Chapter 22
Leo
They hadn’t scrimped on Cecilia’s party. After I’d dropped Gray off with my sister and got in a quick shower and a shave, I walked to my room with the sounds of loud voices and music ringing in my ears. It hadn’t taken the boys long to get the party going, and I laughed as I heard a woman screeching in annoyance.
Because the party was for one of the grown kids, there wouldn’t be any side-pieces hanging around, but that didn’t mean that things would be any less wild than usual. There would still be girlfriends dancing on tables. Hell, sometimes it was wives. I’d seen Farrah shaking her ass on the pool table more than once. When we had a family party, things stayed pretty mellow for the most part, but when the littles were gone, the adults felt free to let loose. There weren’t any little ones there tonight.
As soon as I was dressed, I headed out to the main room to grab a beer. My gramps was already at his place at the end of the bar, and Grams was standing between his knees, fixing his beard. She was always fussing with him, trying to make him look a little more presentable, but beyond the button down shirt he was wearing, it was a lost cause. The old man looked like exactly what he was, an old biker that could still throw them back with the boys but had a hard time standing for long periods of time.
“Beer,” I ordered, tapping the tabletop. The prospects were serving for the night, probably because one of the old timers that I didn’t have much use for had been banging our usual bartender on the side.
“Hey, baby,” my mom said, coming up beside me, her face flushed. “You got a sitter for Gray?”
“He’s at Trix’s with the boys,” I affirmed with a nod. “Havin’ fun?”
“Yeah,” she laughed. “I’ve been dancing with the girls. It’s nice, you know? Ignoring everything else for a while?”
“Yep.” I agreed. All of us needed a night when we could forget the last week. I was pretty sure it wasn’t going to happen for me tonight, but I’d had a few hours earlier in the day when everything outside my room had disappeared.
“I swear,” my mom said. “Some of the shit Hawk does isn’t normal.”
“Half the shit Hawk does isn’t normal,” I said with a chuckle.
“She was bent in half and shaking her ass. I thought Tommy was going to come unglued.”
“Sounds about right.”
“I’ll see you later,” Mom said, glancing behind her. She stole my beer off the bar top and walked away before I even realized what was happening.
“The fuck?” I said in amusement, watching her go.
“Beer!” a voice called from behind me. It was one I recognized, but hadn’t heard in years.
“Ceecee Butler,” I said, turning around. “How you been?”
“Good,” she replied with a huge smile and a nod. Looking at her face, I knew she was telling the truth. Gone was the spoiled girl who felt like the world was out to get her, and in her place was a woman that seemed genuinely happy.
“Glad to hear that,” I said with a grin.
“How about you?” she said. “I was sorry to hear about Ashley.”
“Thanks.” I nodded to the prospect that handed me a new beer. “Tryin’ to figure out where I go from here.”
“With Lily,” she said nonchalantly, turning to lean her back against the bar.
“Say again?”
“You’re with Lily, right?”
Immediately, my hackles rose. Five minutes of normal interaction didn’t erase years of manipulation, and I wasn’t quite sure what she was getting at. “Your sister’s livin’ in Connecticut,” I replied.
“Yeah,” she grinned. “My dad must’ve lost his shit when she agreed to go there.”
“He was pretty proud.”
“I don’t doubt it. I was surprised when she left. I didn’t think she’d ever leave Eugene.”
“Why’s that?” I asked, taking a sip of my beer.
“Because she loves it here. She loves the rain and the trees and hanging out with family. It just never seemed like she’d be happy so far away.”
“She seems to be doin’ alright,” I muttered. I was over the conversation already, and regretting the fact that I’d even said hello.
“You think so?” she mused. “I think she’s probably counting the days until she’s home for good.”
“Doubt it,” I argued.
“Nah, she’s not like me,” Cecilia said.
“You think?” I shot back.
“I guess I deserved that,” Cecilia replied ruefully. “I used to be so jealous of her.”
“That’s fucked.”
“Oh, I know.” She laughed uncomfortably. “It just seemed like everything came easy for her.”
“She was blind,” I said flatly.
“You loved her,” she said calmly.
I opened my mouth to tell her to fuck off, but before I could say a word, she shook her head.
“I know it wasn’t like that,” she said, raising her hands in surrender. “You’ve never been a creep. But, you did care about her. I wanted that type of devotion, you know?”
“To get it, you gotta give it,” I murmured, glancing sideways at her.
“Yeah,” Cecilia said softly. “I’m learning that.”
“Daughter, you’re slacking,” Farrah yelled, walking our way. “I told your dad he could have one beer, and you’re over here drinking it while he’s over there bitching.”
“Casper’s here?” I asked in surprise.
“Yeah, the pain in my ass wouldn’t stay home. He’s over there on one of the couches, holding court and wishing he was home in bed—not that he’d ever admit it.”
Farrah grabbed a couple more drinks and then towed Cecilia across the room, leaving me mostly alone at the bar. There weren’t as many people at the party as there usually were, so I could see pretty much everyone around the room. I spotted the boys at the pool tables, so I headed that way. Hopefully if I was surrounded by people, I could pretend like I was having a good time, when in reality, I was wishing I was at my apartment with my boy, watching car shows on cable.
* * *
A few beers later, I was feeling good. I’d gotten just enough of a buzz to relax into my surroundings, but not enough of one to make anything fuzzy. I’d been playing pool with the boys for hours, taking turns and watching the women make bets on their men. Hawk had already lost at least a hundred dollars because Tommy was on the far side of drunk, but I had no idea who was actually winning. As the games had gone on, the bets got smaller and smaller as the women realized that all of the guys were pretty evenly matched and there was no way to guess who would win.
Rose had started betting on me, which I appreciated, until she whispered that she was betting with my money.
“Thought you were makin’ bank bartendin’,” I said, throwing my arm around her shoulders.
“Please,” she scoffed. “Those college boys don’t tip for shit if they’re not trying to impress you. Spoiled assholes. As soon as I made it clear I wouldn’t be serving anything but drinks, they stopped trying to impress me.”
“That’s bullshit,” I said, grabbing my beer off a table.
“I still make enough for rent,” she said with a shrug. “If we gotta eat ramen for a while, I can hang. Plus, Lily gives me her dining card all the damn time and we look enough alike that no one ever says anything.”
“Mmm, cafeteria food,” I said jokingly.
“Hey, don’t knock it,” she said, saluting me with her glass. “I’m getting fully cooked meals that I don’t have to clean up.”
“Fair enough,” I conceded.
“Still,” she said, watching her brother play. “It’s been fun, but I think we’re both ready to come home.”
“She’s still got two years left.”
“I doubt we’ll be there that long,” she replied. Then her attention was diverted. “Tommy, you suck!”
I was just chalking my cue to start the next game when all hell broke loose.
“Fire!” someone yelled from the front door. “Fire!”
“What the fuck?” I heard my dad bellow as he ran toward the door.
Every person in the room ran for the exits, and I had a sinking feeling in my gut as I realized that if this was some sort of attack, we’d be fucked. I pushed through the crowd trying to make my way outside, but was getting nowhere until Cam shoved his way past me. Following in his considerable wake, I made it outside before almost everyone else.
And then I looked around in confusion. I couldn’t see a fire. The building was fine. The garage bays were open and untouched. The grass and trees were so fucking saturated that we couldn’t get a fire going there if we tried.
“The house,” Cam said, running toward the edge of the building where my dad had broken out into a sprint. “Our fuckin’ house!”
Everything became white noise as I ran as hard as I could toward the property where Cam and Trix’s house sat. It wasn’t actually on Aces’ property, the old president who’d lived there before made sure of that, but the properties butted up against each other. The two buildings were in walking distance from each other, but I couldn’t believe how long it took me to get across the field that separated them.
The house was lit up like a fucking Roman candle.
And my son was inside.
“Call the fuckin’ fire department,” Grease screamed as he ran beside me. I didn’t know who he was talking to, but I didn’t bother to reply. There were people coming up behind us. I could hear them, but I didn’t give a shit who it was. One of them could call. I wasn’t stopping.
The thing people don’t really mention about a house fire is that they’re loud. Really fucking loud. You hear all about the smoke and the flames and the heat, but no one ever really tells you how loud that shit is. It’s practically deafening.
“Not again,” Cam said, as I caught up with his broad frame. “Fuck, not again.” He ran for the front door.
I followed him, my lungs screaming as I got closer and closer to the closed front door, but before I could make it there, I was being tackled from behind.