heart? I thought you were forged in steel, not mush,” Tommy jokes, blowing a kiss at Kennedy.
Tommy prefers to stand instead of sitting next to East. If I dislike him, then Easton hates him with the power of a thousand suns, something that Tommyboy knows all too well.
“Don’t be an asshole, Tom. It doesn’t suit you,” Kennedy snidely interjects in my defense, something she is accustomed to do when her fiancé comes after one of us.
“Chill, babe. I’m only busting his balls. Who’s the lucky lady that’s grabbed young Walker’s attention?”
None of my friends open their mouths, but since I don’t want him to think I’m ashamed or something, I give him the name he wants to hear.
“Stone Bennett.”
“Are you serious?” Jeff whispers beside me.
I see concern tainting each of his words, but I don’t have time to answer him since Tommy acts like I just told the world’s funniest joke.
“Oh my God, so it’s true?” He continues to laugh, slamming his open palms on the table so hard that it startles a few of the coffee goers in this place. “You have been slumming it down on the Southside. I’d heard the rumors, but I thought it was fake news like most of Richfield’s gossip. So, how’s that going for you, Walker?”
“It didn’t pan out,” I reply with gritted teeth.
I wish I could punch the asshole in his fucking smug face, but then I’d have to deal with a pissed-off Kennedy. Believe it or not, Tom being a dick to me is the lesser of two evils.
“Maybe it’s for the best,” he retorts after he’s done laughing like a fucking hyena. “Some people just need to stay in their lane. You know what I’m saying?” He cocks his brow.
“No, asshole, he doesn’t. Explain it to him,” Easton belts out.
Tommyboy sways his head toward Easton, giving an elitist sneer that is all sorts of fucked up.
“Oh, I think you don’t give Walker here the credit he deserves. Some people shouldn’t mix, and your boy knows it. White trash is just that—trash. No matter how pretty the packaging is, some things should stay in the gutter where they belong,” he explains with a scornful glower, the dig evidently intended for Easton’s mom as well as Stone. He then tilts his head my way, and I have to curl my hands into fists under the table to keep my level head. “You got my meaning well enough, didn’t you, Walker?”
“Yeah, I got it.”
I know the bastard is dying to say something else, but he’s interrupted by Lincoln’s mocking whistle, which breaks his focus and gains the attention of all of us.
“You are so fucking full of shit, Tommy. Phew. I can smell your stench every time you open that trap of yours. Why don’t you do us all a favor and choke on it instead of spewing it in our direction? Go on now, Tommyboy. Get,” Linc orders, waving Tommy off as if he were an errant puppy needing to be hit on the nose with a newspaper.
Tom turns every shade of red in a crayon box, but he shuts his mouth, knowing that, against Lincoln, he is shit out of luck. Tommyboy might be the only son of the great Senator Maxwell, but Lincoln owns most of the Carolinas. You can’t throw a rock in all of Ashville without it hitting some monument with his family name on it. Senator Maxwell knows that if he wants to be reelected, he’ll need the support of the last heirs to the Richfield dynasty—Lincoln Hamilton and Colt Turner, the two men Tommyboy can’t say shit to, or about, if he doesn’t want to get on his daddy’s bad side.
Sensing the mood, Kennedy discreetly asks Easton to let her pass, so she can do some damage control.
“Good thing my time is up since this is too much testosterone for me. I best be heading back to Richfield, or I’ll be late for class. Drive me, Tom?”
“Sure, babe,” he answers, dropping a kiss on her lips.
I feel Linc’s body stiffen next to me, but he doesn’t say anything further to antagonize the asshole.
“Are you coming?” Kennedy asks her twin, trying hard not to look at anyone else sitting at the table after that unsolicited kiss.
“Yeah, I’ll meet you both outside. Just need to talk to the guys for a quick second.” He smiles warmly at her.
Kennedy gives him a nod and an awkward wave to the rest of us as she pulls Tommyboy by the elbow