Driving Me Mad (13 page)

“Can you give us a moment?”
I’m walking away before I even finish the sentence. I tug Brittany
to my room and close the door behind us.

“I’m so sorry,” she whispers.
“I wasn’t thinking.”

“Be quiet for a second,” I
say, sitting on the edge of my bed. I need to think. What am I
going to do? They have luggage, so they are here for the weekend, I
assume. Do I ask Brittany to stay? Or leave? Can I ask them to
leave? How likely is it that they would actually leave? If I knew
my dad wanted to see me so badly that he’d make a trip up here, I
would have definitely gone down to visit, especially if this
could’ve been avoided.

Hands cup my face, tilting it
back, and Brittany has managed to stand between my knees. “Trace,”
she says softly. “You’re taking too long to panic. They’re going to
think we’re back here having a quickie or something.” She gives me
a weak smile.

“What am I going to do?”

“He’s just your dad,” she
reminds me.

“Yeah, my dad who showed up
without any warning!”

“And now you need to go out
there and face it. What do you want me to do?”

I grab her hips and decide to
be honest. “I don’t know which will be worse: you staying or
going.”

“Then I’ll stay. I promise no
more slips that might ruffle feathers. C’mon. Let’s go face them.”
She takes my hands and pulls me up. She doesn’t pause at all as she
leads me out of the room.

My sanity seems to snap back
into place. Dad and Amy are standing right where we left them.
“Sorry about that. I’ll show you the spare bedroom, so you can put
your luggage away.” They follow me down the hallway and Brittany
stays behind. “Are y’all staying the weekend?”

“Yeah,” Dad answers. He
places their luggage on the bed and faces me. “Amy, I need a moment
with my son.” She nods and leaves the room. “She’s a student,
Trace? What the hell are you thinking? You could get fired!”

I sigh. “Long story short,
no, I won’t. Have y’all eaten yet?”

Dad eyes me before shaking
his head.

“Okay, we’ll go out then.” I
leave the room, knowing he’ll follow. I stop by my room to get our
coats. Brittany and I have already eaten, but we’ll have to pretend
we didn’t. She and Amy are sitting on the couch, watching
Dateline
. Good thing I had it set to record anyway. “Let’s
go eat.”

The trip to the restaurant is
quiet and awkward, with my hands either clenched to the steering
wheel or my thumb tapping rapidly against it. I keep trying to
remind myself that I do have a good relationship with my dad. He
just doesn’t know about my problems, and I hate that he showed up
out of the blue, especially when I am supposed to be spending my
weekend with Brittany and Brittany alone.

Brittany and I walk a little
ahead of my dad and Amy. I lean down to whisper, “Order something
small if you need to, but not a salad.” She nods and I hold open
the door for everyone. She was able to eat dinner easily earlier.
It’s been a good day for us both. If she doesn’t have room for much
else, something small will be fine. Dad would draw conclusions
about her if she orders a small salad, though. He’s always been
kind of critical in a ridiculous kind of way. I can hear him now.
A small salad? What? She doesn’t eat? Who orders a small salad
for a meal?

We’re seated quickly because
the place isn’t that busy. Once our drinks are ordered, Amy
surprises me by asking Brittany about herself.

“So, you’re in college?”

Brittany gulps and glances at
me. “Yeah, I’m in my last semester.”

“What are you planning to do
once you graduate?”

“Find a job with a company to
work in community relations, which is sort of a more focused form
of public relations.”

“Oh, that’s nice.” The
waitress stops by and takes our food orders. “Are you from
here?”

“No. I’m actually from a
small town near Wilmington.”

Dad cuts his gaze to me with
narrowed eyes. It’s not like she could lie, but now I’d bet my life
that Dad is wondering if I met Brittany before I moved here. May
even be wondering if I cheated on Faith with her, or had some form
of relationship with her while I was married.

“How did y’all meet?” he
asks. “How long have y’all been dating?”

Brittany looks to me to
answer, which is perfect. “We met in Wilmington and have been
friends for a while. We started dating shortly after I moved here.”
Dad opens his mouth, but considering Brittany has been squeezing
her wrist under the table, it’s time for my own questions. “How was
the flight?” I reach over to hold her hand, resting our hands on my
leg.

Dad shrugs. “It was a
flight.”

“I hope we’re not intruding
too much, Trace,” Amy begins. “I tried to tell him he needed to
give you a heads-up.”

“It’s okay. It was going to
be a laid-back weekend for us.”

The waitress comes with our
food as Brittany peeks at her phone. She gives me a worried look
and I glance down to see the screen. It’s her mom. Brittany always
answers. I slide out of the booth.

“Sorry, y’all. I need to take
this.”

Before she can slip away, I
whisper in her ear, “Don’t run off. You have to come back.”

She laughs and answers the
phone as she walks away.

Dad doesn’t even wait until
the waitress leaves to say, “I guess she wasn’t taught that leaving
the table to be on the phone is rude.” He seems extra critical. I
don’t understand it.

“It’s her mom. She always
answers.”

“It’s sweet that she’s close
to her mother,” Amy says with a smile.

“Yes, it is,” I agree. “Y’all
can go ahead and eat. Sometimes, she can get off quickly; other
times, it can be a few minutes.”

“We can wait.” Dad folds his
arms over his chest. “Were you seeing her while you were
married?”

“Clark!” Amy chides him.

“No. I told you when I
started seeing her. Can you tone down the third degree? That’s the
least you can do for showing up out of the blue.”

“Sorry,” Brittany breathes as
she walks back to the table. Her cheeks and nose are red from the
cold, and I can’t help but kiss her temple when I stand to let her
in. She’s beautiful.

“It’s fine,” I reassure
her.

Brittany notices that all the
food is untouched. “Oh, y’all didn’t have to wait on me.”

“That’s the way we do
things,” Dad tells her.

We begin to eat and I ask,
“How is everything and everyone back home?” Thankfully, this gets
both Amy and Dad talking. They live in an extremely small town. We
get updates on my family
and
pretty much everyone else in
the town. They talk as we eat, as we pay the bill, and for some of
the ride home. All I’m thinking about at this point is bed.

But then, Dad has to ask,
“How’s Faith?”

“How would I know?”

“You were married to
her.”

“Yeah, I
was
. I’m not
anymore. I haven’t spoken to her in two and a half years.” Which he
knows! Why would I keep in contact with an ex-wife when I have no
reason to?

The air is silent and tense
the rest of the drive home. I should probably ask Brittany if she
wants to stay, but at this point, I need her to. I need her here. I
need her, plain and simple. When we get to my house, I lock the
door and then face Dad and Amy.

“We’re going to head to bed.
Make yourselves at home, and we’ll see y’all in the morning.”

“Good night,” Amy says.

Dad only nods. I take
Brittany’s hand and lead her to my room. She takes a deep breath
once I close the door behind us.

“I promise he’s not usually
this much of a dick. I’m sorry.”

She walks over to her bags to
withdraw some items. “It’s okay.”

“No, it’s not,” I call after
her as she disappears into my bathroom. I find my own pajamas and
begin to change. I honestly don’t know what’s gotten into him. When
he was alone after Mom’s death and I was already living in North
Carolina, he never begged me to visit. He never asked, except for
the holidays. Now, he’s married to Amy and he’s making unannounced
trips across the country to my house because I didn’t go home for
Christmas? I join her in the bathroom for the mundane nightly
pre-bed routines.

“He’s probably just worried
about you,” Brittany shrugs. “You moved, didn’t visit, and now
you’re dating a college student.”

I pull my toothbrush from my
mouth long enough to speak. “And that’s a good reason to be like he
was?”

“No, but it’s an
explanation.” She leaves the room, not waiting for a response.

The more I replay the night
in my mind, the angrier I get. His treatment of Brittany was
uncalled for, his showing up was rude, and it’s insulting to think
he would question me to see if I’m a cheater.

“I guess it was pointless for
Rebecca to replace my pajamas with this,” I hear Brittany say with
a laugh.

I walk out of the bathroom to
see her sitting on the edge of my bed in some sheer, black lacy
nightie, or whatever the hell they’re called. My feet move quick to
carry me to her. My eyes don’t know what to settle on. Her legs?
Her breasts? There’s too much to look at and appreciate. The tips
of my fingers trail over the tops of her thighs.

“Trace?”

I lift my eyes to hers,
finally processing what she said. “Why is it pointless?” Because
she’s not going to be wearing it for much longer? We hear the door
to the bedroom across the hall close.

“That’s why.”

All I can do is shake my
head. I drag my gaze over her again, over her cleavage, where the
nightie rests at the top of those legs which are begging to be
wrapped around my waist. I finger the material at the hem. This can
not
go to waste. I lean down and kiss her neck, but she
grabs my shoulders and pushes me backward just enough so she can
see me.

“Are you going to just kiss
me?” she asks. I shake my head. “Trace.” Her eyes widen and I can’t
help but grin. “We can’t.”

“Do you want me?”

Her eyes narrow. “That’s a
trick question.”

I laugh. “Yes or no,
Britt?”

The silence stretches, her
eyes looking too clouded and conflicted. I take a seat next to her
and hold her hand.

“Hey, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” She begins to
move, so she can get under the covers. “Let’s go to bed and maybe
I’ll let ya cop a feel,” she grins.

I follow after her, unsure if
I should push it. Her grin was legit, so I don’t know. I decide to
let it go. “Define ‘cop a feel,’” I say as I pull her against me
and let my hands roam all over her body.

She laughs softly. “I think
you already know the definition.”

And I’m taking advantage of
it, too. Needing to feel my mouth against hers, I kiss her hard,
but short. I rest my forehead against hers. “I’m glad you’re
here.”

“Me too.” She pauses and
quietly adds, “I do want you.”

That’s all I need to hear as
I strip her down and kiss her almost constantly to keep her quiet
because she can be a bit loud sometimes. Instead of getting lost in
my own head and thinking too much about the surprise visit, I get
lost in the sensation of Brittany’s soft skin, the way her body
feels against mine, and soon, she’s the only thing that exists for
me.

“Feeling okay?” I ask. She
seems to be fine, but I want to hear her say it. Dad and Amy aren’t
awake yet. We woke a bit early, so we ran to the store to grab
things to make breakfast, which is what we’re doing now. She’s on
egg duty while I’m fixing pancakes.

“I’m fine, Trace.”

“Do you want to stay here
with us today or make your escape after breakfast?”

She’s quiet for a moment
before glancing over at me. “What will be easier for you? What do
you want me to do?”

“Those are two different
answers.”

Brittany laughs. “Well, pick
one. I’ll be okay either way.”

There’s no promise my dad
will behave today. I don’t want to deal with it and I don’t want to
put Brittany through it either. Honestly, I’m surprised she hasn’t
had an attack yet. If the situation was reversed, I would have
panicked. We can’t hear any movements from down the hall, and
breakfast is done.

“Eat breakfast with me and
make your escape.”

She wraps her arms around my
waist, tilting her head back to look at me. “Are you sure?”

“Yeah,” I sigh. “I’ll make it
up to you soon.”

“How? Some romantic date?”
She grins.

“I can do that.”

“Okay then.”

We’re able to enjoy our
pancakes, eggs, and bacon. Brittany leaves before Dad and Amy wake
up. I guess it’s time to smile and give my dad the visit he wants.
Hopefully, it won’t leave me exhausted. I’ll have to be in a good
frame of mind to give Brittany her big, romantic date.

***