The Bucket List (46 page)

Nate laughed and looked up at him.

"I like you, too," he chuckled.

"Now, hold on. I didn't actually say those words," he said gruffly.

Nate
only laughed again as he laid himself back down on the grass.

"So are you going to tell me what
Corey meant when he said you're 'not cool'?"

Now that brought a huge smile on his face again
.

***

"Please," Corey whispered. "I really need you to hear me out."

He studied the pathetic kid for a minute, taking in his tired eyes, the amount of weight he'd lost recently and the plea in his eyes. He'd felt like dragging the guy out of his mama's house and beating the shit out of him ever since they'd brought Rae home, but out of respect for Bob and Liz, he hadn't.
That and the fact that Rae would probably not have forgiven him for it.

Some of his anger disappeared, realising
Corey was just as tortured as Rae was... or had been. For some inexplicable reason, she was smiling again today.

Was it a coincidence that
Corey was here? Was she smiling again because of him? Had they talked?

He stepped aside to let him in, hoping
Corey would provide some answers. That was when he noticed the big bouquet of flowers. Corey never bought flowers. So maybe someone had finally knocked some sense into him.

He saw the way the boy stood there for a second, watching the kitchen door as if all he wanted to do was go in there and take Rae into his arms. But
Nate was in there. Knowing Corey and how he'd reacted before whenever Nate was involved, the boy would probably just turn around and walk out. Then he'd never get to know what this visit was all about, and they'd all probably be in for another long, torturous month watching Rae deal with that. He couldn't let that happen.

So he grabbed the punk by the collar and all but threw him into the den before that could happen.

"Talk. And make it quick," he growled, closing the door behind him. "And if you waste my time, believe me you won't be walking out of here in one piece."

He watched the way the boy swallowed and realised this was probably a very important meeting.
Corey had never been that scared of him before.

With a little smirk, he circled the boy, much like a predator circled its prey and actually saw sweat forming on the
boys brow.

"Talk," he ordered again.

Corey cleared his throat and made to say something, but he cut him off.

"Shh," he growled before he sauntered easily to a chair. He turned it around so it was facing
Corey and sat down; much like a king would when addressing his subjects.

He let out another smirk, studying the boy who now seemed that much more nervous.
Corey had brought flowers and cleaned himself up pretty good, so he could only assume he had come for his daughter. It was a day most fathers dreaded, but after what they'd all been through lately, this bit of good news was what they needed.

But that didn't mean he had to make it easy for the Punk. He'd still broken his daughter's heart for nothing.

"Well, don't just stand there like a fucking idiot; say something!" he growled.

The boy jumped out of his skin and he smirked again, crossing his legs. This 'king' thing was pretty awesome.

"I... um... I've come to apologise for the way I've been acting lately. Your daughter's always been my first priority and I fucked up by staying away when she needed me the most."

"Yes, you did. You really fucked up. I wouldn't be surprised if she never forgives you for that."

He saw the panic in Corey's blue eyes and resisted laughing out loud. Yeah, when had his daughter never forgiven Corey anything?

"I was a coward. I just couldn't watch her be happy with someone else. But I'm working on that."

"Yeah? What are you going to do? I mean, this is pretty serious stuff, boy. You can charm her all you want, but in her eyes you'll always be the snivelling little shit who walked out on her during the worst time of her life."

Corey
had nothing to say to that. His shoulders hunched and he looked down at the flowers he held in his hand.

"I'm going to make it up to her," he whispered finally. "I have to. I can't let her push me out of her life."

"You walked out all on your own, boy," he reminded him. "Anyway, I'm sure you didn't drag me away from my breakfast for that. I don't care if Rae forgives you or not. And I'm not the one you need to apologise to, either."

Corey
let out a breath and looked him straight in the eye. Well, at least for a few seconds. Not many people could do that for long, like maybe he thought he was some sort of demon who could get their souls and send them to hell... Oh, wait... He was! Now that was funny, even if he thought so himself.

"I've come here to ask for your daughter's hand,"
Corey said firmly.

He was touched that in this day and age,
Corey would actually think to throw him this courtesy with his only daughter. But he wasn't about to jump up and down to show him how happy he was. Kings didn't do that, especially kings who could send people to hell...

When he would have let out a tear or two that his daughter was finally going to be happy with the man she loved after all the bullshit she'd been through, he started laughing instead.

"My daughter's hand? Have you lost your damn mind?" he chuckled, when his fake fit of laughter came to its end.

"I love her,"
Corey piqued. "I can't go on without her."

"You think she'll actually marry you?
Corey, you've proved yourself to be the most unreliable person in her life___"

"I know... I just... I need her. I didn't think it was possible to feel like this, but I really need her with me,
Irving. I haven't been able to eat, sleep, anything."

"Well, I can see that. You look like something a dog threw up," he growled.

Corey's free hand immediately went to his clean-shaven face then his shirt.

"Think I should change?" the boy asked, starting to panic again.

"Probably," he said grimly. "That shirt just isn't you."

The boy's cocky assurance had been lost somewhere along the line, which made a change from dealing with the arrogant punk he was used to. It made messing with him just so fun. Still, it was a sorry sight to witness.

"She won't marry you," he stated.

"I can change. I can be everything she wants me to be, whatever she wants me to be
... " Corey said hastily, taking a step forward towards him as his eyes pleaded with him. "She just needs to give me a chance."

"And how are you going to make her do that?" he asked, then for the hell of it, added, "It's not as if she wants you around her or anything, or she needs you like you so pathetically need her. I actually think she's trying to put this whole mess behind her so she can move on."

That rattled the poor boy more than anything else he'd said so far. Corey was looking downwards, but he was certain he saw unshed tears glistening in his eyes. Shit, he laughed to himself. Love sure turned people into fucking idiots.

"Don't waste my time, boy. What are you going to do?" he barked out.

He almost chuckled when Corey jumped out of his skin.

The boy took a piece of paper from his back pocket, his hands shaking as he came forward and held it out to him.

"I wrote it down," Corey mumbled.

Probably so he wouldn't forget when he was paralyzed with fear. A smirk appeared on his mouth again at that thought as he watched the younger man trying to compose himself. He didn't make it easy, though, because he let him hold the paper out for a few minutes, not even looking at it.

"Irving... Please," Corey pleaded silently.

With a sigh, he snatched the paper out of
Corey's hand and started reading.

Flowers,
jewelry, picnics, dinner, lunch, clubbing, movies, theatres, walks on the beach, take her to her favourite shows... .

It was a really long list and there wasn't a thing on it that his daughter wouldn't be thrilled to do. The boy was going to court her! The boy was trying to worm his way into her heart!
All for nothing, too, as his daughter was already so deeply in love with him.

Silly little boy, too stupid to open his eyes; too blinded by insecurities of his own making.

And too easy to mess with.

"What is this crap?" he asked roughly, crumpling the piece of paper in his large fist.

"I'm going to take her out. I hope that by spending time with me, she'll maybe start to feel something for me, too. Then when she's comfortable around me again, I'll propose," Corey explained.

"It would be a good idea, if it wasn't so full of holes," he muttered, throwing the paper at him.

"It won't work?" Corey asked, panicking again as he picked the paper up. "What should I do?"

"You actually think I'll help you?" he asked in mock indignation. "She's my daughter! And you've proved yourself the most untrustworthy, unreliable, selfish prick, I'd be ignoring my duty as her___"

"Yes, you've already said! I got it. I made a mistake," Corey cut in angrily, then he seemed to remember who the hell he was talking to because shock registered in his eyes before he swallowed and looked away.

He smirked in satisfaction.

"I've never let her down before," Corey continued. "You know that. You know she's always been my priority. And I know this was the worst ever time to decide not to be there for her. But I love her, Irving. I'm willing to spend the rest on my life making it to her. I've come here for your blessing. Out of my respect for you, I've extended this courtesy. But it's only right you know that even if you don't help me, even if you refuse to give me your daughter's hand___"

The boy looked up at him again, and this time he saw determination. It pleased him.

"___ I'm taking it, anyway," he finished.

Now, that statement would have scared a lot of people, or at least alerted them of
Corey's mental state, but he was saying nothing he hadn't already known he would say. The fact that Corey had even had the guts to knock on the door had told him the boy wasn't going down without a fight anyway. And if he'd had even a bit of doubt about his daughter's feelings for this boy, he'd probably have kicked his ass for that.

He stood up to his full height, almost seven feet to the boy's 6"4', and slowly walked to put his face an inch away from his.

"'Take her', Corey? 'Take her'? How the hell are you going to do that?" he growled.

Corey
swallowed but he didn't flinch. This pleased him even more.

"You can't scare me,
Irving. I love her more than my own life. There's nothing you can do or say to me that will make me stay away from her."

He turned away to hide another satisfied smirk. Of course there was nothing he could do.

"Okay. Lets say I decide to give you my blessing. What's in it for me?"

"Huh?"

He whipped back quickly to face the boy.

"My daughter is very, very dear to me," he continued. "If I trust you to be with her, when you've so thoroughly proved yourself unworthy, it'll be stupid on my part. I think she'll probably even hate me for this intrusion. But maybe you can make it worth my while."

"You want me to pay you off?" Corey asked incredulously.

"That's such a dirty way of putting it," he stated with a smirk. "But yes. Something very dear to me for something very dear to you."

"Like what?"

"Your soul," he answered easily.

Corey chuckled for a second then stopped abruptly when he realised how serious he was.

"My soul? Come on,
Irving, that stuff is for TV. You can't own anyone's soul."

"Oh, but I can," he stated easily. "If you want to be in my daughter's life, I will own you for as long as she has you. You're to make yourself available to do whatever I wish. You'll be my... bitch, so to speak."

"And if I refuse?"

"Then I'll make it my business to make sure that Rae doesn't take you back. And you know I can do that. Rae and I have become quite close since you ... deserted her."

He couldn't help playing the guilt card again.

Corey
's eyes flashed at him for a second before he said, "I'd give anything for another chance. So go ahead. Take my 'soul'. Just don't stand in my way."

"I don't like your tone, or your attitude. Don't make me make you pay for that."

Immediately, Corey looked away. He smirked again.

"So I was thinking," he continued, "Drew and Timmy are getting to be such a handful. You'll have to take them some days, so Sara and I can spend a bit of quality time together. I was thinking maybe this weekend."

"Okay."

"What, no arguments?"

"I want to be with Rae," Corey stated easily.