THE WRIGHT BOSS (Wright #2)

1 Landon Fuck, my wife was ruining my life. In fact, Miranda had been ruining my life since the day we met. I hadn’t known it at the time. I wouldn’t find out until much later. But, now, the fact was undeniable. Miranda was a cancerous cell eating away at my body. If I didn’t get away, she would destroy me. My phone buzzed and I glanced down to find Miranda’s name on the screen. For the hundredth f*****g time. “f**k,” I groaned, ending the call. She had been calling me nonstop since I walked out the door without her. But I had just landed in Lubbock on the last plane of the day, and frankly, I didn’t want to talk to her. Not after what she’d done. Not after what she had been doing to me for years. Of course, I didn’t blame her for freaking out when I was on my way to my ten-year high school reunion without her. I cringed at the thought. I’d wanted to come back for the reunion at the top of my game. I’d spent six years working as a professional golfer out of Tampa with a few PGA Tour victories under my belt, but I’d wanted to come home having won the Masters with my sexy wife on my arm, living the dream. I’d wanted to make my name as someone other than a Wright. As proud as I was of my family and Wright Construction, the largest construction company in the nation, I wanted my own life. Now, I was returning at twenty-eight years old without my wife and with my golf dreams in ashes. I shrugged off those depressing thoughts and exited the plane. The Lubbock Airport was compact, to say the least. I’d only brought a carry-on, so I bypassed baggage claim and exited the sliding glass doors out to my hot and dusty home. After Florida summers, where you drink the air, Lubbock felt more like breathing sandpaper. A shiny red Alfa Romeo zoomed up to the spot in front of me, and my brother Austin rolled down the window. He honked the horn and flipped me the bird. He was two years older than me but frequently acted as if he were the younger brother. “Hey, get in!” Austin yelled. He popped the button for the trunk. “Nice to see you, too,” I said sarcastically. “Where’s your other half?” Austin asked. “Couldn’t make it.” Sure, Miranda couldn’t make it. That was the lie I was going with for a woman who didn’t work, spent my money like it actually grew on trees, and was practically attached to my hip. “Cool,” Austin said with a shrug. I knew he was the only one of my four siblings who would buy that explanation. I slid my suitcase into the trunk and slammed it shut. “This car is so f*****g tiny,” I said after I sank into the passenger seat. “The trunk barely has enough room for my suitcase.” Austin zoomed away from the airport. “Keep complaining, and I’ll make you stay with Jensen.” I sat back and stared out the window. “Yeah, I’d rather not have to hear him banging my ex-girlfriend.” “I’m sure he could put your ass on the other side of the house. Then, you’d only have to imagine him with Emery.” “Thanks. You’re really helping.” “That’s what I’m here for,” Austin said with a grin. Even though my oldest brother, Jensen, had started dating my ex-girlfriend Emery eight months ago, it was a little weird for me. Not because I had feelings for her. But I couldn’t erase the two years we’d dated in high school. The whole thing had added to my irritation with Miranda. How could Jensen be so happy when I was stuck in a miserable, loveless marriage? God, everything came back to Miranda. My phone even buzzed, as if she had known I was thinking about her. I checked the message. Babe, answer your phone. We need to talk about this. I cannot believe you left without me. What am I supposed to do? Fuck that noise. I turned my phone off. “God, can we get f****d up before this thing tonight?” I asked in desperation. Alcohol would numb the pain for a night. “Now, that I can help with,” Austin said with a grin. I probably shouldn’t be contributing to my brother’s alcoholism, but f**k, I needed a drink. Austin had been drinking heavily ever since our dad died ten years ago from an overdose. Golf had always helped me manage my vices and the characteristic Wright addictive personality. Without it, I didn’t know if I’d have ended up just like my old man. Twenty minutes later, we showed up at Austin’s house in Tech Terrace. He’d had it gutted and redesigned after he closed on it. So, even though the construction was built in the sixties, the house was brand-new. It had the advantage of being located within walking distance of the best bars, which I thought was the reason he’d bought it. But this also meant I could walk my drunk ass to and from the reunion down the street. Austin parked in the garage, and we entered the house. After depositing my suitcase in his guest bedroom on the first floor, I came back out to find Austin already at the wet bar. It was fully stocked with as much alcohol as the nearest liquor store. It even had some top-shelf whiskey that wasn’t available in stores but had to be purchased straight from the distributor. He took drinking very seriously. It was maybe the only thing he took that seriously. Austin poured me a glass of whiskey, and I sank into the sofa. He crashed back into a chair and turned on the big screen to SportsCenter. It was at that exact moment when golf stats were on for the British Open, a tournament I should have been at. I downed my entire glass in one gulp. “I’ll take another.” Austin gave me a strange look, as if he knew something was wrong, but he didn’t say anything. He just changed the channel. “Help yourself.” That was the best thing about Austin. He didn’t pry. We sat around for a couple of hours, watching some baseball game neither of us cared about while drinking ourselves stupid. When it was almost time for me to go to Flips for the reunion, Austin finally turned to look directly at me. “Bro, you should probably come up with a story to tell Jensen,” Austin said. “About what?” I played dumb. “Whatever the f**k you’re dealing with. You know he’s going to ask, and you’re a s**t liar.” “I’m not dealing with anything.” “Like I said,” Austin said, refilling my glass one last time, “s**t liar.” I laughed and raised my glass to him. “Maybe I’ll tell him the truth.” “Nah, you won’t. That’s not the Wright way.” Now, that was a true statement. We were a family of five, ranging from thirty-three to twenty-one, and we hid the truth from each other like we had been made for it. We’d learned that from our long-ago dead parents. Our mother had never told us about her cancer, and our father had lied about the alcohol, even on his dying breath. Maybe it was the Wright way. Either way, I didn’t argue with Austin on that point. I’d deal with Jensen when I had to. With my head sufficiently foggy, I changed into a pair of khakis and a light-blue button-up. Then, I waved good-bye to Austin and walked the few scant blocks to Flips. The last time I’d been there, I’d found out that Jensen and Emery were dating. It had been a weird f*****g night, and I was really hoping not to have another one like that any time soon. I wanted to get tanked, talk to some of my old friends, and forget about the s**t I’d left behind. I signed in at the front and then angled straight for the bar on the left side of the room. I almost made it when Jensen stepped right in front of me. Great. Just the person I didn’t want to talk to about my problems. “Hey,” Jensen said. “Hey, bro.” “Where’s Miranda?” “Don’t know. Where’s Emery?” Jensen pointed behind him, and I saw Emery leaning over the bar in an all-black ensemble, gesturing to the bartender. “What do you mean, you don’t know where your wife is? I’d rather not have her run into Emery. She still acts like a…” Jensen looked at me, and his eyes said that the word he was looking for was psychopath, but he didn’t want to say it in front of me. “Well, she doesn’t like Emery.” “Nothing to worry about then because I didn’t bring her,” I said. Then, I tried to push past him to get my drink. Jensen grabbed my arm. “How the hell did you get away with that?” “Give it a rest, Jensen.” He sighed and dropped my arm. “What happened?” “Look, we had a fight, and I left without her. The end.” “Must have been a pretty big argument for her not to come with you,” Jensen prodded. Jensen, like the rest of my family, hated Miranda with a fiery vengeance. He might think he was able to keep his distaste for her under wraps—unlike my sister Morgan—but he didn’t fool me. Only my youngest sister, Sutton, was any good at pretending that she liked Miranda. Not that I blamed them at this point. “I’m leaving her, man. Is that what you wanted to know?” I spat at Jensen. He stared back at me, stunned. Maybe he never thought I’d actually do it. Miranda had pushed and pushed and pushed, and I’d never broken. There were reasons for all of that. Reasons I’d handled the Wright way with no one else knowing about them. But she’d crossed the line, and I’d had enough. “Landon, you know that I just want you to be happy.” “Yeah, well, I need a drink, not a lecture. Leave it be.” I stumbled over to the bar and ordered that drink, making sure to angle away from Emery. We were on all-right terms now, but since this was all about high school, I didn’t want to dredge up those awkward memories. Maybe I’d find some of my old football buddies. Or the blonde at the pool table in the back of the bar. My eyes found Heidi Martin, Emery’s best friend, as she stood up to her considerable height. She was surely making a fool out of her opponent since I’d personally seen her hustle more than her fair share of unsuspecting victims. We’d known each other for years. She’d been a cheerleader when I was the starting quarterback in high school. We’d hung out more times than I could count while I was dating Emery. But, when I’d come back over for Sutton’s wedding, it was like seeing a whole new Heidi. She oozed confidence and power, she made everyone smile, and she did it all effortlessly. Heidi Martin had completely come into her own. We’d started talking after the wedding. Nothing serious. Or at least that was what I had told myself. Our conversations became intimate...and then New Year’s had happened. We’d almost kissed, and f**k, I’d wanted to. But it hadn’t been fair to Miranda. And so, after that, I’d cut off all contact with her. Time to fix that mistake. I strode down the bar and straight to the pool tables. Heidi curved a ball and knocked it into the pocket. Her blue eyes lifted from the table and landed right on me. Her smile grew but warily. She hadn’t forgotten how abruptly I had ended things. “Heidi,” I said, taking her in like a breath of fresh air. “Hey, Landon.” Her eyes looked over my shoulder, as if she were trying to figure out if I was alone. “Where’s your wife?” “She’s not here.” “Oh,” she said. Though she didn’t seem upset by that notion. “Sorry she couldn’t make it.” “Are you?” I asked curiously. She laughed and shook her head. “Are you drunk?” “I might be a bit inebriated, yes.” “Ah. Inebriated, are we?” she asked with an eye roll. “Guess you can’t be too drunk then.” “Never know. I’m still an intelligent drunk.” “Sure you are.” She pushed her blonde hair out of her face and smiled, as she seemed to be warming up to my presence. The next person missed his shot, and she proceeded to run the table. “Another round?” The guy shook his head. “No way in hell. Find someone else to embarrass, Martin.” She shrugged and leaned on the pool stick as she turned her attention to me. “So, what’s new with you?” “A lot actually,” I told her. “Can we go somewhere to talk?” “Somewhere, not being here?” “Somewhere…more private.” Then, I dropped my voice. “I just…don’t like the way we left things.” “Oh, Landon,” she said with her characteristic laugh, as if nothing bothered her. Even though I knew it did. “Don’t even worry about it.” “Heidi,” I said softly, stepping closer to her. Her body tensed as I drew near, and she took a shallow breath. “Please.” “All right,” she said, stumbling backward a step. Her eyes were wide and desirous, but she quickly hid her emotions. She put on a big smile. “Sure, I’d love to catch up.” She placed the pool stick back in its slot and then nodded her head to the side. I followed her to a booth in the back of the room. A handful of people from our senior class plus their dates were already at the reunion. I knew right away that talking in a booth in the back of the room was tantamount to announcing that something nefarious was going on. I didn’t want anyone to overhear us. I didn’t want anyone to see us. I might not care that ten years had passed. I was a different man. I was a professional golfer. I had my own life. I didn’t live in town. But no one could escape high school gossip. “Let’s go outside,” I suggested. “Landon, I don’t think that’s a good idea.” “f**k good ideas.” I took her hand in mine and gently tugged her to the emergency exit. It had been disabled for as long as I could remember, and we breezed through it and out into the hot summer night. “All right, we’re outside. What’s up?” Heidi asked. She leaned back on the brick wall and popped a foot up against it. “The last time we spoke, you said that we shouldn’t talk anymore. You said what was going on between us wasn’t fair to your wife.” “That was true,” I agreed. But my body and addled brain couldn’t care less about what I’d said all those months ago. January felt like a lifetime ago. The reasons I’d had for reacting that way no longer applied. “This probably isn’t fair to her either, Landon.” I stepped into her personal space, and her breathing hitched. My hands went on either side of her face, boxing her in. She swallowed but fiercely met my gaze. I’d thought she’d push me away. I’d thought she’d stop me. “Do you still feel the way you felt back then?” “Landon,” she whispered. Her words came out breathy and soft. “Don’t do this.” “Do you?” “I haven’t spoken to you in months. At the time, Emery suspected what was going on, and I’m her best friend. There’s girl code to consider. I can’t do this. I can’t answer you.” “She’s dating my brother. I don’t think that applies anymore, Heidi. Just answer me this; do you or do you not still care for me?” She paused, frozen in place, with her ice-blue eyes boring into mine. She was trying to find where this was a trick or a joke. But she wouldn’t find it with me. “Yes,” she whispered. Without another thought, I pushed my hands up into her wild blonde hair and brought my lips down onto hers. I tasted her like a luxurious delicacy and then devoured her as if I could never have enough. Fuck everything else in my life. This was the moment when I made Heidi Martin mine.