4 Chapter 4: Bubbling Rage

Travis

The moment I heard my mother’s words in the kitchen, I jumped out of bed and stormed down the hallway. “Did you just say—?” I started to demand as I stalked into the kitchen where she and our neighbor Maggie were about to take a shot, but my mother put her hand up before I could finish.

“Yes, I said Remilynn will be here in twenty minutes, and I want you boys on your best behavior.”

“That’s bullshit. We had a deal!”

“Language!” she said then downed her shot. “And this is exactly why the deal is off.”

“But you said—”

“The deal was, if you could stay out of trouble, I might trust you to be in charge the next time I needed a sitter.” She sucked on a lemon wedge then laughed at the grimace on Maggie’s face.

“That was one time,” I argued. “And it wasn’t even my fault.”

“Two days after our deal, Travis.” She held up two fingers. “Two days and the cops were at my door with you. I’m sorry, but I don’t trust that if I leave you in charge I won’t get back to this house burnt to the ground.”

The doorbell rang and Tula, my mom’s Chihuahua, went crazy barking. I glared at my mom then glanced at Maggie, who pouted before opening her compact to check her makeup.

“Fuck!” I muttered as I stormed out of the kitchen.

My mother hollered something else about my language and how one of these days I was going to trigger one of her epileptic seizures. She always used this same guilt grenade, yet not once had her seizures ever been triggered by anything in particular. They were completely random. Maggie then followed up with something about teens and me getting over it.

This was beyond unacceptable. There’d been a point way back when I cared if people found out I was still being babysat, even if technically she’d never watched me. As I got older, I couldn’t care less what anyone thought. I loved having Remi around as much as possible. But things were different between us now. Sure, I still flirted like crazy and loved seeing her turn beet red, but it’d become a defense mechanism. Being around her now was almost painful. It was bad enough I’d already seen how the boys at school sniffed around her. As much as I loved being this close to her, I might soon be hearing about her and someone else—someone her parents deemed good enough for her. The very thought turned my stomach. I needed to start distancing myself from her. But how the fuck was that supposed to happen with my mom continually asking her to watch my brothers?

Remi may have been older than I was, but we’d always known I was the adult of the two when it came to life experience. With a mother who was now partying several times a week and got home too smashed to notice me gone all night, I’d done plenty of reckless partying and had my cherry popped several years ago. I’d also popped a few virgins myself. And I was certain Remi was one. I could practically smell her sweet throbbing cherry every time I got close enough. It was a fucking torment.

Because I just knew by her sweet and timid demeanor that she still hadn’t given it up to anyone, Cherry had been my special name for her for years. At first, I told her it was because of her red hair. But eventually, I let her in on why I really called her Cherry. I’ll never forget how blood red her face had gone when I explained my special name for her. She’d begun to balk at the name after I explained, ignoring me when I used it. But recently, I’d begun to think my private name for her just might turn her on. She’d begun answering to it again.

Another thing I was now pretty sure of, based on the amount of trembling she did when I got close enough lately, was that I secretly lit up other parts of her body. Of course, I did so as often as I could. But holding back from trying anything more with her was becoming increasingly impossible.

If my mother was going to force this torture on me, then I was forced to do the only thing I could think of. I’d taunt Remi mercilessly until she refused to come back. Only what made the torment even worse was that I was fairly certain now it was why she kept coming back.

I’d been in my room for over an hour since Remi got there. After smoking half a joint and listening to music, I was pretty sure my brothers had eaten and were back in their bedroom, playing video games. I had about fifteen minutes before the guys arrived to pick me up—just enough time to have a little torturous fun.

I strolled out into the front room and took a deep breath when I saw the back of Remi’s fiery red head on the sofa. I could hear her giggle that sweet way she often did when she was being playful with my brothers, the way she used to with me but hadn’t since I’d started the distancing process and began pushing her away.

“No,” she said in a hushed voice. “You can’t come over. I’ll get in trouble. We almost got caught last time, remember?”

I stopped in my tracks. The last few times she’d been over I’d left just like I was planning on doing tonight. Being here with her all night was just too much to take. Had she really snuck someone in here before? No surprise that pissed me off way more than I knew it should.

Regardless of why I didn’t stand a chance with her, she sure played the innocent part otherwise. There was no way her face going so bright red at some of the things I said to her could be faked. Yet, she’d been sneaking boys into my house?

“I trust you,” she added. “I just don’t want Ms. De Luca to fire me or, worse, tell my dad.”

Holding my breath, I waited in hopes of hearing a name. Was it the meathead jock I often saw her with at school or the class president who was always sniffing around her? The one who was so full of himself? Did it really matter? I could already tell, no matter who it was, I’d hate him instantly.

She sighed heavily then finally whispered the most infuriating sentence I’d ever heard in my life. “Okay, but just for a few minutes.”

When I was certain she was off the phone, I walked in the room, grinning, but not as genuinely as I normally did. “You having company over, Cherry?”

Her head jerked around to face me and she stood up. “No,” she said quickly. “My friend is just . . . dropping something off.”

“Is he now?” I asked, peering at her knowingly but trying desperately to hide the already bubbling rage inside me.

I sized her up shamelessly as I always did, feeling my evil grin wane a little as I took in the short tank she was wearing. It didn’t quite reach the top of her jean shorts, giving way to a glimpse of her milky white midriff and a very sweet navel.

The worried expression and her pinched brows would have been amusing if the thought of her being here alone with her friend wasn’t so fucking infuriating.

“Who’s your friend, Cherry?” I asked, taking a few steps closer to her.