Gamed (A Standalone Romance Novel) (Bad Boy Romance) Page 13

  "What are you doing here, Owen?" my father asked. "Please tell me you know why this is a cause for concern."

  "Frankly, I don't," Owen said.

  "I don't know what you think you are doing to our family, but Quinn is in danger of losing her place in the nursing program. Anything you do is harmful to my girls, to Quinn, don't you see that?" my father asked.

  "I'm losing my place in the nursing program?" I prayed my hopeful tone had not been heard.

  "No," my father said. "Your mother and I drove here and convinced your advisor otherwise. You are on probation, but you will be able to work your way back up. We'll discuss it as soon as this thoughtless, careless, waste of space leaves."

  "Father! You can't talk to Owen that way," I protested.

  "No, it’s okay, Quinn. I understand. Your father needs someone to blame and it should be me," Owen said. "Better me than Sienna or you or anyone else. Listen to them, don't lose what you have here before you know what you want."

  His words hurt, but I still followed him to the door and grabbed his hand. He squeezed mine before pulling free. "See you around."

  "I'm sorry, Owen. This is horrible," I said. I stood frozen as he winked at me and left the room. Then my anger boiled to the surface. "How dare you blame Owen. You know he was never anything but wonderful to Sienna and to me."

  "There is no you and Owen, Quinn," my mother said. "That is a ridiculous and terrible thought. You need to get yourself together."

  "And that is why we waited to talk to you," my father said. "Because you are now on probation and because we pay a large part of your tuition, you will be coming home every weekend so we can ensure you are studying."

  "I'm not a child," I said.

  "Then stop acting that way and get serious about your career," my father said.

  They left before I could even begin to explain the ideas I had for my own life or my own career. Under the harsh fluorescent lights of my dorm room, it seemed like I only had one choice and it had been made for me.

  #

  "The problem is that I really did love nursing when I started," I said. "It’s just that it was always overshadowed by Sienna and then it didn't seem like my choice. And, well, the rest kind of unraveled by itself."

  Darla sat on my bed and nodded. "You're good at nursing. I know you'd make a spectacular nurse, but who says that's a good reason for staying in a profession? It’s better to be having these thoughts now than three, four years out of school. Rent, car payments, bills, it could get real ugly, then trying to drop a good nursing paycheck and reach for your dreams."

  "What dreams? What if I'm just escaping and the whole gamer world is the easiest path?"

  "Easy? I die like fifteen times every time I try to play. If you've survived this long, won a tournament, then maybe you should keep going," Darla said. "What I can't believe is that you agreed to go home weekends."

  "Well, they never said I'd be under house arrest. They just want to see that I'm keeping up with my studying," I said.

  "So, you're really going home to be closer to Owen. Now that, I get."

  "Yeah, I'll let you know if it works," I said.

  I managed to stay hopeful the entire drive, but as soon as I pulled into Summerlin, I started to worry. Not once had my parents asked if nursing was something I actually wanted to pursue. That was not even an issue to them. I knew as soon as I set foot in their house, I was in danger of becoming the unseen daughter again.

  My worry multiplied when I saw a strange car in the driveway. My first night home and my parents had house guests. So, instead of finishing all my studying that night, proofing it in the morning, and being free to see Owen, I would be stuck playing the dutiful daughter for their friends.

  "Hello?" I called in the foyer.

  "There you are, baby. Took you long enough."

  I reeled back against the door and wondered what nightmare I had walked into. Trent strolled down the hallway with both hands out.

  He pried my fingers from the door handle and kissed my cheek. "Your father invited me. Your advisor told him we were dating and he thought it would be a nice surprise before you studied all weekend."

  "But that's not your car in the driveway," I said.

  Trent pulled me along to the front parlor. "No, that's Nicky's car. I promised him a night in Vegas if he came to family dinner."

  Nicky sat across from my father who was bravely ignoring his see-through mesh shirt. "Trent brought a friend," was all my father said.

  "No, no, no, not a friend. Nicky's more of a boy toy," Trent said. "We surprised your father. He was hoping I would come and keep your mind off a certain someone. Turns out I'm not the only one that disapproves of Owen Redd."

  "The gamer?" Nicky asked. "Oooh, I do like that magazine cover shot of him."

  Trent slapped Nicky's leg. "He's the one I caught with his tongue down my girlfriend's throat."

  "Ex-girlfriend," I said. My father was fast becoming an awful shade of purple, but I decided to go with his “honesty is the best policy” course of action. "I broke up with Trent because I caught him having sex with another man. Owen kissed me in a ridiculous ploy to make Trent jealous. It was childish, but that was it."

  "He also almost knocked my head off my shoulders," Trent said.

  For a moment, it looked as if my father might applaud Owen's efforts. "You should have been honest with me on the phone, Trent. I do not appreciate you coming here to cause a scene. Now, if you'll please excuse us, I believe it would be better for you to go before my wife-"

  "Sorry I'm late to the party. Just a few finishing touches," my mother said. She swept into the room in a flowing black dress with a coral red necklace. She often overdressed for dinner, especially when she thought her daughters were entertaining young men.

  "Turns out I made a mistake," my father caught her in the door. "Quinn broke up with him and now Trent is here with his new boyfriend."

  "Boy toy," Trent corrected him.

  "Honestly, Quinn, you can't stick with anything these days, can you?" my mother asked. She peered over my father's shoulder at Trent and Nicky. "Well, boys, the least you could do is pour us all some of that wine."

  She took the glass Trent gave her and, in front of everyone, popped two pills into her mouth before her first sip.

  Both my parents gave me angry and accusing looks. The room was painfully quiet, as if they expected me to be the one to buoy up the conversation. I pressed my fingernails into my palms and tried not to scream at everyone. How was this supposed to be helping me get back on track? What kind of track was this?

  I caught a wicked gleam in Trent's eye before he launched into the raunchy story of how he and Nicky met. My mother pounded her glass of wine and Nicky poured her another before my father could intervene. The entire night was coming apart before my eyes and then the doorbell rang.

  "Hi, I heard you were home. Maybe we can grab some Chinese food before you crack down on studying?"

  "Oh my God, Owen," I said. "You could not have come at a worse time. Please, just turn around and run."

  Owen laughed. "There is no way I'm leaving now. Whose car is that?"

  I pressed my forehead with both hands. "Seriously. I am so glad to see you. I didn't think I would after my dorm room and all that. But I'm telling you that you do not want to be here now."

  "I'm not letting your father's misplaced anger keep me from seeing you," Owen said.

  He dropped a kiss on the top of my head and strode past me to the front parlor.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Owen

  I was ready to face Mr. and Mrs. Thomas, but I was not ready for the other dinner guests. Trent met me in the doorway with a glass of wine. I almost wiped the cheeky smile off his face with my fist. Mrs. Thomas' white carpet was the only thing that saved him.

  "Do I know you from somewhere?" I asked Trent.

  His smile slipped a little but he brightened with malice when Quinn joined us. "I'm Quinn's boyfriend."

  "Ex-boyf
riend," she said.

  I handed her the wine that Trent had given me. "The cheater," I said. "Little late to be kissing up to the family, don't you think?"

  "Advice you might want to take yourself," Trent said.

  My father bolted to his feet. "Barbara, why don't you come help me in the kitchen."

  It was too late. My mother was already weaving to her feet with a red-painted fingernail pointing straight at Owen. "How dare you come in here. How dare you come anywhere near Quinn. You must be the devil sent to steal my daughters. I can see horns on his head, can't you?"

  Nicky was too afraid to answer and tried to hide behind Trent.

  "I can, Mrs. Thomas," Trent said.

  "Barbara, dear, why don't you lay down before dinner? I can handle things down here," my father interrupted.

  Her eyes were already filling with tears, the medication no use against the beginning of a downswing. "None of this would have happened if… I don't want any of this, anyway." My mother flew out of the room and up the stairs.

  Just when I thought we could clear everyone out and be done with the whole disaster, my father said, "Quinn, why don't you help me set the table for dinner?"

  "Are you kidding me?" Quinn hissed as her father pulled her into the adjoining dining room.

  "Not at all. You created this mess, and you damn well better deal with it," Mr. Thomas said. "This kind of reckless and frankly disturbing decision-making is exactly why I've asked you to start coming home on weekends. Now, I don't care what kind of discomfort it causes you, you are going to serve dinner and we are going to act like civilized hosts."

  I stepped towards the door to intervene, but Trent sidled in front of me. "Now, now, you should know better than to interrupt family affairs."

  "This isn't entertainment. I'm going to help Quinn," I said.

  Trent jutted out his chin and smiled. "Or what, you're going to punch me? That would be so perfect, don't you think, Nicky?"

  "I think we should go, Trent," Nicky said. He rubbed his mesh-covered arms. "Who cares about dinner? Let's just go dance."

  "You're making everyone uncomfortable," I said.

  "Me? I'm not the one trying to trade in the dead sister for the younger one," Trent countered.

  I clenched my fist then stopped. It was exactly what Trent was hoping I would do. I forced myself to turn around and sit down in the high-backed chair across from Nicky. "Let me guess, you had no idea what you were walking into," I said.

  "He said family dinner then a night in Vegas. Sounded alright to me," Nicky said.

  "Nothing about the ex-girlfriend that he cheated on or the overprotective family?" I asked.

  He shook his head. Trent came to sit next to him and poor Nicky almost flinched.

  "Oh, don't worry, there is so much more. I thought dinner and show before dancing would be the perfect second date," Trent said.

  Quinn came back in the room looking pale and hurt.

  I stood up. "Are you alright? Do you want to leave?"

  She shook her head. "He keeps talking about your intentions. Nothing about him or this whole mess or even how any of this could possibly be making me feel."

  "Oh, sweet princess, we're just having a little fun. Come on, you can't tell me you don't want to see your father this uncomfortable," Trent said. "Really, I'm doing you a favor. Compared to me, Owen looks a lot less of a creep. Am I right?"

  For once, everyone in the room was in agreement.

  "I'll just let them think my interests lie elsewhere," I whispered in her ear. I would have kissed both Trent and Nicky if it would erase the worried furrow across her brow.

  Quinn nodded as I opened another bottle of wine.

  "I was just at the Wynn the other night." I topped off everyone's glasses. "I don't know about the dance scene there, but I had a great time. A friend of mine had the most amazing suite, one of the villas."

  "You have friends that stay in villas?" Trent asked.

  "Well, one friend really. Anya. She's one of those drop-dead gorgeous jet-setters that also happens to play video games. We meet up at tournaments from time to time," I said.

  Trent gave me an assessing look and then turned to study Quinn. She was looking even more miserable. I had obviously chosen the wrong plan.

  "So, you and this Anya chick, huh? Guess Quinn wasn't lying about the whole 'he only kissed me to help make Trent jealous thing.'"

  I was about to backtrack when Mr. Thomas walked in the room. "Who’s Anya?"

  "Owen's girlfriend," Trent said.

  Mr. Thomas slowed down and gave me a less angry look. I finally saw Quinn relax a little. Maybe it was not such a bad idea, after all.

  "She flew in for the tournament last weekend. Then, he drove her up to L.A. and decided to visit me," Quinn said.

  "Dinner's on the table," Mr. Thomas said. His face was regaining a normal color. "I'm sorry to say that Barbara will not be joining us, but please, let's eat."

  We settled around a table where take-out from a local restaurant had been artfully displayed as home cooking. For a few minutes, everyone passed the plates and there was hope for an almost normal meal.

  "So, Owen came back to UCLA, huh? That must have been hard. Was that before your parents dropped the whole house arrest bombshell?" Trent asked.

  "Why would it be hard for him to come to UCLA?" Nicky asked.

  I jumped in. "Did you catch up on everything, Quinn? How's the nursing program?"

  Quinn gave me a thankful smile. "I'm actually caught up. I have a few big chapters to read tonight, but then I'm free."

  "She's actually a really good nurse," Trent said. "When we first started dating, we went to this outdoor concert. People were just getting loaded all over. So, naturally, I was having a great time. Until I fell down this embankment and cut my arm on a signpost."

  Trent launched into an animated retelling of his bloody injury. While he was monopolizing the other end of the table, I turned to check on Quinn.

  "I'm sorry, I had no idea," she said.

  "Why are you apologizing? Just say the word and we'll leave right now," I said.

  She smiled. "I would. I really would, but I honestly think it would only make things worse."

  "What? Leaving your father with your jealous ex-boyfriend and his painfully uncomfortable boy toy?" I asked.

  Quinn smiled again. It felt like a knot came loose in my chest.

  "I really didn't think this would be so bad. I actually am caught up with my coursework. I thought I'd read my chapters like a good collegiate tonight and meet you for pancakes in the morning," she said.

  "Pancakes in the morning? What am I, your eighty-year-old aunt?" I asked.

  "No. You're just my buddy dating an amazing jet-setter named Anya," Quinn said.

  "I only said that to take the heat off you." I reached for her hand under the table. "She is the farthest thing from my mind when I think about that tournament."

  "What's the first thing that comes to mind?" Quinn asked.

  "Blood spurting everywhere. Remember, Quinn?" Trent asked.

  She pulled her hand away. "All it took was a little pressure to stop the bleeding. It was just a nick on your wrist. No big deal."

  "I still have the scar," Trent said. He held up his wrist. "The best part was her bedside manner, or should I say trenchside manner. Only Quinn would be able to calm down a raving drunk in the middle of a crowd of raving drunks while the band goes into their loudest number."

  "So, I'm not such a monster for making you stick with it," Mr. Thomas said.

  "It’s not that," Quinn said. "I'm just not sure I really want to become a nurse."

  The good will in her father's eyes disappeared. "Nonsense. Think about how excited Sienna was to have you at UCLA and in the nursing program. Don't you want to see it through for her?"

  I felt the wine turn to acid in my mouth. "You would think Sienna would want her little sister to be happy."

  "You are the last person I want to hear speculating on what my daugh
ter would have thought," Mr. Thomas said.

  Trent gave me a malignant smile. "Why don't I help clear some of these dishes?"

  "Thank you, Trent," Mr. Thomas said.

  Quinn jumped up to help them. When they all went through to the kitchen, I let out an angry sigh.

  "Who's Sienna?" Nicky asked.

  "You don't want to know," I said. "If you leave now, I'll cover for you and get a cab for Trent. Go dancing and have fun."

  "You're sweet," Nicky said. He got up and moved into Quinn's seat. "I can see why Quinn loves you and why Trent hates you."

  "That'd be nice if it were true," I said.

  "What? That Quinn loves you? Oh, honey, no one's going to buy that girlfriend in Vegas story. Even I saw how you two are like magnets," Nicky said. He patted my hand.

  "Hell, you have nothing to lose. Want to tell Mr. Thomas to let his daughter live her own life? I swear, if you do it, I'll spring for a suite at the Wynn for you. You don't even have to tell Trent where you're going unless you want to," I said.

  "Honey, all you have to do is ask me nicely," Nicky said. He clinked his wineglass against mine and it was still ringing when Trent came back into the dining room.

  "Really, Nicky? You are a total slut. I brought you here and now I find you flirting with him?" Trent asked.

  "He's nice. And gorgeous," Nicky said. "Besides I drove and you know this has been a disaster."

  "I can call him a cab right now," I said to Nicky.

  "That's it, I'm leaving!" Trent said. He flounced to the hallway door. "Thanks, Mr. Thomas. We're heading out to Vegas!"

  Nicky patted my hand again and got up to follow Trent. I poured the rest of his wine into my glass and sat back to take a long drink.

  #

  Mr. Thomas came back to the dining room first. "They left?"

  "Yes," I said. "I guess Nicky was anxious to hit the dance clubs. I told him they were open all night."

  "Well, I guess a quick farewell is better than sticking around after the party is over," Mr. Thomas said.

  "Need a hand in the kitchen?" I asked. I stood up and stacked the dishes closest to me. Before he could make up an excuse, I moved past him and into the kitchen.