Chapter Six
Colton
“You better have a good excuse for running off on Bachmaker’s niece. Your father has been flipping his shit these last few days. I told him to stay away, and take a breather.” Al shakes his head. “He won’t stay away forever. Not with the engagements he has planned. Do you have a game plan where he’s concerned?” Al asks, and I know it’s because he has my back. He also knows how to handle men like my father.
“Don’t worry. I got this,” I wink.
“Yeah, you act all cocky now, but I bet the old guy called Susan this morning to find out your itinerary today. I expect him to walk through that door any minute.” Al gives me an expectant look and takes a seat in the comfortable brown leather chair in front of my desk. I bet my father did call Susan to find out where I’d be today. I wouldn’t expect anything less. In the past, the thought may have caused some anxiety because even though I’m a grown man my father has a specific effect on me, one that I hate to admit doesn’t always leave me with the best feeling. The only difference is that today I don’t give a shit. I’m flying high on cloud Evie, and there’s no way in hell my father can influence my mood or the fact that I absolutely will not date Bachmaker’s niece because hell I think I found the woman of my dreams. “What the hell is wrong with you, man?” Al snaps, his tone harsh and worried.
I snap out of my daze and focus on him. A bubble of laughter escapes my chest.
“Are you fucking high?” He continues looking at me with this completely baffled look probably wondering why I’m relaxed leaning back in my office chair, behind my desk, like I don’t have a care in the world.
My lip quirks on one side. “No, I’m not high.” My voice is chiding.
His eyes widen “Well, what the fuck is wrong with you? I sent you like five text messages to meet me for drinks last night. I was at the Continental with this fucking gorgeous woman, and she had a friend. I thought you’d meet us for drinks, but you were apparently MIA, and now you have this fucking…” he waves his hand in front of my face. “I don’t even know what to call the stupid look you have on your face.”
“I’m sure you handled the ladies just fine without me.” I look at my computer screen and scroll over my agenda for the day.
“Of course, I did.” He shrugs me off. “Whoever said three’s a crowd clearly didn’t have game.” He snickers lifting one leg up and across his knee. “Well?” He waits expectantly.
“Well, what?” I answer. I know he wants to know where I disappeared to last night but I want to keep the details to myself a little longer, cherish them, relish the idea of kissing Evie and hope that it happens again, soon.
“Don’t,” he warns. “Just spit it out. Where the hell were you? Did you go back to screwing that witch again?” he asks, referring to my long-time fling Cassandra. It’s never been serious at least for me it hasn’t. We just have terrific chemistry and a love for dirty sex. She’s available when I want, and so in that sense, we match perfectly. From time to time she’s brought up the relationship talk, but I’ve been upfront from the start. I’m not that guy. I don’t want a family, and I don’t want to settle down. I don’t want to be burned like my father, because hell my mother turned his whole world upside down, and he lives with a million regrets. No way I will allow that to happen to me. Nope.
“I wasn’t with Cassandra. Chill the fuck out,” I scoff. The thought of being with Cassandra now after spending the evening with Evie completely turns me off.
“Then who?” he asks. I know Al. He won’t let up.
I let out an exasperated breath. “I met up with the woman from the Veterans gala,” I begin.
“That vixen with the red hair?” he continues. “Fuck yes.” He grins mischievously, and that devious glint he gets in his eyes appears when he scores with a woman in bed. It irks me that he’s thinking that way about Evie. I don’t like it.
It doesn’t make sense because Al and I are used to shooting the shit about the women we date, but…last night with Evie was special…just as I’m about to deflect his questioning the door to my office is flung open. There is only one person who would have the nerve to burst into the governor’s office uninvited…my father.
“Jesus Christ, Colton, I ask you for a simple favor. No scratch that. I ask you to do something that will further your career…” He huffs, and his tanned skin is tinged red. His dress shirt which is buttoned to the top looks like it’s stretching across his thick neck where an angry vein pulsates. “I didn’t ask you to bed the girl Colt, it would have been a simple date, and in return, Edmund would have donated a good three million to your campaign.” My father lets out a loud, angry growl.
“Father…I…” I can’t even put in two words as me, and Al share a knowing look. I have to give Al credit for putting up with my father.
“Don’t ‘father’ me…I’ve never seen something so rude in my life. Did I raise you with no manners?” he scoffs. I’m surprised it took him three days to come here and tell me off. Truth is I was expecting him the next morning only he was MIA which means he had to deal with other Mathis family business. I don’t answer him, so he continues. “To walk away from the poor girl like that and then chase after that other girl like a dog in heat.” He blows out a breath. “You’re supposed to be the next president of this country. What does it say about you that you have the attention span of a chimpanzee in heat?” I wait for him to finish his rant knowing he won’t let me get a word in any way. I want to laugh at his comment. A chimpanzee in heat? What the fuck? Even though I do feel hot and heavy for Evie. I can’t seem to get her out of my mind. I probably just need to bed her and move on. That must be it. As thoughts run through my mind, I somehow manage to block my ranting father. Until he slaps a picture on my desk and my eyes widen when I see Evie’s round blue eyes staring up at me.
I bolt out of my chair landing on my feet before I can even say a word. “What the hell? How did you get her picture?” I look to my father wishing daggers would shoot from my eyes.
He leans forward over my desk, still seething, his face flushed with anger. “What did you think? That you would blow a multimillion-dollar contribution for some piece of ass and I wouldn’t look into it?” he snaps.
I lean forward over my desk getting in his face. “How dare you? My private life is mine.”
My father’s lip curls on one side. “A high school teacher is one thing Colton, but she’s deaf. How can a deaf woman function as the first lady?”
I don’t know what happens next because I’ve never wanted to physically strike my father but my hands ball into fists by my side, and before I understand it, Al is by my side holding me back because I want to hit my father with all my strength. My anger beats inside me like a time bomb ready to detonate.
“Colton, take a deep breath and back down,” Al urges, pushing me back and away from my father. He turns his head and quickly says, “Mr. Mathis I think you should leave. I’ve got this, and I will call you later.”
My father stands stubborn and still. He contemplates for a moment. Then says, “Fine. Get our boy to see reason.” Then he storms out of the office. Only the hurricane brewing inside me hasn’t subsided. It’s still fierce and blowing as I wonder what the hell has come over me. My father has said ridiculous things like that before. He has a distorted view of the world, but I try to accept his faults while still trying to respect the man that raised me. Now I feel so far away from any understanding at all, I feel like the earth’s axis has tilted, and I can’t find my bearings.
With my father out of the office, Al releases his grip on me. “You good?” He gives me a worried look.
I sit back in my chair, undo the top button of my dress shirt, and loosen my tie.
“Tell me what the hell is going on Colton?” Al insists.
And so, I relent and tell my best friend about my evening with Evie. Everything from what she was wearing, to what we talked about, and how we kissed. As I ramble on and on, Al sits back in his chair with a wide smug grin on his face and says. “Oh, even the mighty one’s fall.”
Truth is I can’t argue with him because I don’t know what’s happening, but I feel like I’m falling.