Chapter Twelve

Marissa

If there is one thing that’ll cut through horniness like obsidian through hot butter it’s seeing your parents stand outside your hotel room door with faces like thunder, when you expect to see the two men you’ve made an appointment for a dirty weekend with instead. Talk about going from tingly warm fuzzy feeling to stone cold fear in the same time it takes for a lightbulb to turn on.

This is not the week they promised me. This is seriously underhand even for them.

“Get your things”, Dad says, barging past me and into the room. “We’re leaving now.”

“Dad?” I question. “Mom”, I try as she gives me a well-practiced we are so fucking disappointed in you look as she follows in Dad’s wake. Actually, it’s more like the we wish you were more like your sisters look, which is the one she reserves for special occasions like this.

“I was just getting ready to go out with Elon”, I attempt. “What the hell are you doing here?”

Playing innocent is unlikely to curry favor, but it’s all I’ve got right now. Dad sees through it like a piece of clingfilm.

“We’re not stupid, Marissa. Your little game is over. Get your things ready now.”

What the fuck has Elon said to them? “Did Elon put you up to this?” I ask casually, still pretending not to get it. “I don’t understand.”

“Elon called us”, Mom says, taking over where Dad can’t bring himself to say the words. “We know what you’ve been up to.”

Up to? I wonder. Like giving him the cold shoulder, self-style brush off? Or worse than that?

“Up to?” I dare to ask.

Dad paces back and forth, his tight leather shoes making clipping sounds on the wooden floor. “Go and get dressed”, he says, his hand in the air to point towards the room he must think is the bedroom.

“Not until you tell me what this is about”, I say, my arms folding across my chest defiantly.

“Don’t”, Mom warns.

“Seriously”, I try again. “I have a date with Elon later today. I was going to cancel because I wasn’t feeling well, but after the bath, I feel much better. I was about to call him to arrange.”

“Lies”, Dad says sharply, before his eyes meet mine. “You really want to do this?” he says challengingly.

“Do what?” I say, spreading my arms passively. “I thought you trusted me.”

Dad’s eyes go to Mom’s, Mom’s drop to the floor.

“Two men”, Dad says, even the words making him screw up his mouth in disgust. “At once.”

I can’t help but laugh nervously. I mean, how the fuck do they know, number one? Number two, something about hearing my dad say it triggers that spontaneous reaction in me. He goes on. “You’ve ridiculed Elon and you’ve brought disgrace to the family. You are no daughter of mine.”

“Is that what you came here to tell me?” I ask.

No point in denying it now. I sort of half expected this anyway, considering part of what Elon does for his work is dig up information on people, so I can’t say I’m all that surprised. I know it can’t have been anyone else because Logan, Carter and I have always been extremely careful of where we meet and where we fuck. Elon must have had me followed or hacked my phone or any number of other unconscionable things to find out why I didn’t want to fuck him. I guess calling raincheck this weekend on his proposed museum visit was the last straw.

“Clothes, now”, Dad commands, “The plane is waiting.”

“And what about my search for a husband?” I say insouciantly.

“Don’t push it”, Dad says. “That’s the least of your worries right now.”

It’s clear I’m not moving. It’s even clearer I don’t intend to either, because of the way I’ve wrapped my arms around my chest and sat down. I’m going to have a tantrum like a true princess and there is nothing my parents can do to stop me.

“I’m not coming”, I say, my eyes going from one parent to the other.

Logan would love this, it’s a true Mexican standoff.

“Don’t”, Dad warns, his hand raised. “It’s not up for discussion. The plane is leaving in one hour and we are getting on it, whether you like it or not.”

I shake my head. This is the turning point I foresaw, the time where my life splits into two different directions and I get to choose one path and one path only. I wish for all the world Carter and Logan were here, I wish my parents weren’t such douchebags either.

“I’m in love”, I say, and it’s something so unexpected that for a moment there is a weird silence in the room between us before Dad erupts in thunderous laughter.

“Love?” he questions, when he’s finally calmed down. “What do you know about love?”

With stormy eyes narrowed into little black marbles of hate, he glares at me challengingly.

“I know that it doesn’t mean forcing someone to see the world in the way you want them to.”

Again there’s that raucous laugh, but I’m not going to let it put me off. “And I know it’s the best thing I’ve ever experienced.”

Dad shakes his head in pity.

“And I know that it wouldn’t matter if I were a princess or a pauper”, I add.

“Enough”, Mom spits.

I stand up to shout the last part. “More than that”, I growl. “I know that once you’ve got it you’ve got to do everything in your power to not let it go, because if you do, you might never find it again.”

“Finished?” Dad asks calmly.

“For now”, I say, sitting back down again.

He sighs. “Let me tell you how this works, Marissa, because it’s clear you no longer have the same mind we left you with. We are your parents, and we know what’s best for you. In this family, we do what benefits the family as a whole, we don’t turn our backs on each other, we don’t pretend we are something we are not and we definitely don’t whore ourselves to a pair of idiots who runaround a field chasing a ball. Either you get your clothes on and come with us now or we turn our backs and you lose everything that has been gifted to you without you having to lift a single solitary finger.”

And there it is.

“You’re going to disown me?” I ask.

Mom can’t even look at me. “With this behavior”, Dad says. “You’ve already disowned yourself. We’re here to rescue you but we’re only prepared to give you one opportunity.”

I can’t help but laugh again. “You, rescue me?” I spit. “From what?”

“From the world you seem so incapable of avoiding.”

“Did you ever stop to think this world might be the one I want?” I say angrily.

“Then you have already made your decision”, Dad says, the words trailing off into a sigh. “And there is nothing any of us can do.”

A thump at the door shocks us all out of silence, and my heart leaps when I hear who’s voice follows quickly behind it.

“You in there, princess? Come on, you better not be sucking Carter’s dick already. That asshole never waits for me”, Logan’s words ring around the room in stereo sound clarity and he’s barely had time to finish when Dad’s at the door.

This is not going to go well.

“Who the fuck are you?” Logan says, looking down at my Dad from a foot or so above him.

“This is him”, Dad says, “This is you.”

“What the fuck is this, meet the parents day”, Logan jokes. “You got the whole family in there as well, Marissa?”

Dad might be blocking the door as best he can, but it’s like saying a dinghy is blocking the entrance to an entire port. Logan breezes past him to gather me up into his arms and plant a huge passionate kiss on my lips.

“You got anything on under that?” he has time to whisper, while both my parents eyeball us in absolute shock.

“I’m Logan”, Logan says placidly, outstretching and then recoiling his hand when the offer to shake it is vehemently denied. “I guess you already know then. I’m the good one. The bad one is Carter. Between us guys here in the room, he’s a bit of a dick.”

“Enough”, Dad screams. “I’m not going to tolerate this in the hotel room I’m paying for. In my family-.”

“Oh, don’t worry about that”, Logan cuts in. “You’re all good. Marissa said you were struggling with money. You can just leave the tab with me and I’ll get it. We’re all good. You’re daughter, by the way, dy-na-mite.”

I hide my face in my hands, partly because I don’t want them to see me laughing. This is typical Logan.

“This is the man you’ve fallen in love with? This piece of shit?” Dad spits, white foam dotting the edges of his mouth in anger.

Logan smiles. “See, I knew you guys would like me. You wait until Carter turns up. He’ll probably have you talking about art and books and shit like that just to show off.”

“Enough, for the love of Christ”, Dad shouts again.

“We are leaving”, Mom adds. “Get your things, we are leaving now.”

I shake my head. “No”, I say again. “If you can’t accept this, there’s no home for me with you.”

“Last fucking chance”, Dad growls.

When the second knock on the door comes, this time it makes me jump in fright.

“That’ll be that asshole I was telling you about”, Logan says.

“Marissa, honey”, Carter calls from beyond the door. “That pussy better be nice and clean and completely shaved smooth because I want nothing to get in the way when I bend you over and push my tongue in your tight little-.”

With the door wide open, Carter stares at my father. “Hole”, he says quietly.

“See”, Logan says. “I told you he was an asshole.”

Dad doesn’t say anything else. He squeezes past Carter and doesn’t even have the balls to look back towards me. Mom gives me one long disappointed look, before slapping me hard across the face and bursting into tears.

“Look after her”, she orders Logan and Carter, who has since moved position and stands alongside me. With her final words spoken, she filters through the door slamming it so hard behind her a crack appears in the plaster above the head jamb.

“Well, that went well”, Logan jokes. “They are so much nicer than I thought they’d be.”

Carter is much more diplomatic. First of all, he reproaches Logan for his immaturity and then offers a suggestion of how we should best proceed, considering our immediate new status.

“First we fuck, and then we decide how to handle this. It’s always easier to think better after an orgasm.”

“Fuck, yes”, I say. “I couldn’t have put it better myself.”