Chapter Sixteen
KARLI
I got into the limousine when the party was over already feeling hung over. My head was fuzzy and my thoughts were all jumbled, but I doubted it had much to do with alcohol. I hadn’t drunk enough to even get a good buzz going. Nick was what had done it.
First, that talk we had…it should have made me feel better, but instead, it made me feel like shit. I clearly told him why I couldn’t date him and although he’d looked hurt at the time, he came back inside not long afterwards and drove my point home.
He was slamming down one drink after the other and every time I saw him, it was in the center of a menagerie of females. He was on the dance floor several times, too – each time with a different woman. It had clearly taken him no time at all to get over me, and as much as I knew that should make me feel relieved, it didn’t. Instead, it made me feel sick to my stomach to see him holding those other women close as they danced, or to watch how they all wanted to touch him as they talked. Each time I looked at him, he was flashing his dimples at one of them; I wanted to scream.
I did my best not to let poor Ethan know that I was distracted by his brother, but when the limousine dropped me at home, I knew that I hadn’t succeeded. He walked me up to the door as I said,
“Thank you, Ethan. I had a great time.”
He smiled, and I tried so hard not to think of his brother when his dimples creased. “Good; I did, too.” He took my face in his hand and I thought about when Nick had done the same thing earlier. I had wanted him to kiss me so badly I could taste it. He didn’t, though, and now neither did Ethan. Instead, he looked into my eyes and said, “I like you a lot, Karli, but I don’t want to be a stand in for my brother.”
“Oh no, Ethan! That’s not what you are.”
“I don’t think it’s a conscious thing on your part. But, anyone that had eyes this evening just had to look at your face and know how much you want Nick. The same look was on his face every time he looked at you. Let me tell you something, Karli. In the twenty-four years that I have known my brother, I have seen lots of women look at him the way you do, but what I have never seen is him look back at them the way he looks at you. I saw something in him tonight that I’ve never seen before, and I never even knew existed. Nick probably had no idea it existed, either, until you came along. I think you would be good for him.”
“First of all, I’m sorry, Ethan. I didn’t realize that I was so obviously mooning over him. Second of all, I really like you, too—”
“But you’re ten times more attracted to my brother.”
I nodded. He deserved the truth. “I don’t know why. I don’t want to be with a fighter. I want someone with a nice, safe occupation like…”
“Defending murderers?” he asked with a crooked little smile. He was so handsome and sexy and smart…why couldn’t I want him the way I wanted Nick?
I smiled, too. “Yeah, like that.”
“He’s a good person, Karli, and he’s smart and funny. Did he tell you he graduated third in his high school class?”
I didn’t think Nick was stupid, but third in his class pointed toward academically gifted and that did surprise me.
“No, I didn’t know that. It doesn’t change the fact, though, that he’s in this very high profile position that just seems to feed every narcissistic fiber in these men’s bodies. To this day, I honestly believe that my last boyfriend loved me. The temptations were just everywhere, though, constantly. It was too much for him and he thought he could taste some of that forbidden fruit and I’d never know. The night I caught him only made me wonder how many times I hadn’t. I don’t want to live like that. It would just chip away at my self-esteem and right now, I like myself.”
Ethan nodded. “I can’t argue with that. I will say that my little brother is one of the most loyal people I’ve ever known in his other relationships with friends and family. But, that’s as much of an argument as I’m going to put up for him.”
He smiled, but his eyes looked sad as he said, “You do know that I can’t continue to see you, knowing how my brother feels, right?”
I smiled back at him. “Yeah, I know. Thank you, Ethan.”
He softly touched his lips to mine. “Thank you, Karli. If you ever want help with any of your school work or you’d like to grab lunch or something, call me. I’d like for us to be friends.”
“Thanks, Ethan. I will.”
I felt better after talking to him. Dating him would have been so unfair, considering I couldn’t make myself stop thinking about his brother. Dad was asleep when I went into the house, but Kevin was still up and sitting in the dark in the living room.
“Hey, Kevin.”
He looked surprised like he hadn’t even heard me come in. “Oh, hey, Karli.”
“You okay?”
“Um, no. Not really.”
I went over and sat down next to him. “What’s wrong?”
He made a face and said, “I probably shouldn’t tell you this.”
“Me? What does it have to do with me?”
He sighed. “Well, earlier tonight I went out with some of the guys from the gym. When I got home, I didn’t see Charlie anywhere in the house but the door was unlocked so I went looking for him to make sure he was okay. I started to open the garage door and that’s when I heard him talking. He was saying my Mom’s name. I know I shouldn’t have, but I eavesdropped in on the conversation.”
I raised an eyebrow. “So what were they saying that has you so upset and worried about me?”
“I don’t know how much you know about your dad when he was younger. Nobody wants to think bad things about their parents.”
“Kevin! Just tell me what’s going on.”
“Your father and my mother were talking about me…being his biological son.”
My mild headache was beginning to feel like a thousand drumsticks beating on things in there all at once. “My dad said that you’re his son?”
“Yeah, he was telling her to stop worrying, that he wasn’t going to tell me. Mom made a fuss when Dad suggested I come out here. It got me thinking about the last time you and Charlie visited us in Philadelphia; do you remember that?”
“Yeah, I was about fourteen at the time, I think.”
“Yeah, and I was eleven. I never told anyone this, but I walked in on them kissing once during that trip. Dad was at work, and you and I were supposed to be watching that hockey game at the park; remember?”
“I do remember the hockey game because…well, I remember it.”
He nodded. “I know you had a thing for that goalie, Mark. Anyways, do you remember I had to run home and get my jacket? I was freezing, and I’d left it at home on top of my bed?” It was beginning to come back to me.
I nodded and he went on. “I went in the back door. The house was quiet and I thought that was weird since Charlie and Mom were both there when we left. I heard a noise in the bedroom and my over-active imagination had a robber in the house and them tied up with guns to their heads.
“I tip-toed down the hallway and stopped dead in my tracks when I saw them. My mother’s shirt was on the floor, but she was still wearing her pants and bra. Your dad was kissing her and he had his hands on her butt. I never told anyone because I was embarrassed about it. But this, Karli…what if this whole time the man I thought was my father wasn’t and this other man that I looked up to was nothing more than a cheater?”
He seemed to forget that cheater was the man I looked up to my whole life. My Dad. I felt sick. If this was true, my own father was proof that these glorified jocks could not be trusted.
That last time we were in Philly was his last fight. Women had always been all over him the way they are with Nick. I used to hate it even when it was my father they were throwing themselves at. But he never let on in front of me that he was a player, and even if he had been, he was single at the time. But Kevin’s mom wasn’t, and my dad was his dad’s best friend since college. I hate thinking the man I loved so much was capable of that kind of betrayal. I’d rather hope Kevin misunderstood what he heard…and what he saw all those years ago.
“What do you think about taking a DNA test before we tell anyone anything? We can buy one at the drug store and Dad’s DNA is all over this place. If it’s negative, he’ll never have to know.”
“Okay, but if it’s positive, then what?”
“It’ll take a few weeks to come back. If it’s positive, then we’ll deal with it, Kevin, together. Okay?”
“Okay. I’m sorry to bring you into this. Maybe it’s a moot point anyways, you know? I’m nineteen years old, almost twenty. My dad was a good dad and all I ever knew. What would I even do with this kind of information?”
I was thinking the same thing myself. “Why don’t we wait and not worry about it until we get those results?” I told him. “Let’s keep this all between us until then and let’s promise we’ll sit down and talk about it then before either of us talks to Dad. Deal?”
“Yeah, deal.” Poor kid looked like a nervous wreck. I didn’t blame him. I was nervous, too. I had put my father on a pedestal all of these years. Now I was faced with the prospect of being the one to knock him off of it.
I woke up Sunday morning with a sense of dread for two reasons. One, I’d promised Kevin that I would buy the DNA test and two, I promised Dad I’d help out at the exhibition fight. I was strangely both looking forward to seeing Nick and not looking forward to it. That didn’t make any sense and my brain and heart were both in turmoil.
I showered and dressed before going out to make the coffee and found Dad in the kitchen. As soon as I saw him, I had a visual of him and Kevin’s mother together. It made me sick to my stomach. I forced myself to return his smile.
“Good morning, sweetheart.” He took my mug out of the cabinet and poured me a cup of the fresh-brewed coffee. “How was the masquerade ball last night? Did this Ethan turn out to be Prince Charming?”
“Actually,” I said, taking a sip of my coffee and a seat at the table. “He turned out to be Nick’s brother.”
“Nick? Storelli?”
“Yeah, small world, huh?”
“I can’t believe it. He seems so…I don’t know, they just seem so different. You didn’t have any idea?”
“No. Ethan’s last name is Grant. Nick uses his mother’s maiden name. I was surprised, but once I found out, I wondered how I hadn’t noticed the strong resemblance between them.”
He took a seat at the table with his coffee, too. “You’re not going to let that keep you from seeing Ethan, are you? He seems like such a nice young man. Perfect for you.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. I was angry with him and suddenly realized that I was spoiling for a fight. “And, Nick isn’t because he’s a fighter, right?”
He made a face. “I don’t have to tell you that these boys are all players, Karli. Nick Storelli is full of himself and doesn’t go anywhere that women don’t flock around him. I don’t want to see you get hurt.”
“Why is it that women can’t flock around a man and that man leave them alone? I mean, you were a famous fighter in your day, Dad. You weren’t a player, were you?”
“We’re not really talking about me. Do you want some breakfast, honey?”
“I want you to answer my question. Were you a player?”
“Yeah, I was. But I was single and I never led women to believe it would be anything but a one-night stand.” My stomach rolled at the very idea of my father as a sexual being, but I pushed on.
“Did you ever worry that one would get pregnant and you’d be saddled with another kid?”
“I told you not to talk about yourself that way. I wasn’t ‘saddled’ with anything. I had the privilege of being your father.”
My heart thawed slightly. “Thanks, Dad, but seriously, didn’t you worry about the possibility?”
“Well, if you must know, I used protection.”
“Condoms?”
“Karli, what is this about? You’re not pregnant, are you?”
“Oh, hell no! I’m smarter than that, Dad. But, we were talking about you.”
“Yeah, I used condoms.” He got up and turned his back to me to me. “You want toast?”
“No thanks. I don’t have an appetite today.”