Read The Hysterics Online

Authors: Kristen Hope Mazzola

Tags: #Romance

The Hysterics (15 page)

BOOK: The Hysterics
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After reluctantly dropping Fallon off, barely being able to concentrate at practice, taking a long shower, and chowing down on some amazing Chinese delivery, I was fucking bored out of my skull. Fallon was running around in my brain, so I shot off a text to her.

Me: Twenty questions? You start…

Fallon: Game on! What’s your favorite time of year?

Me: Fall. What’s your favorite thing to sleep in?

Fallon: The Hysterics shirt I stole from you. If you could write a letter to your seventeen-year-old self but               it could only be two words, what would it say?

Me: Keep believing. What is the one thing you wish you could take back?

Fallon: The last time I did coke. What is your favorite recent memory?

Me: The day you walked into our office for the first time. What do you wish you could change about yourself?

Fallon: My lack of confidence. What is your favorite feeling?

Me: Too vague…

Fallon: Come on…it can be anything.

Me: Alright, the moment I have a fresh pair of sticks in my hands, the electricity of euphoria. What is one thing you miss?

Fallon: That exact feeling.

That’s all she wrote. There it was: I’d crossed the line, hit a nerve, pushed her to an edge. I had no idea what Fallon was going through or why she was in this self-imposed limbo of hiding.

Me: Why are you Fae Dunham?

Fallon: Because that was the only way I could truly live again. Sleep well, Dane.

Me: Alright, you too.

She was running again and I couldn’t blame her. There were so many layers left of her onion that I needed to peel. Yeah, Shrek was on my TV and Donkey had just referred to parfaits having layers too, so it seemed fitting. Either way, whether Fallon was a parfait or an onion, it was all mysterious and confusing and addicting.

Chapter Eighteen

Walls of steele

DANE

“Hey, man,” I answered my phone as I drove to the Steele’s home.

Maverick’s voice came through the receiver. “Hey, you’re on your way, right?”

“Yeah, why? What’s up?”

“Nah, nothing. Just making sure. I got here about ten minutes ago and we’re pretty much set. Can you pick up a couple bags of ice and a case of beer? I’m worried we’ll run out.”

“Sure. Any particular beer?”

“Nah. You know we’re not picky.”

“Ok. Pabst it is.”

“Ha, should’ve guessed.”

“It’s tradition.”

“True. See you soon.”

“Later.”

I stopped into the gas station just down the road from the home I’d lived in for the last two years of high school and the first year of college. I sent a quick text to Fallon.

Me: I’m about to be at the Steele’s to help set up. I’ll be by in an hour or so to pick you up.

Fallon: You don’t have to come all the way back here to get me. I’ll take a cab.

Me: No, it’s not a big deal. I’ll text you when I’m on my way.

Fallon: What’s the address?

Me: Man, you’re stubborn, huh?

Fallon: As a fucking mule. What’s the address?

I gave in and hit the send button as nerves rushed in. Fallon was about to meet the rest of my family, or at least what I considered family. All I could do was hope that they all made a good impression on her¸ and vice-versa. The Steeles all had a way of opening their big mouths that never painted things in the best light. The cashier rang me up for the case of beer, twenty bucks worth of gas, and the bags of ice.

By the time I was pulling into the already crowded driveway I could barely keep my knee from bouncing and my heart from racing. Before I was even out of the car Maverick was opening the privacy fence’s gate so I didn’t have to go all the way through the house.

“Thanks.” I handed one of the bags to Maverick.

“Sure. Where’s Fallon—I mean Fae. Shit, what do we call her here?”

“For today she’s Fae. She’s finishing up some edits and then she’ll be on her way.”

Maverick nodded. “Gotcha.”

“All the time she is Fae, unless we tell you otherwise.” My voice was sterner than I meant it to be, but Fallon cared a lot about her façade and I wasn’t going to be the one that screwed it all up for her.

“Alright, man. Don’t get your panties in a bunch.”

I stopped halfway up the front lawn. “Dude, this shit is really freaking important. It’s her life, everything she has worked so hard to build from the ashes, and she needs our support.”

Maverick put his free hand on my shoulder. “You really like her, don’t you?”

I stared at the ground and nodded.

Maverick sighed. “It’s more than that, isn’t it?”

I nodded again.

“I’m happy for you.”

“Thanks,” I muttered, walking through the open gate to be greeted by Chester, the Steeles’ newest family member. After Maverick and I moved out and Julie moved back in with her five-year-old daughter, Alex, Maverick’s mom decided that they needed a puppy. She went out with Alex and let her pick out anything in the pet store she wanted, and of course the five-year-old picked a freaking Saint Bernard

yep, a Beethoven. A huge, furry, loving goofball. At only eight months, Chester was a whopping ninety-seven pounds and as clumsy as he could be. He lunged at me, tail wagging a mile a minute, practically knocking me off my feet while happily whimpering.

“Chester, bad doggy!” Alex’s sweet voice tried to lower like the dog trainer had told her so she could ‘assert her dominance’. What a load of crap—Chester was three times the size of Alex. Then a shrill cry came from the small child, “Uncle Dane!”

I dropped the ice and case of beer at my sides and knelt down so my small goddaughter could jump into my arms for a big bear hug. “Hi, sweetheart!” I pressed her to my chest, breathing in the sweet smell of coconut shampoo. “I missed you.”

“I missed you, too! Why don’t you come to play anymore?” There wasn’t a good enough answer to satisfy a five-year-old when it came to real-life-grown-up-stuff, it just didn’t make sense.

“I’m sorry. I’ll try to do better.”

“You better.” A familiar singsong voice came from behind me and I spun around with Alex still in my arms to see her mom, Julie, smiling at me. “Hi, Dane.”

Man, was Julie a sight for sore eyes. After Leilani died, we were all wrecks, but Julie understood it the best out of everyone; Leilani and her had been attached at the hip ever since they could walk.

“It’s so good to see you.” I set Alex down and was shocked to see how much more she was looking like her mom as she got older: they had the same dusting of freckles just over their noses and cheeks, big bright hazel eyes, and strawberry blonde hair.

Julie and I hugged for longer than most people would feel comfortable, but that was us. For a while I thought that I loved Julie as more than just a friend, but she never returned the affection and ran off to Wisconsin with some Army guy right after high school. She wound up catching the dirt bag cheating on her with strippers, in their bed, right after finding out she was pregnant with Alex.

We all made our way to the large wood deck where a long table with finger foods and small sandwiches were lined up along with three coolers full of beer and pop at the end. Maverick’s mom was busily straightening out the table while Marty tied his famous ‘Kiss the Cook’ apron around his waist.

“I guess it’s grilling time already?”

Marty and Gina promptly turned to me, huge grins proudly resting on their faces. Gina grabbed each side of my face, pulling me closer to her. I stumbled a few steps while she planted a forceful, red lipstick filled kiss on my forehead. “It’s been too long,” she scolded, releasing my face. “Where’s the girl? Maverick said you were bringing someone.”

I pulled my lips together. “Yeah, she’ll be here soon.” This was the first time I had ever brought a girl around my pseudo parents—ever.

“This is big!” Her eyes were wide while she patted my shoulder. “It’s great!”

Marty and I did the guy half hug thing as he asked, “Medium rare like always?”

“You got it, Pop.”

I cracked open a beer and took a seat in one of the metal chairs around the large round glass table next to the grill where Maverick was already sitting with his feet up on another chair. He wore his old wrestling shirt from high school with a faded pair of jeans, and was gently picking an acoustic guitar and singing to Alex, who was sitting on the floor petting Chester.

Julie sat down on the other side of me. “What time are the rest of the guys coming?” Her voice was jittery, not a sound I was familiar with from her.

I shrugged. “You know them, they operate in a different time zone than normal society.”

She nodded. “Sheils will be here soon. And so will Aunt Greta and her latest
friend
.” Julie raised an eyebrow and lowered her voice. “She
finally
came out!”

“No way!”

I had known since the first Christmas I spent with the Steeles that Gina’s little sister by fifteen years batted for the other team, but no one ever talked about that taboo subject and everyone was scared of upsetting Gina.

“I know! I just can’t believe Mom’s ok with her bringing her you-know-what to this shindig!”

“So, get this.” I swallowed the lump forming in my throat; I needed to get this out sooner than later. “Claire showed up on my doorstep last night.”

Everyone froze. Maverick set the guitar down, Julie’s hand flew to my arm and gripped tightly, Gina shrieked, and Marty dropped his grilling tongs. They all just stared, wide-eyed, waiting for me to continue. Thankfully, I was saved by the bell—well, the doorbell anyway.

“I’ll get it. And don’t worry, she won’t be bothering any of us.”

“Dane—what?” Gina’s hands were on her hips and her face was riddled with concern.

“I filed a
no contact
, she can’t come near me.”

Everyone sighed in unison.

“Do you all really think I would do something to hurt her?”

“Didn’t you?” Maverick shrugged as I jokingly flipped him the bird while Alex was jumping onto her mom’s lap.

I popped up from my chair, retreating into the house to answer the door for the one person I wanted there more than anything else.

“I’m so glad to see you.” I scooped Fallon into my arms in the doorway, her arms slowly folding around my waist.

“Is everything ok?” she breathed into my ear.

I nodded, our cheeks pressed together. “It is now.”

FALLON

It is now—my thoughts exactly.

Those words swam around in my head as I stood in the doorway wrapped in Dane’s arms. Being without him for only twelve or so hours had felt like a lifetime. I had never been so dependent on someone else for happiness and clarity and it scared the shit out of me.

I breathed in the faint hint of Dane’s cologne. “Aren’t you going to invite me in?”

“Oh, right.” Dane’s face perked up. He took my hand and led me out back to the deck where the smell of burgers sizzling and the music of lighthearted laughter were absolutely uplifting.

First Dane walked me over to a woman who looked to be in her mid-fifties. She had a long bob haircut with the slightest hint of gray in her light blonde hair, bright blue eyes, and the widest smile I had ever seen. We stood at the same eye level as Dane introduced us. “Fae, this is Gina, Maverick’s mother.”

She reached her arms out, and without hesitating, I was hugging Mrs. Steele. “Dane has told me so much about you, Gina.”

“It is so nice to meet you, dear.”

A sweet voice chimed in, “Hi, Fae? I’m Julie, Mav’s sister.”

We hugged and I was introduced to Alex, the most adorable little girl I had ever met in my life. She was towing a huge puppy by its leash—or maybe it was the other way around. After saying hi to Maverick and Marty, it hit me: the little girl in the photo at Dane’s apartment was Alex.

With that a rush of people came through the sliding glass door. Colt brought Serena, who was her usual bouncy bubblegum self, and his sister, Sheila, who was apparently Julie’s best friend. Rodney showed up with a date on his arm. It took me a couple minutes to place where I had seen her before, but once she said hi to me I realized she was the chick from the open mic night, Candice.

“Here comes trouble,” Dane snickered in my ear while I watched a short, plump, butch woman walk out the door hand in hand with a tall must-be-a-model woman. She had the most gorgeous mocha skin I had ever seen. Awkward pleasantries were exchanged between Maverick’s whole family and the two newcomers. Dane whispered the gossip in my ear about the shorter one being Greta, Gina’s little sister, and that Greta had finally come out a little over a year ago. He said she had been living with her girlfriend—who actually was a model—for a few years in secret. He explained that everyone knew that Greta was gay, that it was really the lying and secrecy that bothered Gina so much.

With the party in full swing and my mind buzzing with all of the new faces and names, I found myself sitting on a bench on the far side of the deck with Sheila and Julie. They were both amazingly sweet and continued to try to guide the conversation so I could comfortably join in.

“Do you remember that time when Leilani accidentally ratted Dane out for skipping class to go to that underground music festival?”

Julie and Sheila both started laughing uncontrollably. It was sweet, watching them reminisce about Dane’s childhood, a small glimpse into a side of him that he kept buried deep under sadness and hate.

“So, Fae, how is it being Dane’s boss?” Julie sipped on her lemonade through a straw while smiling with her eyes.

I shrugged. “Pretty great. Dane’s incredibly talented and Raging Underground is an awesome place to work.”

Sheila nodded. “Being a journalist must be so exciting.”

“It can be. I haven’t been doing it for too long.”

Shit. I’m saying too much.

“What were you doing before?” It was an innocent enough question for Julie to ask, keeping the conversation flowing and all, but it sent my heart racing and my palms started to itch.

“Food’s ready,” Marty called over our way. “Girls, come get it before it gets cold.”

After we all chowed down on some amazing burgers and Alex showed me her Barbie Dream House. I wound up sitting on the couch with Gina, sipping coffee while Dane and Maverick insisted on doing all of the dishes. Sheila and Julie were reading Alex a bedtime story and the rest of the gang was sitting around a crackling fire in the backyard.

“Dane’s something else, isn’t he?” Gina smiled at me while she straightened up a stack of magazines on the coffee table in front of us.

“He sure is.”

“We’re lucky to have him. After his mom went away, I was worried the state was going to take him from us. It was a fight but we all got through it, only slightly battered and bruised.” Her warm eyes showed so much love and pride.

BOOK: The Hysterics
5.26Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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