“So, because I’m don’t do shit half-ass, I dug a little deeper into your boy’s shit, and I was able to get into his DMs and shit, and Ms. Chambers went at that dude hard.”
I leaned back in my chair. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, she’d been hitting on him for a long time before he finally caved,” he answered.
My brows furrowed. “Before he started dating Lake?”
Mad shook his head. “No. Four days after he changed all his media shit to state he was in a relationship with your girl, Erica started messaging him and all kinds of shit. I dug in a year before that, and until then, they’d never messaged each other.” He popped a brow. “There was mutual shit for like parties and stuff, but nothing personal.”
“So, Erica wasn’t interested in Metcalf until he started dating Lake,” I concluded.
Mad nodded. “And, I gotta tell you, R.J., he held firm through the entire six months she chased him. And I’m talking sending him nude selfies and even videos of the shit she’s capable of.”
“So, what changed?”
His smirk was laced with a touch of arrogance, but then, he had the right to be. Maddox was a hacking genius, and the government would be lucky to have him working for them. “Well, I was wondering the same thing, so I got to peeking at her texts and social media, and while there’s no smoking gun, she was careless enough to keep a text that was asking for some GHB.” My brows shot up. “I traced the number, and it belongs to a local dealer.” Mad’s nose scrunched up. “Well, I wouldn’t exactly call him a dealer, so much as a dude who can score good time drugs.”
“So, you’re thinking she drugged Metcalf?”
Maddox nodded again. “I really think she did,” he confirmed. “Her posts and text after the fact were too…braggy. She wanted everyone to know Curt cheated on Lake with her.”
“Why, though?”
“Oh, nothing complicated or sinister,” he chuckled. “Just plain, good, old-fashion jealousy.”
“Erica is jealous of Lake?” I had suspected as much with the little I had known, but Maddox was making it sound like it was something bigger than what I’d thought. “Over what?”
“That came up in the messages I had dug up from last year,” he answered. “Apparently, from the messages, Erica is into photography, too. I’m not sure she’s into it as much as your girl, but last year, Erica got some comeuppance when Lake won a photography contest over her. When Erica had disputed the win, the teacher had told her that it wasn’t enough to be beautiful, she had to be able to see beauty in all things. Even the stuff society deems as ugly.”
My shoulder jerked. “Well, that’s true if you’re going to go into photography.”
Mad smiled. “True, but the teacher hadn’t stopped there. She went on to tell Erica that surface beauty faded and people with substance were the ones who would make the difference.”
I laughed. “And the teacher’s words are Lake’s fault, I take it?”
Maddox nodded. “Yep,” he agreed. “Seems Erica has had it out for your girl ever since. And it hadn’t helped when she went after Curt, and he hadn’t fallen for her charms. He kept picking Lake over Erica’s advances, and there you go.”
I eyed my brother. “So, you’re saying there’s a chance she might make a move on me?”
He scoffed. “A chance? Hell, no. I’m saying she will.” Mad shook head. “You being who you are, if she went after Curt as hard as she did, she’s going to definitely come after you, R.J.”
“I can handle myself, Mad,” I reassured him.
“That’s not what I’m worried about,” he retorted. “I think she’s going to hit on you, but I also know you.” I smirked. “Once you crush her spirit, she’ll back off.”
“So, what’s the problem?”
“I think she’ll go after your girl,” he said. “And I think it might get ugly.”
“Trust me, Mad. Lake is not as sweet as she seems,” I said dryly. “The girl’s got fight in her.” I scoffed. “I should know.”
Maddox placed his elbows on his knees, clasped his hands together, and leaned forward. “Are you going to tell her?”
My head jerked back. “Fuck no, I’m not going to tell her,” I bit out. “If she finds out that he really didn’t cheat on her, he might have action of getting her back, and that’s not going to fucking happen.” Maddox raised a brow. “She’s mine, Mad,” I told him. “She’s fucking mine, and I don’t give a fuck what the truth is. Hell, I don’t give a fuck if she wants to be mine or not. She’s mine. End of story.”
Maddox grinned. “You know, not telling her might come back to bite you in the ass later, if she ever finds out you knew and didn’t tell her.”
I lifted my chin. “She might get pissed,” I conceded. “But it won’t change anything. It’s not like I’ll let her leave me over it.”
“Christ, R.J., you sound like Dad,” he grimaced as he stood up.
“And was he wrong?” I challenged. “We wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for his perseverance.”
Mad let out a deep laugh. “Dude, we exist because Mom loves Dad enough to ignore that he’s unhinged. Remember that.” I didn’t comment because he wasn’t necessarily wrong. “So, how are you going to handle her going to SC while you’re at Windsor?”
I wasn’t worried about Lake cheating on me. Most people reject that sort of behavior once they’ve been on the receiving end of it, so that wasn’t a problem. My problem was getting her onboard with the fact that we were in a relationship, whether she wanted to be or not.
And I wasn’t worried about Metcalf pursuing her because, it’s been two months, and he’s made no progress where she’s concerned. Plus, I had no problem having a little chat with him, if I had to.
My issue was not having her with me, plain and simple.
“I could always have her transferred to Windsor,” I told him.
My brother looked down at me. “Dude, you are losing it,” he said as if this was something I wasn’t aware of.
“I am,” I agreed.
He regarded me for a long minute before saying, “Let me know if you need anything more.”
And that’s what it meant to be a Reed.
Actually, that’s what it meant to be a Reed, Marlow, McCellan, or McIntire. We walked a crazy path, but we didn’t walk it alone. We’d never be left to walk it alone. Loyalty had been instilled in us at birth. My brother might think I was losing my shit, but he wasn’t going to let me go down alone.
“Will do,” I promised him.
He didn’t look convinced, but he gave me a tight nod before heading out. I also knew this wasn’t the end of it for him. Maddox was probably going to spend the new few days still digging. He got a bad vibe from Erica Chambers, and that meant he was going to dig up whatever he could for insurance.
I picked up my phone and fired off another text.
Me: Every thought about going 2 Windsor?
Lake: Ever thought about getting counseling 4 ur issues?