Jaden (Jaded #3)(42)
Denton swung around to me. “Okay. My sister was confusing, but that,” he indicated where Bryce had gone, “is even more confusing. He and Corrigan seem to switch places every other day now.”
I shrugged. “The situation isn’t a normal one, you know.” A pool party was sounding more and more appealing. “Come on. I can’t swim, but I can drink and tan. Let’s get in our swimsuits and head out there. I, for one, would like to get wasted. Last night wasn’t enough.”
Denton grunted, falling in line beside me as we went toward the bedrooms. “Wasted? We weren’t wasted. Our conversation was too damn depressing for the alcohol to take effect.”
I laughed. He was right. Pausing at my door, I flashed him a grin. “Well, we’ll rectify that. See you down there.”
He gave me a salute. “I’ll get some more wine.”
My door was closing, but I yelled through it, “Screw the wine! Let’s do margaritas this time.” As I started changing clothes, I heard his laugh. “Sounds good.”
I was heading back through the kitchen to grab everything when I saw that Beth was in there. She was making sandwiches and she looked up when she heard me in the doorway. A small smile appeared, but the ends looked strained. As she stood at the counter, her head folded back down and her shoulders hunched over.
She seemed sad, beaten down almost.
I pressed my lips together. It wasn’t my problem. I moved around her to reach for the martini glasses.
She murmured, cutting some cheese on a plate, “If you’re going to drink margaritas, you need the good stuff.” She gestured to the pantry with her knife in hand. “There are better glasses in there. I found them yesterday. Much bigger.”
“Thanks.” I frowned at her, but went and found the margarita glasses she was talking about. She was right. They were huge. Grabbing a whole tray of them, I brought them back out into the kitchen. Then I started looking around for everything I needed.
Again, but without saying a word this time, Beth started grabbing everything I would need. She pulled out the ready-made mix, then grabbed an ice grinder and placed it next to me, along with a pitcher and a big wooden spoon to stir it all.
“Thanks.”
She still didn’t look at me, but lifted a shoulder. “I might be hoping to have one so I’m not helping out of the goodness of my heart.” Now she looked up, sending another small grin at me before she went back to her sandwiches. Pulling out a bag of deli turkey, she began laying slices on the bread, covering the cheese.
“Is that for my dad?”
“Nope.” She kept laying meat on the bread. “This is for you guys and your pool party.”
Okay. Enough was enough. I stepped back, turned my back so I was leaning against the counter and folded my arms over my chest. “What’s the game here?”
She stopped and turned around. “What do you mean?”
“What are you doing?” I pointed behind her. “You told me where the big glasses were, then helped get everything out for me, and now you’re feeding us? You’re acting like an upper-class mom who’s desperate to be friends with her children. For the record, that’s not what this is. I’m not your kid. My friends aren’t going to look at you like you’re suddenly the House Mommy. We’re not in high school anymore, hanging out at the house.”
“Sheldon,” she started, pressing her hands together in front of her.
It was the pity. That’s what I was sensing from her and it was grating on my nerves. I didn’t need her damn sympathy. I wasn’t asking her to be hateful, either, but I’d rather we go back to where she pretended I wasn’t around. I shook my head, cutting off whatever she’d been about to say and held a hand up. “Stop.”
“What?”
“If you’re trying to develop a friendship with me because of my dad, I’m going to clear the record right now. I don’t know why my dad stepped in to help me. Maybe he didn’t think I could handle it. Maybe he didn’t realize I had friends already coming to post my bail. I have no idea. Maybe it really was because he felt guilty over leaving his daughter and now she’s up for murder, thinking it was his last chance to mend fences. Again. No clue.” I fixed her with a hard look. “But trust me. Once I’m cleared, you and he are heading off again. I have no assumptions that you’ll be sticking around, especially if my mother decides to hunt us down and try to swoop in for some money. He’s for sure going to take off, but you and me . . .” I gestured around the kitchen, “. . .this whole Suzy Homemaker scene you have going on, it’s not going to happen. I will probably never see you again in my life after this thing ends, and it will end.” I had no doubt about it. “There are three ways this will come to a close. I’ll either be free, in prison, or dead. Either way, those are all endings.”
“You’re so jaded.” She looked down, folding her arms over her chest. It was a slight whisper, like she was talking to herself.
“Yeah,” I clipped out. “I am. I have been for a long time, but being jaded doesn’t mean I’m pessimistic. I’m realistic. That’s all. I’m not going to entertain any daydreams about having a father who suddenly remembers he loves me. He broke me years ago. He won’t get the chance to do it again, so please.” My heart was pounding and my voice had risen. I hadn’t realized how loud I was until Bryce came around the corner. He’d been there the whole time. I could tell with one look. There was no surprise, just understanding.