he was heading into the office. He had some business he needed to tend to before he headed this way but asked for me to pass along he would be there to pick you up around five o’clock.”
I turn to glance over my shoulder at the clock above my TV. It reads 4:58, but I set it ahead intentionally. I can always use any help I can get.
The move forces me to get a good look at myself in the mirror, which hangs just next to my TV. It’s a good thing I still have a few minutes; this heat isn’t doing me any favors.
I don’t usually care what I look like, not that I have anyone I’m trying to impress, but I haven’t seen Merric since his dad died three summers ago.
Our parents got married the week before my seventeenth birthday after knowing each other for three months. Merric’s father Maxwell had moved from Myrtle Beach to Richmond. He was there to oversee the opening of the new location of Paine and Thorne Investment Management.
Merric had graduated from college the year before and was positioned to follow in his dad’s footsteps. When Maxwell moved to Richmond, Merric stayed in Myrtle Beach, learning the ropes from Maxwell’s business partner Erik Paine.
He may have been my stepbrother, but I never viewed him as one. He was eight years older than me, and by the time our parents got together, he had already lived the life of a college student.
We’re opposites in every sense of the word. Where I’m outspoken and a tornado of chaos, he’s quiet and reserved. You can tell just by looking at him, he’s strategic in every move he makes, always thinking and planning ten steps ahead.
Anytime we were around each other, which wasn’t often, he would act as though he couldn’t be bothered to carry on a conversation with me. I never thought he had paid much attention to me… well, until the night I found him drunk in our parents’ yard.
I swear, sometimes it feels like that night was all a dream. Some nights, I wake up from dreams so vivid, so intense, it’s almost like I’m back in that dark hallway with my back pressed against the wall. I can practically feel his fingers digging into my hips, the taste of his mouth searing mine.
Merric remained close with my mom after his dad’s passing, but that night was the last time I had seen or heard from him. When I woke up the next morning, he had already taken off back to Myrtle Beach.
I click the button to turn the speaker on and toss it onto my bed, listening to my mom talk all about my cousin Penelope’s upcoming wedding. It worked out perfectly, coinciding with the trip back home to Richmond for Christmas during winter break. The holidays are my mom’s favorite time of year, and now that she’s living alone, I know how much it means to her to have us back to visit.
When she suggested Merric pick me up on his way north, I hesitated, knowing this would be the longest I’ve ever spent with Merric alone. While I had enough money to cover my trip, I hadn’t told her I had been working at Whiskey Barrel. It would open up a slew of questions I didn’t want to answer.
I let it go, biting my tongue and accepting the offer for a ride, even if it comes with the unbearable silence of riding with Merric.
I rake a brush through my long, blonde locks, attempting to tame my unruly hair before ruffling it enough so it doesn’t lay flat on the side of my head. My makeup still looks somewhat decent from earlier this morning, despite feeling like I sweat it all off.
“Oh, honey, you should see how she has it all set up. It’s so beautiful. Penelope was so happy, too, when I told her you were coming back home. I’m still worried, though, about you and Merric making the drive. Have you seen the news? They’re saying we could get anywhere from six to eight inches of snow. It sounds like it could bring white-out conditions, too.”
Ugh.
I guess I should be thankful I’m not trying to make the drive by myself. Although I can only imagine how moody this could make Merric.
I untwist the cap of my lip gloss, swiping a bit over my lips before blotting them together, just as two knocks hit my door.
“Shit,” I mutter, interrupting my mom.