but I catch the almost imperceptible nod that tells me he agrees.

Mom purses her lips, touching her fingers to her perfectly curled blonde hair and smoothing down absolutely nothing. Swallowing, she says, “I know it doesn’t make sense to you boys, but I need you to be supportive. That’s all. I don’t expect you to love Charles or even like him—“

I snort, cutting her off. Duke and I exchange a glance. “We’ll never like him, Mom,” he says, taking the words right out of my mouth.

“Have you heard the way he talks to Remi?” I add, crossing my arms over my chest and leaning back in my seat. “You would never have allowed Dad to treat us that way.” I can curse myself out later for the swell of protectiveness that floods my system. Moving into this hell has raised some questions, that’s for sure. From the outside, you’d never think that Charles and Remi aren’t the All American father-daughter duo. Loving dad, adoring kid, perfect family. Getting a front row seat to their daily lives has started to crack that reality. No matter how dangerous Remi is to everything I’ve worked for, I still feel like spilling blood whenever Charles speaks down to her.

Her shoulders inch up as she grimaces. “I know, boys. Okay? I understand that Charles is hard on her. I’m… I’m working on it.”

“How?” Duke demands roughly, finally giving up on the cake. We lock gazes again, and something passes between us. A mutual concern for the little gray-eyed beauty.

Mom avoids our questioning looks as she wipes up a few stray crumbs and puts away the rest of the cake with a note on top for Remi to try some. She brushes her hands down her waist before crossing her arms across her chest, mirroring my no-bullshit pose. “Everything is going to be fine, okay? Just trust me, boys. I can handle Charles. I can fix what’s broken and we’ll all be happy… Everything is going to be just fine.” She gives us each a tight smile and then leaves to shower, telling us to order dinner on her way out.

“Is she on drugs?” I ask Duke the second I know she won’t hear. “She’s gotta be on drugs.Everything is going to be fine. Does she not realize she’s marrying a fucking snake?”

Duke gives me a harsh expression. “Be nice. I know Charles is a heartless dick, but obviously Mom’s found something worth loving. Just keep your opinions of him to yourself.”

I eye him warily, chewing on the inside of my cheek. “What if he’s talking to Mom the same way he talks to Remi, huh? I fucking guarantee it, actually. He’s sneaky, man. Everything about him is a lie.”

Duke laughs like I’m the one on drugs.Not right now, unfortunately. “Ominous much? Come on, Knight, we both know Mom wouldn’t put up with that. What she and Dad had was magic. He treated her like she walked on water, like she was the reason the sun rose and the moon shined. She wouldn’t settle for someone who treats her like shit after knowing what real love feels like.”

I nod slowly, curling my lips up in a scowl. Dropping my gaze to the counter, I say, “Do me a favor and don’t bring Dad up again.” Duke exhales heavily like the weight of the world is pressing down on him. I want to share in his grief, but do I deserve that when I’m the reason Dad is gone? No, I fucking don’t. I can’t sit here and talk about the man who raised us and not remember the way he looked in the ER. Pale, bleeding out, and looking at me like he’d failed as a father.

Vomit tries to fight its way up my throat, so even though Duke opens his mouth to say more, I stand and wordlessly leave the kitchen. Every step to my bedroom is tortured, my feet weighed down and my stomach rioting.

I messed up with Dad. I won’t lose anyone else.

19

Remi

Afewdayslater,as I’m making my way to the cafeteria, Duke appears in front of me and grabs my arm before I can say a word. He hauls me into an empty classroom and closes the door behind us, all with a nervous smile on his face.

“Uh, what are you doing?” I ask as he crosses the room and picks up a guitar. I realize we’re in the music room and butterflies go wild in my stomach. Duke’s a beautiful musician. His voice is rough and smooth at the same time, the kind of voice that gives you chills. The way his fingers know the strings of a guitar better than most people know their own reflection in the mirror.God, those fucking talented fingers. Duke is a danger to my health, I’ve decided.

He settles against a desk, holding his guitar and staring at me for a beat. “You’ve barely spoken to me since I asked you out, Remi. I’m losing my mind. I know things are tense between us and you don’t know where to go from here, but this is me telling you that I want you. I never stopped loving you, even when I hated you for what I thought you did.”

I arch a brow. “Admitting you hated me isn’t a great way to get back into my good graces.”

He chuckles and starts strumming the strings softly, picking at them in a lazy melody. “Fair point. You know I’m not good with words. But I can show you how I feel with my music. I wrote something new for you. I haven’t played too much since Dad… Um, but I want to try. Will you sit with me and let me play for a while?”

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