Chapter 2

Rory dragged himself to bed and slept like the dead for a change. He had no nightmares for the first time since his mother passed.

When he woke up, it was like a bolt of lightning had just shot through his system. One minute, he was happily REMing, and the next, he was sitting straight up, breathing hard, and checking to see what time it was.

Eleven-freaking-o’clock?

How in the hell had he slept twelve hours, and what had caused him to wake up like the world was ending?

An image of his mother’s face swam behind his eyes. Suddenly, Rory was up, across the room, and in the shower before the hot water even had time to make it through the pipes. Cold water blasted him in the face and immediately woke up his confused and stupid self.

He was putting on his tennis shoes when a shriek sounded, like someone was being murdered. He jumped up and rushed to the window.

The neighbors were fighting about something. It looked like two sisters his age or older.

All would have been okay, but their battle began to escalate. Rory couldn’t hear what was said, but the fight suddenly switched from verbal to physical. One moment yelling, the next clawing, scratching, and trying to tear out each other’s hair. That, he couldn’t have.

Rory raced downstairs and out of the tower. He’d learned that if a guy tried to get between two fighting girls, he deserved all that happened to him. Rory had no desire to make that mistake and get in the middle of them. He grabbed a hose from the side of the tower, turned the water on, and sent a stream that hit the older sister in the back.

The screaming and shouting went up a notch, but the physical contact broke up. The younger one backed up and looked relieved, while the older girl was furious. She shoved her younger sister down onto the concrete and ran into the house.

“Ow ... ow ... ow,” the girl on the ground complained.

It looked like she’d scraped up one of her thighs when she was pushed down.

“You need some help?” Rory called over the fence.

“I’m locked out for sure, and I’m only wearing my swimsuit. What do you think?”

“Well, if you’re good, then...”

“I’m not good! Help me over the fence,” she said.

She climbed the hill between their properties like she’d done it a hundred times before. He reached over and helped her hoist herself over the fence.

“Are the Luvs at home?”

“I think so,” Rory answered.

The girl went to the big slider and knocked while Rory got a better look at her. She was cute, with long blond hair that he suspected was dyed because the roots were darker where her hair was parted.

Crystal came to the slider, looking confused.

“Summer? Sophie isn’t here,” she said as she opened the door.

“Actually, I’ve been locked out. Clare and I had a disagreement.”

Crystal spotted her leg.

“Come in so I can have a look at that.”

Rory followed them into the house. Crystal stopped and pointed to the kitchen.

“Why don’t you make us some sandwiches,” she said to him, then turned to Summer. “You’re hungry, aren’t you?”

“Yeah, but I’m trying to not eat bread.”

“I’ll figure something out. Is Tyler joining us?” Rory asked.

“No. He went in to work,” Crystal explained.

Rory went to the kitchen and found there wasn’t much since they hadn’t gone grocery shopping yet. He grabbed the remaining eggs and put them into a pot to boil. The crisper held a container of the fancy mixed greens his mother had never bought because it was too expensive.

He made them all salads and egg-salad sandwiches, which he cut up and put on a platter. He was just putting the plates out when they came back.

Crystal had found Summer a sundress to wear with spaghetti straps and a wide neckline. He saw no evidence of her bikini top, which started a naughty inner dialogue he quickly stopped. Rory pulled his mind to safer stuff before he embarrassed himself.

“Where did you find him? He’s handsome and does more than just yard work. My mom might be looking for someone like him,” Summer said as she looked at the food.

“I should formally introduce you. This is Rory Walsh, Tyler’s son. He’s living with us now,” Crystal said. “And this is Summer Barton, our next-door neighbor.”

He was glad that she hadn’t said anything about his mother. Rory didn’t want to share something that raw and personal with someone he’d just met.

“Where are you from?”

“Chicago.”

“Tonight is the Jamison fundraiser at the country club. I’m sure you and Mr. Luv plan to go. You should bring Rory along to introduce him to everyone,” Summer suggested.

“I’ll have to see if my husband’s available,” Crystal hedged.

Rory could tell that she really didn’t want to go.

“If you do, I promise to introduce Rory around. You’d like that, wouldn’t you, Rory?” Summer asked.

“If my dad can make it...”

Summer took that as a ‘yes.’ Rory had no idea why she was so excited.

Next door, Summer’s older sister, Clare, was fuming. Her boyfriend, Chad, had informed her that they should think about dating other people for the summer. She’d discovered that he meant he should be able to sleep with other girls while she waited for him to have his fun. The ‘adult’ thing would be for her to understand as they became the power couple when school started in the fall.

“I can’t believe he said that,” Gretchen, her best friend, said. “Did he say who he might want to hook up with?”

She wanted to scream into the phone because Gretchen was being so obvious. She had no doubt that if given a chance, the skank would be all over her boyfriend. If Chad hadn’t been the top dog, as far as boyfriends go, she would have dumped him as soon as he suggested their ‘open summer,’ as he was calling it.

Chad would be a senior at Valley Prep the coming fall. While some schools had football and basketball teams, at Valley Prep, you either played golf or were on the water polo team—which he would be captain of.

“The first name on his list is my sister.”

“What?! Has that little sneak been trying to steal him from you?” Gretchen asked in shock.

“I confronted her about it, and she flatly denied doing anything. Then she called Chad ‘a ‘roided-up jocktard.’ That was when I slapped her.”

“Good for you. Summer needs to be put in her place.”

“Then the neighbor’s gardener shot me with the hose just as I was about to kick her ass,” Clare said indignantly.

“Which one? The Luvs?”

“Yep. I bet he was out on work release, knowing them. I heard their criminal daughter is getting out soon,” Clare said.

“That should make some people happy. Kevin told me they were having a hard time finding pot since Sophie’s boyfriend went to jail.”

“I should introduce them to the gardener,” Clare said.

“Better yet, you should report him to the cops. He assaulted you,” Gretchen suggested.

’I probably should,’ Clare thought. Her mom would love it since she didn’t want the porn king and queen living next door anyway. The problem was, they had more money than her parents and most of their friends combined.

Her dad wouldn’t stand for it. Tyler had loaned him money when he went out on his own. Tyler and his company were also her dad’s most prominent clients. If he found out Clare was messing with them, he might take her Amex card or next year’s Beamer away.

“It was just water, and it stopped our fight. Summer ran off and is sulking somewhere right now. She’ll be home soon, begging my forgiveness and promising to stay away from Chad.”

“Good,” Gretchen said. “And I promise to keep an eye on him for you.”

Why didn’t that make her feel any better?

Crystal called her husband about the party at the country club, and he surprised her by saying he thought it was a good idea. She knew he didn’t want Rory to turn out like Sophie, who hated everything about The Valley. It was filled with people who were all about their wealth and wanted to flaunt it.

Tonight was a good example. Every other week, there was some excuse to get dressed up and gossip at some coming-out party, fundraiser, or gala. And none of the women wanted her there for fear their husbands might take an interest in the porn-star mom living among them.

It was bad enough they were chasing secretaries young enough to be their daughters, but adding someone to the guest list involved in her business was too much. Even though they knew that she had zero interest in some out-of-shape braggart who had no idea what to do with a woman.

Aside from their general snobbishness and personal dislike of her, Crystal was not amused by the fact that those attention-starved wives were seriously infatuated with her husband. The double standard wasn’t lost on her. They had Internet connections and could easily find the videos in which he destroyed nubile young things, ruining them for all other men. She would find herself bleeding in the street if those cougars thought it would help them win his affection.

And the kids were even worse with their self-importance, mean-spirited comments, and social media posts. Sophie wasn’t thick-skinned enough to deal with them and began to hang out with a different crowd. Somehow, Crystal knew that after what Rory’d had to endure, he wouldn’t be bothered by their words. He might even kick some of their butts and teach them that smartass comments have consequences.

Rory came back into the house after admitting he had to make his bed. She’d just nodded, not knowing what to say to that. She didn’t know any teenager who made their own bed, at least not voluntarily.

“You ready?” Crystal asked.

“Do we have time to do everything on your list?” Rory asked.

She’d shown him their tasks for the day. Rory had looked at it in equal parts wonder and horror. But it was her attention to detail that kept their business running smoothly. She ran the day-to-day while Tyler was the creative one.

“Yes, we have time, smarty-pants,” Crystal said, smiling. “Let’s go.”

Rory was ready to jump out of the car before it stopped because their first destination was the MMA gym. Chet Wilkes reminded him a lot of his godfather, Chris, except he was more intense. Chet’s son, West, showed Rory and Crystal the facilities.

“What do you want to get out of this?” West asked as they finished the tour.

“I want to schedule my first amateur bout,” Rory said confidently.

Chris had put Rory’s fighting career on hold when his mom got sick the second time. He wanted to wait until the boy was eighteen, but Rory knew that was too late to get his start. His plan was to have his first professional bout by that time. His goal was to have a minimum of 10 amateur bouts before he went pro. Doing the math, if he had a fight every two to three months, he’d be a pro when he was eighteen.

“We can help you do that. My dad has a lot of contacts, and there’s an active fight scene around the Vegas area,” West said. Then he asked, “What do you need the most work on?”

“Punching, striking, and kicking. When I was younger, I started out just doing jiujitsu. I was smaller than most guys in the gym, so my coach had me work almost exclusively on that. I’ve only been working on Muay Thai for the last couple of years,” Rory answered.

One of the critical components of jiujitsu was honing one’s ability to force their opponent to the ground. It was a favorite of smaller fighters when faced with larger opponents.

When Rory had said he wanted to learn to be an MMA fighter, Chris had introduced him to Muay Thai, a form of martial arts that included Muay Boran, boxing, and kickboxing. Muay Boran was the ancient art that had evolved into modern Muay Thai, emphasizing hand-to-hand combat. It utilized punching and elbow techniques, kicking skills, knee strikes, and foot thrusts. One of the advantages of Muay Thai was that it was relatively simple and straightforward. It was also easy to incorporate into his existing fighting-skill set.

Crystal had to almost drag Rory away from the gym. Their other stops included buying him a phone, getting clothes for tonight’s event—at his mom’s funeral, Rory had found that his dress clothes were too small—having Frank set up his app, and grocery shopping.

On the ride home, he was quiet.

“Whatcha thinking?” Crystal finally asked.

“That you spent more on me today than I normally spend in a year. I plan to get a job.”

“We don’t expect you to pay us back for any of this,” Crystal assured him.

“That may be, but in the future, I want to pull my own weight. Plus, I turn sixteen in a few weeks. I’ll want to get a car. Gas and insurance can be expensive.”

“Let’s talk to your dad about that,” Crystal suggested.

Rory could see they were still in the feeling-out stage. Crystal didn’t know what she could or couldn’t decide about his life. He liked that she planned to discuss it with his father. Rory would prefer they were all on the same page.

When Rory said he liked Indian food, Crystal decided she had to make her curry chicken. Rory volunteered to make the rice. They were busy cooking when Tyler came home.

“Rory started out the day by hosing down one of the neighbor girls. Then we signed him up for MMA training and bought him some clothes and a phone,” Crystal shared. She held up a finger to hold off Tyler from commenting. “And he announced that he wants to get a job—at his age. I told him I would talk to you and let you help him come to the right decision.”

Rory didn’t like how she’d said the last part.

“No, see, I recognize manipulation when I see it,” Rory said. “But that was a nice try. I’ll give you points for effort.”

Crystal laughed.

“Manipulation seems harsh.”

“Tell me why you need a job. I planned to give you an allowance once you settled in,” Tyler said. “Do you need cash now?”

“I can always use cash, but this was a deal I made with my mom,” Rory said, playing his trump card. “I was told that when I turn sixteen, I have to pay for my own gas and insurance.”

“Are we allowed to buy you a car?” Tyler asked.

“I thought I would use money from my trust fund. Maybe a used Jeep.”

“Not happening. That money is for you once you graduate from college. Use it as a down payment on your first place,” Tyler suggested. “Until then, we’ll provide for you, which includes buying your first vehicle. We’ll have the company buy it so we can write it off.”

Rory could see his father wasn’t going to budge on that. He also was the executor of Rory’s trust until he turned 25.

“What type of job are you going to look for?” Crystal asked.

“I thought I could maybe clean pools or do some yard work.”

“I’m sorry, but that’s a hard ‘no,’” Tyler said.

“Why?” Rory asked in shock.

Those were good jobs for a sixteen-year-old back home.

“Because people would judge you for doing something like that around here. I’m trying to give you the best opportunity to fit in when you go to school,” Tyler said.

“Then what jobs do you deem acceptable?” Rory asked as he seethed inside.

“How would you like to help Crystal find new talent?” Tyler asked.

Rory tried to wrap his mind around that question. Then he remembered videos on how auditions were done and felt his entire body flush. He was positive he’d just turned bright red.

Crystal and Tyler both laughed.

“You can’t do what you’re thinking until you’re at least sixteen,” Tyler assured him. “Though there is a Romeo and Juliet law with special provisions for teenagers who are close in age. In any case, I would prefer that you be eighteen.”