The Price of Love (A Price Novel Book 1) (11 page)

“I have a headache, and I was looking for some medicine.” It was the first thing that came to me. I really didn’t have a headache, but surely he wouldn’t make me take the medicine after it had fallen in the toilet.

Smiling, he said, “Lucky for you I have more in the kitchen.”
He bought it — but why shouldn’t he? He wouldn’t expect a sane person to be snooping through his stuff.
Good thing I wasn’t still digging in his shaving bag; that would have been hard to explain. He went to the kitchen to get me something for my nonexistent headache, and I fished the ibuprofen out of the toilet.

What a bad idea. I didn’t find anything that would prove anything. All of that stuff could have been there for who knows how long. He’d been there, like, four years. He was a guy. Guys don’t clean out drawers.

The condoms everywhere and the earring, tampons, and barrette did turn my stomach a little, but it’s not like I could get mad about some girlfriend he had before I got there. I would try and forget them, and next time I had a bright idea like that, I would ignore it.

A
few days passed before I heard from Kenedy, but then she sent me an email.

I guess I don’t have any right to say who Slayde can and can’t date, but for some reason, it really bothers me that it’s you. I’m just being honest. I’m not going to say that I’m happy about any of this. I really never thought that you of all people would go behind my back. I know that I am horrible for sleeping with Brady. I wish that I could take it back, but I can’t. It was a mistake I made, but that still doesn’t make it OK for you to go after Slayde. The thought of the two of you hitting it off while you were staying there never even crossed my mind, because you are SO not his type. I really don’t know how you think any of this is going to work with you at school and Slayde here. He is just going to break your heart, and I will have to tell you I told you so. You think he is so perfect, but no one is perfect, Arden. Not even you. You are my sister, and I will always love you, and I just hope you don’t get hurt.

What in the hell was that? It sure wasn’t an apology or an “I just want you to be happy” email. And what in the hell did she mean by, “You are SO not his type”?
I may not be freaking Malibu Barbie, but I’m not chopped liver, either.
I didn’t know why she even wasted her time sending it to me. I didn’t think there was any need to respond to her, so I deleted it.

Slayde came in to find me sitting on the couch, staring into space. “What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know. Nothing, I guess,” I forced myself to smile. I didn’t want him to know that I was still upset about Kenedy.

He put his arms around me and kissed me. “My mom and sister flew in this morning for a few days. Let’s go eat supper with them.”

“Oh, I didn’t know your family was coming to town.”

“Me either. Mom just texted and told me. She kind of likes to just show up like that. She’s been doing it since I got here four years ago.”

I had met Slayde’s mom, Lexi Price, back when I was dating Brady. She was a doll. She was beautiful and blond and extremely personable. She was from Alabama and even after living in California for twenty years still had a bit of an accent. I always enjoyed talking with her when Brady and I visited his dad. I liked her more than Brady’s mom. Hell, more than I liked my own mom, for that matter. I had to wonder what she would think of Slayde and me dating. Or if she already knew. I hoped she didn’t think I was anything like my sister. Brady and I hadn’t hung out there that often with Slayde and Kenedy, but a few times I’d been there when they were. And I had never really thought Lexi seemed that fond of Kenedy. And surely the way Slayde and Kenedy’s relationship ended wouldn’t have helped her opinion of my sister.

“Oh, really? That’s nice,” I said about his mom visiting her son so much. “I think I’ll stay here so you can visit with your family. Your dad isn’t coming?”

He looked down. “No, he’s busy.” I could tell his feelings were hurt. Anytime Slayde spoke of his dad, he always looked sad. I had only met his dad a few times when Brady and I dated, and he always seemed nice to me. Brady hadn’t ever acted like he had any issues with his dad, but maybe he was used to him being gone all the time, since Brady had always lived with his mom.

Looking back at me, he said, “But you can’t stay here. You’re going. My mom’s feelings would be hurt if you didn’t come.”
So, he did tell her about me.
That made me feel good.

“Well, OK then. I don’t want to hurt her feelings.”

As we got ready to go meet his mom and sister, I felt sick. I was more nervous than I had been when we went on our first date. It took me twenty minutes to decide what I was going to wear. Should I wear jeans or shorts or maybe even a sundress? It was a little silly, I guessed, but I knew Slayde and his mom were very close. It would definitely be important to him that she approved of me. I really hoped she still liked me now that I was dating her son.

We caught a taxi, and Slayde was super happy and bubbly. I, being a little nervous, was quiet and let him do all the talking.

When we got to the hotel where they were staying, I saw them waiting in the lobby. Mrs. Price’s face lit up immediately. I knew Slayde was her baby. Running up, she squeezed him for what seemed like forever while his sister, Taylor, who was now twelve, rolled her eyes.

His mom still looked exactly as she had years ago. She hadn’t aged a bit. Still tiny. Still beautiful and smiling and perfectly polished.

Slayde finally pulled away and said, “Mom, I can’t breathe.”

Laughing, she turned to me, gave me a big hug too, and said, “Arden, it’s so great to see you again. How do you like Paris?”

“It’s good to see you too, Mrs. Price,” I said. “Paris is great. I love it. I don’t want to go back.”
Why did I say that? If he’s told her about me, he probably told her I’m staying with him.
I hoped she didn’t jump to any conclusions about how I was spending my time with her son
.
I felt my cheeks get pink. Slayde smiled and winked at me.

“Oh, please, call me Lexi. Mrs. Price is my mother-in-law, and she isn’t very fun.” She rolled her eyes dramatically. Then she winked at me.

“Hello, people, starving teenager here,” said Taylor. Taylor was precious; she had the same gorgeous skin and smile as Slayde. They had the same dark hair, except hers was very curly. She also had his eyes. They both looked like their dad. I remembered her being a cute little girl and extremely dramatic. I didn’t think she had changed much.

“Teenager? You’re not a teenager yet.” Slayde put his arms around her head. “You are still my little monkey.”

“Stop it, Slayde. You are messing up my hair.
Mom!
” she yelled, pinching him under his arm. He quickly let her go.

“Stop it, you two. We’ve only been together three minutes, and you’re already driving me crazy. Slayde, don’t touch your sister’s hair, for goodness’ sake.” Lexi smiled at me. “Children!”
This might not be so bad after all.

We decided to go eat so Taylor didn’t “just die.” I imagined it was probably entertaining at the Price residence when both Taylor and Slayde were home. They kept me entertained most of the night with their bickering and picking on each other. The age difference between them didn’t appear to affect the usual sibling shenanigans. He did everything he possibly could to annoy her, and that made her gripe at him. It was amusing to me, but I could see how it could get old after years.

Lexi looked at me. “I thought that eventually they would grow out of this, but I guess I was wrong. I still can’t take them anywhere. Slayde loves to aggravate her, and it makes her nuts. Which, in turn, makes me nuts. The older they get, the worse it gets,” she sighed. “So, how have you been? How is your mom?”

Lexi had already learned that my mom was far from mother-of-the-year material. She was an attorney, and she worked all the time; we would go days without seeing her. If she weren’t working, she was with her loser boyfriend. So I raised myself and my sisters, and that was nothing my mother had cared to change. She didn’t do any normal mom stuff. She didn’t shop for prom dresses with us, or school clothes, or anything, for that matter. She was an absent parent, and all of our friends’ parents knew that. Slayde’s parents had pretty much let Kenedy move into one of their guest rooms when they were dating, I guessed because they thought it provided at least some adult supervision. We were allowed to do whatever we wanted at our house.

“I guess she’s fine. I haven’t talked to her in a few months.” I shrugged. “But I’m fine. I’m in med school at ULA, so I’m really busy. I’ve taken as many classes as I could possibly handle since I started, at seventeen, and finally found time to take a little break.” I laughed. “Actually, my advisor highly suggested I take a break. This will really be my last chance to do so. So, why not? I will go back in time to get a little research done before fall semester begins, but I’m enjoying this little time off from reality.”

“Well, surprise, I rented us a villa in Portofino for the weekend. We can get some sun and relax.” Lexi smiled. Slayde said he’d love to go. He had the weekend off. They all three looked at me, as if mine were the fourth vote that they needed in order to win some prize. “Well?” said Lexi. “What do you think?”

“Oh no, I couldn’t go. But thank you for including me,” I said.

“Why not? What do you have to do that is so important you can’t get out of here for a few days?” Lexi asked me.

“Nothing, I guess, but I don’t want to intrude on your family time.”

“Oh, please, that is definitely not the case. You will be my only sanity. I need some adult conversation.” She gave a pleading look.

“OK, I guess,” I said, and they all cheered.

“Great. It’s settled. We leave in the morning. Meet us in the hotel lobby at eight. Scott will be waiting for us.”

I wasn’t sure who Scott was, but I guessed I would find out at eight in the morning. As we were leaving, Taylor asked Slayde, “Did you ever find my earring that I lost when I stayed with you during spring break?”

“Yeah, I think it’s in my medicine cabinet. I’ll look when I get home,” Slayde said.

“Please don’t lose it. Dad gave them to me,” Taylor said.

“Hell, you already lost it. Just like you did half of everything in your makeup bag. The cleaning lady was leaving random crap on the counter for me for about a month. I’m sure she thought I’d had a bunch of women over. I found lip gloss, mascara, tampons, and hair stuff. What did you make it home with? Anything?”

“Oh, shut up! You leave your socks, shoes, and T-shirts all over our house. So, mind your own business and bring me my earring in the morning.”

That explained a lot. Not the condoms, but at least he was being safe. I couldn’t believe his mom had let a twelve-year-old girl come to Paris for spring break, but I guessed that wasn’t any of my business either.

I was very anxious that night and unable to fall asleep. I tossed and turned for what seemed like hours. I was excited about the trip but also nervous about sharing a whole weekend with his family that I barely knew. Slayde must have heard me, because he came and got in bed with me and pulled me close to him. I immediately relaxed. I felt safe in his arms, and that was a really awesome feeling. It didn’t take long for me to fall asleep.

When the alarm clock went off, I wanted to hit the snooze button and roll over and just stay in the bed with Slayde for the rest of the day. He kissed my forehead. “Rise and shine, sleepyhead. It’s time to get dressed. We are going to have a good time in Italy.” He got up and turned on the shower and the coffee pot for me like he had been doing it for years.

While I was drying my hair, he came into the bathroom and opened the medicine cabinet. He looked confused. “I know it was in here,” he said to himself.

“What?” I asked.

“Taylor’s damn earring. I thought I saw it the other day. Where could it have gone? Maybe it’s in my nightstand.” He walked out of the bathroom. I shut the door behind him and started looking on the top shelf where I had seen the earring the other day. It wasn’t there. What if it had fallen out when I knocked out the medicine? I looked all over the floor, behind the clothes hamper, and in the sink drain, but didn’t find it.
Oh no! What if it also fell into the toilet? What am I going to do?

When I walked out of the bathroom, Slayde didn’t seem too concerned about it. “You ready?” he asked, smiling at me.

We entered the hotel just as Lexi and Taylor were coming out of the elevator. There was a car waiting to take us to the airport.

As soon as we got inside, Lexi started telling me all about this one store in particular she couldn’t wait to shop in. It was her favorite, and they always had the most unique things. I was so intent on trying to listen to her that it took me a while to realize that we had headed to a different airport than the one I flew into. This one only had smaller planes. I guessed it was a private airport.

Slayde had said nothing about how we were getting to Italy, and he had not mentioned that we would be flying there on a private jet, but why would he? This was normal to him.

When we approached the plane, a tall, thin man with auburn hair and blue eyes approached. This turned out to be Scott, the pilot.

“Good morning, Scott,” Lexi said.

“Good morning,” he said as he helped her with her bag.

“Scott, this is Arden, Slayde’s girlfriend. Arden, this is Scott.”
Girlfriend?
I didn’t know what to say. I just shook his hand. “He’s the best pilot around,” she said and patted my shoulder. “We’re in good hands.”

“Let’s hope so,” Taylor said as she passed him. He smiled at her. He’d obviously been their pilot for a while. They all seemed chummy with him. He was not like an employee. More like a friend.

When we got on the plane, I had to pick up my jaw. I was amazed at what I saw.
So, this is how rich people live.
It was insane. The jet was so comfortable. Its nice, big seats made first class look like a dump. Not that I’d ever flown in first class, but I passed it on the way to coach.