Chapter 14

Rory’s eyes shot open. The covers seemed to be trying to suffocate him as he struggled to get free. Finally, he was able to extricate himself from the tangled mess. He swung his legs over the side of the bed, trying to slow his breathing and steady his heart rate. He needed air.

Rory noted that his t-shirt, damp with sweat, clung to his back as he found himself on the top floor of the tower, listening to golfers talk. It sounded like one was giving his fellow players unsolicited stock tips, but Rory couldn’t hear the guy well enough to be sure.

He tuned them out to think about his nightmare. It had been just him and his mom. She’d never told him about his father; she just said he left them before he was born. She didn’t want him to know his dad—or sperm donor, as she called Tyler.

Rory’s mother hadn’t wanted him to see the life he’d almost had. It would’ve been like telling a little street urchin his father was the king—that he should’ve been a prince, not a pauper.

What had caused the whole shebang to go off the rails was the thought that if his dad had been in his life, could Tyler’s money have helped his mom? Would she still be alive?

Rory abruptly stopped that line of negative thought because he could feel deep down that it would eat him alive if he continued.

’You have to get your shit together. Being depressed about Mom’s passing is natural, but wallowing in what-ifs and blaming others isn’t helping.’

“I need to get away from all this,” he said aloud.

He went back to his room, found his phone, and sent a message to Tim, the frat boy. His phone rang a moment later.

“What’s up?” Tim asked.

“What are you doing right now?”

Tim barked out a laugh.

“If you must know, I was having a similar conversation with my girlfriend. Why? What’s up?”

“Have you had breakfast?”

“No.”

“How about I swing by, and we hit one of the hotels’ Sunday brunches everyone talks about? My treat.”

He’d added the last because the Sunday brunch at the Wynn ran $50 per person. He suspected Tim hadn’t received his first paycheck yet.

“You must be desperate to get out of the house. As a broke college kid, I can’t in good conscience turn you down. Let me ask my girlfriend before I commit, though,” Tim said and covered the phone for a moment.

“Can her roommate come?” Tim asked.

“Sure. Send me the address, and I’ll be there in forty-five minutes.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Tim said and then hung up.

Danica and Aaliyah lived off-campus in an apartment complex that rented almost exclusively to students.

Danica was Tim’s girlfriend. She looked tiny next to his large frame. If Rory had seen her in the halls of his old high school, he would have been sure Danica was on the cheer squad. She would have been the tiny girl on top of the pyramid.

All women were beautiful. Rory felt that the most beautiful Black women were the ones who didn’t try to conform to European ideals. Real Black women had strong athletic legs with amazing curves. Aaliyah had his full attention. She’d done her hair in cornrows and put it in a ponytail. Instead of letting it fall straight back, it hung on the side of her head and fell on the top of her breast.

While both girls had dressed up, Aaliyah had worn a black dress made of clingy material. It didn’t have arms or shoulder straps to hold it up. A band of elastic went under her arms but not right under them. The top was just above her nipples, showing the tops of her large breasts and exposing ample cleavage. It clung to her body and ended with barely enough material to be decent.

Danica was more modest but just as sexy. Her cute sundress made Rory want to do something naughty. He could see that Tim felt the same way.

Tim had a question after they’d climbed into his Jeep, with Aaliyah taking the front passenger seat.

“Where are you taking us?”

“I’ve heard good reports about the Wynn Sunday brunch buffet. I called and got us reservations.”

“I’m going to be the happiest woman in Las Vegas,” Danica announced in a little girl’s voice. Rory wondered if that was her normal speaking voice or if she was trying to be sexy.

“No,” Rory drawled and then added without thinking. “The happiest woman in Vegas is Julie Cohen, if her screams of passion were any indication.”

Tim scoffed out a laugh of disbelief. Rory felt his ears get warm after his brazen claim.

“Sorry, I’m not usually like that. It’s just that you two ladies have put naughty thoughts in my head.”

“Don’t be so modest,” Tim said. “Rory’s the star pupil in the porn class I start taking on Monday. If the rumors are true, the girls all love him.”

“You do porn?” Aaliyah asked, suddenly more interested.

Rory felt his whole face flush.

“No. My job is to find talent for my family’s production company, Luv Entertainment. Tyler Luv is my father.”

“I’ve seen him. He’s massive,” Danica said and then looked embarrassed for admitting to watching porn.

“Cool. Maybe we can watch some together,” Tim said to pull the focus away from his girlfriend.

They were quiet for a few minutes until they pulled into the Wynn parking lot.

“Are you hung?” Aaliyah asked.

The question hit Rory all wrong. Being compared to his dad reminded him why he needed to get away. He quit looking for a spot and drove to the entrance. The female valet ran up to take his keys.

“I’m just dropping off,” he told her, then grabbed Tim. “Can I have a second?”

“Yeah, sure. What’s up?”

“Alone?”

“We’ll be in shortly,” he told his girlfriend and her roommate.

Rory counted out two hundred dollars, more than enough for their meals and an Uber home. He handed the money to Tim.

“I’m going to take off.”

“Is something wrong?” Tim asked.

“No, it’s just that my mom died not so long ago, and I have bad days. It just hit me. I need to go somewhere and be alone, is all.”

“I understand. I’ll pay you back when I get my first check,” Tim promised.

“No, don’t. Enjoy your morning on me,” Rory said as he got back into the car.

He found a restaurant that looked busy, reasoning that if it was packed, it must be good. There was a thirty-minute wait, which gave Rory time to think.

The root of his discomfort was that he was the son of Tyler Luv. Not his dad, really, but the Tyler Luv everyone came to with their hands out. It was as if that was all being transferred onto him. He’d seen the look on Stacy and her brother’s faces as they took in where he lived. He was sure she would never look at him the same again.

It started with his new friends when he moved to The Valley. They all wanted him to join them because he brought the Luv name to their group. When they’d gone to the country club for the fundraiser, adults sought him out. At work, grown men and women called him ‘Mr. Walsh.’

Finally, today. Rory strongly suspected that if he’d pushed, he could have bedded Aaliyah, Danica, or both. Tim might very well have gone along with it because he needed his job.

That last thought made him rather queasy. It rolled right into his episode with the girls in The Valley crew, who he’d pushed to allow the guys to give them head. Did they do it just because he was Tyler Luv’s son?

He knew for a fact that wasn’t who he was. He’d grown up with a core group of friends who weren’t considered cool. But when his mom got sick, most of them fell away because he’d had to mature and worry about taking care of her instead of hanging out.

The only constant in his life had been his godfather, Chris, and his family.

That was when he realized how lonely he’d been and still was. Rory had been so focused on taking care of his mom that he never really took a moment for himself.

His name was called, so he went in and ate.

The whole time it was gnawing at him that he had to figure out a way to make all this work. But one factor he couldn’t change was that he was Tyler Luv’s son. His dad hadn’t forced him to do anything except apologize to Chad, but that was a parent thing.

He liked his job and loved porn class. He knew exactly how clueless he’d been about sex and wanted to learn even more. He also liked Sean and Jace. The girls weren’t bad, either, but he felt like a prized bull they wished to claim. Maybe if he made it clear he didn’t want to do more than hang out?

But that left one problem: Rory did want more with Summer.

He had to laugh because he might be schizophrenic or just plain crazy. How else could he explain his flip-flopping back and forth on everything?

Tyler had been looking for Rory all morning. When his son walked in the front door, he could tell something wasn’t right.

“We missed you at breakfast.”

“I had a bad night thinking about my mom,” Rory admitted. “I wanted some alone time to get my head on straight.”

“Did it work?”

“No.”

“I know we haven’t had years to build trust, but if you want to talk, I’m a good listener.”

Rory looked at his dad, considering his options.

“I guess it’s either you or I need to see a therapist. I’ve got myself tied up in knots,” Rory admitted.

“Where do you want to go?”

“How about the tower? No one will interrupt us there,” Rory suggested.

“Lead the way.”

They got settled on the living-room side of Rory’s living space. Tyler sometimes forgot what great views it had of the city and mountains. This was why he’d built the tower.

The two of them sat there quietly for quite a while before Rory tentatively began to talk. Tyler just sat and listened as the pain poured out of his son. When Rory spoke about how he worried his mom might have lived if Tyler had helped them financially, it almost gutted him.

Tyler had always liked Grace, even though it had been nearly seventeen years since he’d seen her. She’d given him Rory as a son. He’d respected her enough to follow her wishes and stay out of Rory’s life. To be honest, Tyler had fallen into his life with Crystal and building his business and never pressed the issue. His argument with himself had been that he knew she could raise him, and if she ever needed anything, he would be there—just like he’d done when Grace passed.

Then Rory focused on Tyler and how people treated Rory because of who his father was. Tyler hadn’t even thought about how that would affect his son.

“I just don’t have all the answers,” Rory said when he finally ran down.

“First of all, I think you need a hug,” Tyler said as he stood up. Rory did the same, and they embraced. “At sixteen, you’re not supposed to have all the answers. That’s what parents are for, to help you navigate the tough issues.”

They pulled apart, and Rory shook his head as if he didn’t like his dad’s answer.

“Look, there’s some stuff that’s out of your control,” Tyler said. “We’ll never know if my money could have helped your mom or not. I also can’t help being who I am, and I won’t apologize for having money. I was brought up much like you, in a one-parent home, and we barely got by. I’ve worked hard to build my wealth.”

“What about Summer and her group and them using me?” Rory asked.

“Son, both sides have to get something out of every relationship. At least they were honest about their intentions. You have to decide what you want to get and what you’re willing to trade to get it. I haven’t seen where they’ve done anything to actually hurt you, have they?” Tyler asked.

Rory sat back in his seat and thought before answering.

“I’m a bit uncomfortable with the group hangs and then randomly breaking off into couples. I was brought up in a Catholic household, and I’m not sure what to think,” Rory admitted.

Tyler smiled and nodded his agreement.

“That you’ll have to figure out for yourself. Most people might not be able to handle an arrangement like that, but they seem to have worked it out,” Tyler said. “Can I ask, are they having full-on sex?”

Rory shook his head ‘no.’

“I might have messed up their dynamic. From what I understand, they would make out, and the guys might get a blowjob. I suggested that I’d be willing to return the favor. I used my knowledge from porn class to give Julie a good orgasm. Neither Sean nor Jace had a clue what to do.”