Page 15 of Falling for You

“I know, I know.” I can’t just let this go. If I have even a small shot of making sure my uncle gets what’s coming to him, then I have to take it. I close my eyes and imagine that self-satisfied smirk that stains my uncle’s face permanently. It’s there every time he tells me to do a demeaning errand for him, and it was there as he berated me constantly growing up. Hell, it was even there when he came to tell me my dad had died.

After my dad died, my mom fell into a deep depression. There were days that she couldn’t get out of bed. I didn’t know how to take care of her. My uncle came to me with a deal. If I would work for him and run certain errands for him, he would make sure my mom had the right counselors and the right meds. He would let us stay at the guest house. I wanted nothing more than to run as far and as fast as I could from his property, but my mother had grown up in the mansion that was now his. If I even mentioned moving, it upset her. She took comfort in being where things were familiar. So, I did what I needed to do.

I ball up my fists. I delivered packages of God knows what to sketchy people for my uncle and I covered up fights that Brad got into. In one memorable case, I even took the blame for pot that was found in Brad’s car. Luckily, my uncle was thick with the DA so I never got charged for anything. My uncle enjoys having complete control over me. I want out, but I’m scared. My uncle is like the southern version of the mob. There is no escaping his influence. The few times I have mentioned trying to move or go away to college, he has threatened me by using my mother again. He even threatened to prove that she knew about my dad embezzling money from the company and that she actually helped him. He would do it too. I have no doubts about how far my uncle will go to make sure he keeps control.

“I’ve got to try, Dax.” I clasp his shoulder loosely. “If anyone can help me bring my uncle down, you can. Remember that time you hacked into Westside’s home page and messed with their mascot picture? That was epic. I have faith in you.”

Dax has always tried to use his ability to hack for good, not evil, but when our biggest opponent pushed things too far and injured a player on purpose, he hacked into their school’s web page. Let’s just say he put a unique spin on the picture of their mascot.

He grins. “That was damn good, wasn’t it? I still wish I could have seen Brandon’s face when he first saw it.” He continues to type diligently on the keyboard even as we talk.

“Yep, I can certainly say no one will ever forget it. He deserved it for sacking Everett after that play was over. Man, I still can’t get the picture of his head photoshopped onto the tail end of a bull. That coconut bra he was wearing was priceless too.” I chuckle and it feels good. It feels like I’m the Sawyer from three years ago, back before everything went to shit.

“Thanks again for doing this, Dax. I know you could get into a lot of trouble.”

“Speaking of trouble, I heard you got into some down at that bar in Oakwood. That wouldn’t have anything to do with your dumbass cousin, would it?” Dax squints as he leans in closer to the computer screen.

I roll my eyes. “Don’t get me started. That moron decided to pick a fight with the biggest guy in the place. I had to pay him off and the management too.” I don’t know how many more of Brad’s messes I can clean up.

I look down at my feet. When my dad screwed over his clients, he also royally screwed mom and me too. I want out of my uncle’s reach. I just want to go somewhere that I can be myself and build my own life.

Dax glances away from the screen for a moment. “I got your back, dude and I’m not worried about getting in trouble. I’m sure my dad could afford the bail money. Hell, he would probably be proud of me for being the one to get in trouble instead of him. Might think I’m finally following in his bad boy rocker footsteps.”

Dax has his own family trouble. A notorious dad is just one of them. Like I told Red earlier, rich kids are messed up as hell.

“Are you sure this revenge thing is the way you want to go, Sawyer? I mean, you could move on, maybe with someone like Ronnie, and start fresh.” His eyes are focused again on the screen. He’s typing feverishly, but fuck if he isn’t good at getting to the heart of things.

“Shit, I’m not good enough for a girl like that. Both of us know that. Look at my disaster of a family. Look at how my dad was. She deserves someone a hell of a lot better than that. She deserves someone that knows how to love and be loved. There hasn’t been love in my family for a long time. Besides, right now I need to focus on making my uncle pay.” I can’t hide the venom in my last words. Behind my need for revenge, lie years of verbal abuse from an uncle who never thought I was good enough or let’s face it, white enough.

“I happen to think you’re a pretty good guy, Sawyer. You aren’t your dad, man. You’ve got way more heart to you than he ever did. Go your own way.”

“Sure, Master Yoda. How ‘bout you take your own advice? Maybe try telling your best friend you’re madly in love with her and get away from the shadow of your dad? Then we can talk about my problems.” Shit, I didn’t mean to get that personal, but he struck a sore spot. I know Lily is a touchy subject for him.

The clacking of his fingers against the keyboard stops for a moment. “Touché, brother, touché.” His brow furrows and he goes back to work while we sit in silence.

I told you we’re all fucked up in our own unique ways.

Chapter Fourteen

Appearances are everything. We are the generation of Instagram, Tik Tok, and all things social media. If you aren’t striving to gain more followers or take a better selfie, are you really worthy of taking up space?-Marissa

Ronnie

The day is long and surprisingly, kind of fun. Everyone seems to have forgotten last night. Even the girls are a bit friendlier. I kayak and swim with the others and do my best to avoid Brad and Sawyer. Brad, because he’s slightly scary and possibly delusional, and Sawyer because I’m not sure what to expect after the kiss we shared.

Brad orders him around like his own personal man-servant. Even though the other girls giggle about it, it bothers the heck out of me. Whatever respect or like I had for Brad is gone at this point. Sawyer looks like he may explode with rage by lunchtime. I know being treated like that in front of us is getting to him.

It’s nightfall before I get a second alone to really think about the kiss I experienced with Sawyer. In my mind, it has become “The Kiss” and deserves all capital letters and quotation marks.

We sit around a campfire that Brad ordered Sawyer to make earlier. I try my best to focus on the flames instead of the heat in Sawyer’s eyes. He sits across the campfire from me, and I desperately try to ignore the butterflies in my stomach that come from his stare. I feel like I’m in uncharted territory. This guy is older, more experienced. What can he possibly want with me?

I laugh at myself. Of course, he probably wants the same thing every guy wants from me. To score with the impossible score.

He stares at me, but it’s hard to tell what he’s thinking. I kind of expected him to talk to me again today, but he’s been pretty busy doing Brad’s bidding. He also seems to be avoiding me. I sigh. First guy I’ve ever felt this deeply about, and I seem to have scared him off. Nice going Ronnie.

I glance around at the others so that I don’t self-analyze too much. Brad’s drinking has already gotten out of control again. He dances around the fire, sometimes too close to the high flames. The others follow his lead. I feel like this is always how it is with this group. Brad leads and everyone follows without question, except Dax and Sawyer. They’re the only ones that seem to have minds of their own.

Dax leans against a tree, smoking pot and watching the others while laughing to himself. Marissa, Britney, and Lindsey shake their butts in short skirts and cleavage-baring tops that are more risqué than something I would ever wear. Some of the other girls stayed back to sit in the hot tub. Maybe I should have stayed with them. The blasting music is loud and obnoxious and doesn’t have much of a dancing beat. Brad and the girls obviously don’t care.

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