Good Boy by Megan Lowe
Chapter 27
“Hey,” I say, going downstairs and seeing Thomas waiting in the foyer.
“Hey, yourself,” he replies.
“What are you doing here?”
He shrugs. “Would it be lame if I said I was in the neighborhood?”
“Is it the truth?”
“Well, yeah, but only after I drove here.”
We both laugh.
“I um, wanted to see how you’re doing, you know, with all this Cav and Jase stuff.”
I blow out a breath and run my hand through my hair. “It’s fucked up,” I tell him.
He nods. “Yeah. I knew it would get messy, but I was hoping it wouldn’t get this messy.”
I shrug. “Cav knows what he’s doing, I’ll give him that.”
“He does, but so do I.”
I tilt my head.
“You ready to kick this shit off?”
“I don’t know. Hasn’t this already got out of hand enough?”
“I’d say it passed that a while ago. And I hate to be the one to tell you this, but I don’t think it’s going to get better any time soon.”
I scrub my hands over my face. “This is so messed up.”
He takes a step closer to me. “It is, but we can fix this. We will fix this.”
I look up into his eyes. They’re clear and determined. “Yeah, okay, let’s do this.” Honestly, Cav has me in knots. If it’s not being horrible to me at school, it’s his confusing words as James that keep coming back to haunt me. Then it’s bringing my brother into our personal problems. For too long I’ve sat back and let him do all this to me. I’ve let him dictate our relationship but I think it’s time I did something to change that.
“You want to grab a coffee or something? There’s a Stan’s Donuts a couple blocks away.”
“Yeah, okay.” I grab my jacket and yell to let Amy know I’ll be back later. As I turn back to Thomas, I see Jase’s head sticking out of his room. I ignore his narrow-eyed glare.
“Let’s go.”
We grab a table in the small dining room, as well as a donut each and a coffee.
“I’m sorry Jase has been dragged into this mess,” Thomas says.
I shrug. “You warned me against it. I warned him as well. He knew what could happen and he kept butting in. I know he only wanted to protect me, but if he’d just left it, he would’ve been fine.”
Thomas takes a sip of his coffee. “I’m not sure that’s strictly true. I think Cav saw you starting to hit back at him, even if it is only slightly and he didn’t like that. In Jase he found your weakness.”
“Yeah.” I play with the sugar canister, spinning it round and round. “I thought Jase was smarter than that, though,” I tell him. “I thought he could see through what Cav was doing, coming in to play the savior. I didn’t think he’d fall for it.”
“Cav is the master at manipulation. Jase might be strong, but it would’ve taken a miracle for him to withstand Cav.”
I blow out a breath.
“I just… I’m used to being the one Jase comes to when he has a problem. I’m the one who fixes them, who has fixed them for years now. And to hand that off to a guy who very clearly hates my guts? It’s a hard pill to swallow.”
Thomas nods. “I know. Cav does as well, which is why he’s doing what he’s doing. He wants to turn Jase against you.”
“Yeah, well, it’s working.”
“And so will we.”
“Well, well, well,” a voice says as the bell over the door tinkles. “Isn’t this cozy?”
I groan and drop my head to the top of the table.
Thomas grabs my hand, stroking the top of it. I try to pull away, but he holds onto me tighter. I lift my head.
“What are you doing here?” he asks.
“I was in the neighborhood,” Cav replies. His eyes fall to Thomas and my hands. “What’s this?”
I once again try to get out of Thomas’s grip.
“Just two friends having coffee,” Thomas says.
“Yeah, you guys are looking very friendly.”
Thomas shrugs. “Connor’s a great guy.”
Cav scoffs. “Yeah, I bet he is.”
“Wha—” I start, but don’t get the chance to finish my sentence.
“You have a problem?” Thomas asks.
“Why would I have a problem? I just didn’t think Connor here was your type.”
“And if he is?”
Cav holds his hands up. “Then all power to you.”
“Really?”
“Really,” Cav confirms.
Thomas sits back, letting my hand go. “Interesting.”
“Er, what’s going on here?” I ask.
Cav shakes his head at me. “So this is how it’s going to be, huh?”
“How what’s going to be?” I ask. “I have no idea what’s going on. Thomas and I are here having coffee and a donut, nothing more, nothing less.”
“You keep telling yourself that.”
“Why does it matter?” Thomas asks. “It’s not like you’re jealous, are you?”
Cav scoffs. “Just what do I have to be jealous about?”
“You tell me.”
Cav nods. “So this is how it is, huh?”
“This is how it is,” Thomas confirms.
“I don’t know what you think you know….”
“Oh, I think I know just enough.”
“You don’t know shit,” Cav says.
“Maybe I do, maybe I don’t.” Thomas leans forward. “But between us three, I think I know exactly what’s going on. I think I know exactly what makes you tick, what gets you going.” He looks over to me, still having no idea what the fuck is going on. “I think that I have finally figured you out and I’m going to make you pay for it.”
“Is that so?”
Thomas shrugs.
“And you’re confident about that? Willing to risk everything on it?”
“Confident enough. You think you have the whole world fooled,” Thomas says. “You think you can say and do whatever you want and no one will question you. That ends now.”
“And you?” Cav asks me.
“I-I just want to be left alone,” I tell him.
He tilts his head. “Is that what you really want?”
I want to tell him that he knows what I really want. That he’s what I really want, but I can’t. I don’t owe him anything but I can’t spill his secret, I can’t out him to his friend. I won’t. So instead, I shrug.
“You messed with the wrong guy,” Thomas says, picking up my hand again.
Cav shakes his head. “You really think this is going to work?” His hands are clenched by his side.
Thomas nods to them. “I’d say it’s working just fine.”
“You really have got me all figured out, haven’t you?”
“Yeah, I think I have.”
“And you don’t have a problem with this, with him?” Cav asks me.
“Why would I have a problem?” I ask.
“Guess that’s my answer then.” He turns and walks out. He stops before he gets to the door. “I hope you two will be happy.”