Chapter 15

Scott

“I’m fucking exhausted,” Landon said, taking a sip of his beer. “I went out for a run today and for some reason thought it would be a good idea to do five miles. I feel like my quads are breaking off.”

“That’s what you get for thinking.” I laughed and sipped my beer.

I was out for drinks like usual with Landon, and I was in a good mood. Cassie was on my mind, and I couldn’t wait to see her again. It felt great to be her protector, and the fact that it turned her on was even hotter.

“Oh, yeah,” Landon said. “I invited my buddy out for drinks, the one I told you was working for the company. Turns out I misunderstood him. He’s been with the company for a while and had gotten moved to another department inside the site.”

“Cool man,” I said. “When’s he coming?”

“He should be here any minute,” he said. “He wanted to go home and change before coming out. Wants to pick up some chicks.”

I laughed. “Of course.”

“Oh, there he is,” Landon said, looking over at the door.

I sipped my beer and glanced up at the big goof walking in. I choked, wiping my chin and stared at fucking Carl walking in our direction. I slowly put my bottle down and grabbed my napkin, wiping the beer from my chin. Of all the god damn guys Landon could be friends with, he had to pick the one guy I wanted to bash over the head with a hammer. Landon normally had great taste in friends, but for some reason he’d had a serious lapse in judgment.

“Where did you meet him?” I asked.

“Oh, we were in a fishing tournament together,” Landon said, nodding at Carl.

Are you fucking kidding me? I couldn’t stand to be within ten feet of this douchebag at work, and now I had to hang out with him in my spare time too. It was just my fucking luck that it would be Carl. The way he treated Cassie enraged me, and the way he treated everyone else just made that hatred even stronger. Immediately, I tried to come up with a reason I had to leave, but I knew Landon would give me a hard time. This was our usual Wednesday night drink, something we had done for a decade together, never missing one and never bolting out early. I was going to have to suck it up and deal with Carl, at least until Landon found some girl to go off with. Hopefully that would happen sooner rather than later.

“Hey, man,” Landon said, shaking Carl’s hand. “This is my best friend, Scott, the one I told you works onsite with you. Do you guys know each other?”

We both half nodded and stared at each other, trying not to make it too obvious. Landon ordered another beer and pulled out the stool next to him. Carl sat down with a smirk on his face, still staring over at me.

“Nice. So I’m assuming you work close to each other?” Landon asked.

“I work in the same section as good ole’ Scott,” Carl said with a fake smile. “We have a lot of interesting conversations.”

“Yeah?” Landon said, laughing. “Scott is good for interesting conversations. I knew you guys would probably recognize each other.”

“You told me his name was something else,” I said, taking a sip of my beer.

“Probably my last name,” Carl said. “I go by my last name to my friends.”

“Right,” I said, looking back toward the bar.

Landon had no idea who he had brought into the bar with him. He was missing every social cue that screamed out how much Carl and I hated each other. It was like he was purposely oblivious to the angry stares and the gritted teeth. Landon always did live in his own little world. He probably figured there wouldn’t be any way two of his friends could be so different that they would hate each other like Carl and I did. Still, for whatever reason, Landon had found friendship with the asshole, and I didn’t want to be rude. He wouldn’t understand anyway, especially since I was sure Carl was different around him than he was at work. He seemed like the kind of idiot who would have two personas like that. I took a deep breath and downed my beer, ordering another one. I wasn’t going to sit there and be an asshole to my best friend’s friend, so I drank instead.

“So, all three of the chicks I told you guys about, they are out,” he said. “I met this other chick last night, but, man, I’m not sure about her.”

“What’s wrong?” I said. “Too crazy for you?”

He laughed. “Sounds strange, I know. She is wild, like hippy wild, but I can tell she has some crossed wires going on upstairs. It might be the fact that she smokes way too much reefer and pounds whiskey like a man. Of course, because she’s crazy as hell, that means the sex is out of this world. I couldn’t get her to calm down to save my life. She literally wanted to do it all night long. Part of me was scared to turn her down, so I went with it.”

“Is that where I’m supposed to feel bad for you?”

“I tell you what,” Carl said. “Those crazy bitches are too much for me to handle. I don’t know how you do it. I know the sex is fucking amazing, but shit, the after effect is too much drama. I don’t need some crazy bitch slashing my tires in the middle of the night.”

“That’s why I keep my car parked in the garage,” Landon said.

I sat there listening to Carl talk about women, wanting more and more to punch him square in the jaw. He had zero respect for girls, absolutely zero. At least with Landon, he was sweet to them, honest and sweet. I had seen him talk a girl down more than once, and I was starting to think he liked being the doctor. Maybe he was waiting for the one he could tame, and then he would settle down and marry her. Me, I didn’t want anything to do with those types of girls. Cassie was perfect for me. She was sane, sweet, and grounded in reality. I didn’t have to talk her off any ledges or worry about her burning my house down in the middle of the night.

“How about you, Scott?” Carl said, looking over at me. “You bang any hot chicks lately?”

“Not Scott,” Landon said. “He’s too focused on his future to worry about women. He’s always been like that. Though, wait, you were seeing that one girl. Tell us about her.”

“Not much to tell,” I said, my stomach dropping.

I had to figure out a way to get out of this conversation, but Landon was hell-bent on including me in the fun. Carl stared over at me, waiting for me to answer, but I couldn’t seem to find the words. Landon was going to completely screw me.

“Are you still seeing her?” Landon asked. “I know you were unsure of things last time I talked to you.”

“Uh, yeah,” I said with a smile. “From time to time we see each other. I got a lot going on right now, though, so it’s best that I just see her on occasion.”

“Did you fuck her again?” Landon asked. “This guy said it was the best fucking sex he had ever had. Apparently this girl is wild.”

“Hell, yeah,” Carl said, taking a drink of his beer. “So, what gives? You should be banging that every chance you get.”

“You know,” I said, “I’m not really one to kiss and tell.”

“You always have been private about that shit,” Landon said, shaking his head. “You never seem to want to give up the good details, the ones we really want to hear.”

“Call me old-fashioned.”

“Man, what was her name again?” Landon said. “Oh yeah, Cassie. That’s right.”

I gripped my beer and grimaced. Fuck. I looked over at Carl, who was sitting there with his head tilted to the side. Realization slowly washed over him, and he smiled at me and shook his head. He had realized the exact thing I never wanted him to find out. There was a good chance the conversation we just had was going to completely fuck me. Carl had been out for blood for me since he joined the crew, and Landon had just handed him the information that could not only make my life a living hell when it came to him but also completely screw me out of a job. My nerves went wild watching the smug smile Carl had on his face. I didn’t know how I was going to get myself out of this one, but I was going to have to try.

We went on with the conversation, turning it back to Landon’s love life. I sat there not saying a word, feeling Carl staring at me. I was in some seriously deep shit.

“I’m going to hit the head,” Landon said. “I’ll be right back.”

Landon got up from the bar and patted me on the shoulder, smiling big. I forced a smile out, knowing it wasn’t his fault for outing me. He had no idea Cassie was a secret or that he had brought the fox into the hen house when he befriended Carl. I sat there in silence, staring down at my beer. I looked over at Carl as he chuckled to himself.

“You think you are so sly. Lord, this is good.”

“I don’t know what you think you know,” I said, “but that Cassie is not the same one from work. It’s a completely different girl, and she doesn’t even live in this town. I’m sure you don’t know her.”

“Right,” Carl said. “You are so full of fucking bullshit. But hey, I can understand why you would want to keep that pretty little thing a secret. She is, after all, the boss’s daughter, and we all know how the boss feels about people taking what is his. Man, if he knew, he would personally hang you from the scaffolding and beat your ass before throwing you out on the street. It would be a beautiful fucking thing to watch. After all this time with you walking around talking shit, acting like you are so much smarter than the rest of us, you are fucking the boss’s motherfucking daughter.”

“This isn’t any of your business,” I said.

“You’re right. It wasn’t any of my business until your moron best friend spilled the beans. Damn, you would think you might be a little bit more careful with this info.”

“What do you want, Carl?”

“What do I want? I want you to stop being a fucking know-it-all that makes the rest of us look bad every chance he gets,” he said. “But you can’t change your personality, so I guess you are out of luck then.”

“I get it. You want to hurt me,” I said. “But you don’t need to hurt her too.”

“Oh, don’t worry. I won’t tell the guys,” he said, standing up and leaning toward me. “But if you don’t end it with her, you can be damn sure I’m going straight to the boss and telling him all about how you are fucking his little girl.”

Carl smiled and sipped his beer before walking off into the crowd. I was in some seriously deep shit.