Never His Girl (Kings of Cypress Prep #2) - Rachel Jonas Page 0,48
Mrs. Harrison being provost at North Cypress U, he thought it might come in handy down the road to have a ‘deeper connection’ with her.
Whatever the hell that means.
Yup, father-of-the-year is completely fine pimping out his son to this chick, all because it could benefit one or all of us down the road.
No surprise there.
Headmaster Harrison starts carving the bird while the missus sits idly by, eye-banging Sterling while he shoots a text. It isn’t until my phone buzzes in my pocket that I realize he was sending it to me and Dane.
Sterling: ‘She wants the D sooooooo bad. I feel kinda dirty. And also a little tempted to introduce her to The Legend.’
Dane: ‘The Legend?’
Sterling: ‘The one in my pants.’
I hold in a laugh reading his dumb-ass message.
Dane: ‘Mom thinks she and Harrison are on their last leg. As soon as the ink dries on the divorce papers, just put her out of her misery. Do her good enough and we’ll all have it easy next year.’
West: ‘Screwing older chicks is supposed to up your sex game. Hit that. Get some tips. Move on.’
West: ‘Actually, I take that back. Forgot the stalker factor. Any other girl you date after that will mysteriously come up missing. True shit.’
I’m only half kidding.
Mom clears her throat, which means we’re not being all that discreet. So, the three of us put our phones away, and we mostly behave through the rest of dinner.
Mostly.
Two servers come out to clear the table and we all sit in awkward silence. Peering up at my father, the guy looks like he’d rather be anywhere but here. Which makes sense. Family means shit to him and I’m sure he’s got some chick waiting in the wings to do his bidding tonight. Hence the reason he keeps checking his watch, and insisted that we eat and run by no later than eight.
“Gina, wasn’t your niece supposed to join us tonight? Was she unable to make it?”
Gina—or Mrs. Harrison to the rest of us—perks up when Mom asks. The two go way back, hailing from neighboring parishes down in Louisiana.
“You’re right! She was, but it’s the strangest thing. Our lines got crossed somewhere and I missed that I was supposed to submit some sort of form to request that she come spend the holiday with us,” Mrs. Harrison explains. “Long story short, with her school running such a tight ship, they wouldn’t allow us to take her on such short notice. They keep those girls under lock and key.”
Mom sighs a little. “That’s a bit… extreme, isn’t it?”
Mrs. Harrison shrugs, not looking the least bit disappointed that this niece of hers wasn’t able to make it for dinner.
“Possibly, but Brighton Pierce is the best boarding school in the country. So, I suppose you take the good with the bad, so to speak,” she says dismissively. “At any rate, now that I know the proper procedure, I’ll be submitting the necessary paperwork first thing Monday morning to see to it that Kendall’s able to visit this spring or summer.”
“Spring or summer? Don’t you mean Christmas?” Mom asks.
“Oh, heaven’s no! Martin and I have plans to spend Christmas in Europe. I’m sure she’ll be fine hanging out with friends for one more holiday.”
Mrs. Harrison flashes a lighthearted smile that Mom doesn’t return. Having spent a short time at boarding school herself, she’s not a fan of them. Lucky for her, my grandfather has a soft spot for his girls and brought them home as soon as that year ended.
The moment’s broken up when a round of dessert is brought out and set before us. My first thought is that they intended to feed a small army with all this shit, and not just the five of us. Mom’s eyes get big at the new spread, giving an awkward chuckle.
“Wow, Gina! You didn’t have to go through all this trouble just for us. After that dinner, I’m not even sure I have room for anything else.”
“Not if you want to keep that waistline,” Dad grumbles.
Mrs. Harrison smiles big, standing from her seat to cut into one of two pumpkin pies now resting on the table.
“Honey, please,” she says with a southern twang before laughing. “I didn’t cook a thing today, so it was honestly no trouble at all. Besides, you’ve got growing boys on your hands,” she adds, flashing a look toward Sterling next. “You want a piece. Don’t you, sweetheart?”