Page 414 of Hell Hath No Fury
I glance over to the old bag herself, dressed to the nines and talking with my parents in the corner of the foyer, while she eyes her grandson like she needs to always keep close tabs on him.
“Jesus. Your grandmother is still coming to these lame-ass parties? Isn’t she, like, ninety or something?”
“She’s seventy, dickwad. And stop staring or she’ll come over to find out what we’re talking about,” he mutters disgruntled.
“She still has your junk in a vise grip, I see,” I joke, but my hackles rise when the old witch stops staring at her grandson long enough to throw me one of her sinister smiles.
Hmm.
Something is definitely rotten in Denmark for her to be flashing her pearly fake teeth at me like that. Vera hates my ass. She thinks I’m a bad influence on her perfect grandson. You get a guy drunk at one stupid frat party and it’s like the world is going to end. Rick is a sophomore at college, for crying out loud. If he can’t have fun now when he’s in his prime, then when will he ever?
Needing to know why the hell his grandma is looking at me like she also has my balls in her tightly clenched fist, I turn over to face Rick and ask why he’s at my house and not at the country club.
“Hey? What are you doing here anyway? Are you supposed to be my date or something?” I taunt half-heartedly.
Richard runs his fingers through his hair, like he can’t keep still no matter how hard he tries.
“Trust me. I’d rather go with you then with the girl my grandmother insists I accompany. Fuck my life.”
“Oh shit, Vera’s playing cupid now? Damn, Rick. You are fucked!” I laugh but then quickly stop when the asshole starts smirking at me.
“You don’t know, do you?” He smirks like he knows a secret that I don’t.
“Know what?”
Another chuckle.
“This is going to be fun,” he retorts with a laugh, looking way too pleased with himself.
“What are you talking about, Price? Out with it,” I demand, starting to lose my cool.
Rick turns to face me, pretending to fix the lapels of my suit.
“You, my boy, are in for quite a treat tonight. We’re supposed to take the Richfield sisters to this shindig.”
“Bullshit!” I shout in outrage, gaining my parents’ attention.
“Owen? Is something wrong, son?” my mother is quick to ask with a concerned expression on her face.
“Nah, Mom. It’s Price here that decided to play a joke on me.”
“My grandson doesn’t joke,” Vera interjects with a stern tone, eyeing me like I’m some ant she’d like to kill with her shoe.
Okay, so I get why she doesn’t like me.
And it’s not only because I got lightweight Rick plastered at a stupid-ass party last semester. Unlike her grandson, I haven’t exactly shown that I’m the respectable heir worthy of the Turner name. The name Price isn’t the only one that is worshiped in these parts. We Turners go as far back to the Mayflower descendants of blue bloods from the old shores of England itself. And with that old heritage comes a world of responsibility, a responsibility that I have tried to dodge for most of my life. I’m trying to change that, but like hell I’ll make an effort to convince this old-wrinkled bag of bones that I’m a new man.
Fuck that.
“Son, what was the joke? You know I’m always up for a good laugh,” my dad chimes in, already laughing.
My tense muscles ease somewhat at my dad’s lighthearted demeanor. While Rick got the short end of the stick with being raised by his grandmother, I hit the jackpot with my parents. Adam and Louise Turner are the best mom and dad any kidcould wish for. Even with all the land they hold and money they have in their bank account, they never let their absurd wealth take precedence over what was really important—their family. They were always there for me, in every way imaginable. There wasn’t a soccer game they missed, or a kindergarten play they didn’t video tape. They were there for all my most important moments, encouraging me on, with big wide smiles on their faces.
It was only when I became a teenager that they started to worry about me.
Really worry.
Girls, drugs, and booze played a big part in every argument we had. And for a while, I’m ashamed to say, I didn’t care. All I cared about was having a good time and fuck the rest.
