Chapter 12

Rory had gone back to work on Friday. There had been no porn class scheduled, so Crystal had given him the afternoon off. He’d used it to work out and then take a long swim. He always felt better after exercising, so he was in a great mood when he went to pick Julie up for their date.

She lived just down the street. Rory pulled into her circular driveway, and as he got to the door, it opened. Julie rushed out and quietly closed it. She grabbed his hand and began to pull him to the car when the door opened again.

Standing there was her dad.

“Not so fast. I was hoping to have a word with you, young man.”

The hairs on Rory’s neck went up, and he glanced over at Julie, who looked ashen.

“Let’s just go,” she whispered.

“It’s okay,” he said and followed Mr. Cohen into the house, with a mortified Julie trailing behind.

Julie’s dad took Rory to his office and closed the door as he looked Rory up and down. Rory was wearing slacks and a dress shirt, so he was confused by the disapproving look he received.

“If you’re going out with my daughter, I need your contact information and that of your parents.”

Rory had been prepared to not like the guy, but that was a common-sense request, so he gave it to him.

“Where do you plan to take her?”

“My stepsister suggested La Strega,” Rory answered.

“I quite enjoy the place, and I’m sure Julie will, too. I recommend the burrata and bread sampler as a starter. It’s off the menu, but you’ll like it. The stracci is a winner for pasta, but the best item on their menu is a whole branzino if you like fish,” Mr. Cohen shared.

“Does Julie have a curfew?” Rory asked.

“Just bring her back in one piece, and we’ll be good,” her dad said as he finally smiled.

“Can I get your number in case I need to contact you?” Rory asked.

“You’re good. If you want, just keep her for the weekend,” Mr. Cohen said as he handed Rory his card.

“We’ll save that for the second date,” Rory said.

Rory had somehow survived her dad; the two of them came out of his office laughing. Rory saw Julie’s concerned look and came up and kissed her on the cheek.

“You ready?”

She nodded, and he offered her his arm and walked her out to his car. He was a gentleman and opened her door, which impressed her.

“I hope you like Italian. I made reservations for La Strega,” he said as they pulled away from the house.

“What did you and my father say to each other?”

Rory raised his eyebrows as he glanced over at her.

“He just wanted to meet me.”

“That’s all?” Julie worried.

“Pretty much. He did make some menu suggestions.”

“I just thought...”

Rory chuckled.

“He had me worried at first, but he seems like a nice guy. What does he do?”

“He manages the hotel for the Bellagio.”

Rory proceeded to ask her questions about herself, which put Julie at ease.

Rory discovered the burrata was an Italian cheese, and he’d ordered the branzino to try something new. He was glad he did.

As he was eating his fish, Rory noticed that Paige was there on a date with Chad, Clare’s complicated boyfriend. It looked like their open summer was off to a good start, as Paige was hanging all over him. Rory was glad Julie couldn’t see them since they were sitting behind her. He didn’t want her to run back and tell Summer, who would have to tell her sister. He was sure Clare wouldn’t want to find out that way.

Over their dessert of coffee gelato, he finally broached the subject of how he’d become friends with their group. He wasn’t going to ask, but in the back of his mind, something told him he should listen to Sophie.

“When I showed up, what made you invite me into your group? It was awfully nice of you guys, and I’m glad you did. I was just wondering what it was about me because I bet there are a lot of people who would want you as friends.”

“We’d talked in the past about bringing another guy into the group, but we wanted him to be someone we could all get along with. As you might guess, Sean doesn’t mesh well with a lot of the guys the girls would consider,” Julie answered.

“Why were you looking for a guy?”

“It balances out the group. That way, if we go to a function, everyone has someone to dance with, or it works out better if other things happen. No one has to feel like a third wheel.”

Rory wondered what she meant by ‘other things.’ Sophie had explicitly said that Summer had gone down on both Sean and Jace. He wondered if that was what she was talking about but thought better of asking.

“I guess I was wondering why me specifically. I would think that you would want a popular kid, maybe someone on the water polo team.”

“We already have Jace for the water polo team. We picked you because of your looks, and it doesn’t hurt that you’re Tyler Luv’s son. You were also nice to Sean, who thinks you’re a great guy. We all think so,” Julie said.

“One last question. Why are all three of you girls asking me out? Won’t that cause a problem?” Rory worried.

“Not at all. We agreed to go out with you casually over the summer. Ideally, one of us will be dating you come the start of school.”

Rory understood the nice-guy analogy that Sophie had talked about and why it made girls so uneasy. He felt manipulated into spending time with them. In a way, he wished Sophie hadn’t said anything. He was also thankful she had. If she’d kept it to herself, he’d have been doomed to be single.

He’d heard more than one of his friends say something like, ‘She’ll eventually realize that I’m the right guy for her.’ Knowing what he knew now, it was creepy, and they had zero chance.

He had to ask himself if he should bail on The Valley crew or do what many girls did: just be friends, knowing it would never be more than that. What made him lean toward just being friends was the prospect of ‘other things.’ Summer Barton would otherwise never dream of him in a sexual way. The bonus was that Alice and Julie would both be fun to spend time with.

But before they muddied the waters with sex, Rory wanted time to process what he’d just learned.

When the server took his card, Julie asked, “Everyone’s going to Alice’s house to hang. You want to go there, or did you have other plans for us?”

“If you want to go, that works for me,” Rory said.

He recognized that Sophie would be chuckling about him being a doormat for caving so quickly. But not going somewhere alone with Julie sounded good right now.

As they walked out, Rory saw Chad and Paige waiting for them.

“If it isn’t Tyler Luv’s dirty little secret,” Chad said with a smirk.

“He’s a little ass-kisser, trying to be his daddy’s lackey,” Paige added.

They both looked drunk, so Rory ignored them and put himself between them and Julie.

“I hear he sniffs his stepmom’s slutty panties,” Chad said with a loud laugh.

Chad had no idea what was about to happen to him. Then Rory remembered Mr. Cohen and his concern for his daughter. He would track Chad down later and get some street justice.

“Welcome to The Valley, bitch!” Chad yelled.

Julie glanced back and screamed, “Look out!”

Rory managed to duck. He felt pain explode in the back of his head as he stumbled forward and sprawled out on the concrete. His palms and knees took the brunt of it. Chad wasn’t done as he tried to kick Rory in the side, but Rory rolled away and popped up on his feet.

“Kill him, Chad!” Paige shouted.

Rory measured his opponent. Chad had to weigh in at over 200 pounds and was at least six feet tall. Being the captain of the water polo team meant he was athletic.

Rory shook his head to try to help clear it. Chad’s punch had done more damage than he wanted to let on.

Chad rushed in like a bull to try to overwhelm Rory, so Rory planted his right foot and threw an overhand left, right between Chad’s eyes. The punch stopped the bigger boy in his tracks. Rory stepped close and began to pound Chad’s ribs like he did the heavy bag.

Chad took four of those brutal blows before his brain re-engaged and he realized he’d made a terrible mistake. Rory now had him pinned up against a car and continued to throw devastating body shots.

“Stop! You’re killing him,” Paige shrieked as she tried to pull him off Chad.

Rory wanted to cheer when Julie grabbed Paige by the hair and jerked her to the ground. Afraid that Julie might get hurt, Rory threw an uppercut that took Chad’s legs, and the older boy slumped to the ground.

“Let her go,” Rory said to Julie, who was about to pound the shit out of Paige.

It looked like he needn’t worry about Julie.

“Let’s get out of here before the cops come,” Rory said to her.

“Wait! Take me with you,” Paige pleaded.

Rory gave her a disgusted look but reached out and helped her up because she was Sophie’s best friend.

He hit the key fob to open the doors, and the three of them piled in. As they drove away, Chad was staggering to his car to make his own getaway.

“What was that shit all about?” Rory demanded as he glanced in the rearview mirror so he could see Paige.

She had tears in her eyes.

“Chad knew you saw us, and all he could talk about was that Clare would find out. He said he had to stop you. I got pissed and ordered a bottle of wine, which turned into two. I got caught up in the moment,” Paige said.

Then she burst into tears and sobbed.

“Sophie’s going to kill me.”

Rory rolled his eyes, which made Julie smirk.

“Let me take you to Alice’s,” he told Julie, “and I’ll take drunkie to my house where she can explain herself to my stepsister.”

“That’s probably best,” Julie agreed.

When they pulled up to Alice’s house, Julie hopped out and ran to the door. He doubted she would want to go out with him again.

Rory sent a quick message to Sophie to warn her he had a drunk Paige with him. His stepsister met them at the door.

“I’m such a stupid bitch,” Paige began.

Rory didn’t hang around but went to his room.

His knees had taken the brunt of the damage; they looked like raw hamburger. To top it off, his dress pants were ruined. His hands weren’t too bad, and he had a knot on the back of his head. He mentally kicked himself for turning his back on Chad. He knew better.

After treating his wounds, Rory pulled on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt and went up to the tower’s top floor to think. He was a little pissed at Sophie because she’d exposed how he was being used by his new friends. It wasn’t her fault, but that was his knee-jerk reaction.

It didn’t help that Paige had made an ass out of herself. Whether she was trying to impress Chad or she’d been drinking, Rory had pretty much written her off as someone he wanted to hang out with.

He suspected it was going to be a late night because his mind was whirling around like it was in the middle of a tornado.

’How did it come to this?’ Clare thought.

It was Friday night. She’d been kicking back, watching some streaming video, and thinking about Chad when the phone calls started. First was her sister, who described Chad attacking Rory while out on a date with that slut Paige Brian.

Then Chad’s mother called. They’d taken him to the emergency room to get checked. Clare immediately rushed to the hospital, and when she arrived, Mrs. Walker was beside herself. She was convinced that Chad had been jumped by multiple people from the look of his torso.

When Clare calmly explained what had happened, Mrs. Walker was even more upset. To hear that her son had attacked Tyler Luv’s son while on a date with someone other than Clare had crushed her.

“I have to call my husband. Can you keep an eye out for the doctor and let me know when he comes back?” Mrs. Walker asked.

Mr. Walker ran a construction company, and it was widely known that Tyler Luv was a silent partner in the business. Having the Walkers’ son attack his was worrisome regardless of the outcome.

A few minutes later, the doctor came out.

“I’m Clare Barton, Chad’s girlfriend. Mrs. Walker had to go make a call,” she explained.

“We’re moving him to a room for overnight observation. When he came in, he was having some trouble breathing. We found three ribs on his right side and one on his left were broken. He also lost a tooth. He should be fine, but it will take three to six weeks for his ribs to heal,” the doctor explained.

“Can I see him?”

“Once we have him in a room, I’ll have the nurse take you up.”

Mrs. Walker went in first. From the waiting room, Clare heard the conversation start with, “You idiot!” and go downhill from there for Chad. She got her shot at him fifteen minutes later.

“So, how’s that open relationship working out for you?” Clare asked as she walked in the door.

“Oh, fuck,” he moaned. “Leave me alone. That Rory kid beat the crap out of me.”

“You sucker-punched the wrong guy. You do remember he just won his first MMA fight, right? Did your drunken ass ever consider that there are certain guys you don’t throw down with?” Clare asked.

“I thought if I intimidated him, he wouldn’t tell you about Paige. Obviously, I was wrong.”

“Rory didn’t tell me; my sister did. Rory was out on a date with Julie Cohen. By tomorrow, everyone will know how you humiliated me,” Clare said, her voice rising in anger.

“Jesus, Clare, I’m sorry. Why don’t we call off the open-relationship crap and get back to basics? When it’s you and me, everything works. You keep me from doing stupid stuff like taunting a pit bull.”

“I don’t know, Chad. I’m not sure my self-esteem can handle dating you anymore after tonight. This might have been the final raindrop that broke the levee. You’re asking me to eat shit and grin about it. I’ll have to think on this one,” Clare said.

Chad gave a heavy sigh.

“I understand. Just let me know.”

She gave him a sad look and walked out.

When she got home, Clare saw Rory’s light on in the tower, so she climbed the fence and went up. She found him on the top level, sitting on the love seat, staring off into space.