“Bekah, hmm? I think you’re quite up to date on your sex education. She’s a bit of a tart, isn’t she?”
Cade crossed his arms, shoving his hands under his biceps. He wanted to defend his girlfriend. He knew what his father meant by “tart.”
Why was it that Cade could control anyone in his life with a few words, but he could never figure out his own father?
Cade ground his teeth. “I wasn’t referring to Sex Ed, Dad.”
“I know.” His father selected a tie—a deep, dried-blood brown-red—and fastened it around his neck. He patted it all the way down his chest to his stomach, as if it were a living thing. “But I have a better way for you to spend your summer.”
“You said this was fine,” Cade said. “We talked about it ages ago.” He leaned against the giant dresser, which held almost nothing—everything was relegated to the closet. “Bekah’s been saving all year.”
He wasn’t sure why he was saying this. Bekah wouldn’t care. Bekah always put up with whatever he threw at her. She’d probably just shrug and go, “Okay, next summer,” and then they’d make out for a while.
Cade’s father rolled his eyes, his fingers stilled attached to the bottom of the gruesome tie. “Poor thing, saving her money. You’d think she’d be used to disappointment, though, living the way she does.”
“She’s not a bad person, Dad,” Cade managed, his jaw tight.
“Did I say she was?” his father asked. He reached over and pulled a bottle of cologne from the closet, which he dabbed delicately onto his wrists. “Anyway, Cade. I’ve gotten you into a psychology course for college credit. It’ll be much better than frolicking around the country, getting into trouble.”
“A psychology course,” Cade repeated. His heart did this weird, droppy thing that he was too used to. He wasn’t even sure why. It was just a course.
“With our history and your genes, I thought it might be useful.” Cade’s father turned, meeting his eyes for the first time. “It’s already started, but I have a friend who was able to pull some strings. You won’t have missed much.”
Great. That meant Cade had to do extra studying. In the summer. While he could be with Bekah.
“I’d hoped to visit Jeni, too.” Cade didn’t meet his father’s eyes, but he could tell the comment turned him to stone.
“And why would you want to do that?”
Cade shifted back and forth. “For every normal reason why you visit someone.”
Mr. Sano’s voice was like hot iron, hissing and angry and red. “I don’t see any normal reason why you’d want to. Besides, you’ll be very busy with this class. I expect you to excel, Cade. This won’t be one of those summers where you just slack off and spend my money.”
Cade wanted to be angry, but there was something else inside of him. Something deep and sad and strange, but when he felt it rearing up he killed it, fast. Then he walked out of the room before it could rise up again.
Bekah was waiting in the sunroom, drinking mint lemonade that the housekeeper had prepared. She grinned when he walked in and wrapped her arms around him when he was close. The scent of freesia filled Cade’s nose. At least, that’s what Bekah said it was. Cade had never smelled freesias.
“We leave next week,” she said, swiping her red hair out of her eyes. “We leave next week, and I bought maps. Like, real maps. Not the ones printed off the Internet.” She dug into her purse and displayed one. “It’s way bigger than you’d think. Oh, and I bought an atlas, which has, like, all of these interesting facts about places to stop. I didn’t even know they made atlases. I just thought they were a thing in all those old road-trip movies.” She laughed and grabbed on to his hand and spun in a circle.
“You’re excited,” Cade said. He hadn’t realized she cared that much. He watched her dance around, her hair trailing behind her like a lariat of fire.
“Of course,” she said. “I already bought snacks. Like, movie-theater style. And my parents are actually cool with this trip, you know? It took months, but they’re actually cool with it. I actually can’t believe how cool they are. My mom thinks we need to see all of the nerdy stuff, like the biggest ball of yarn and largest wad of used chewing gum.”
“Is that a thing? Used chewing gum?” Cade put his hands on her waist. She wasn’t the smallest girl in the world. That was probably another reason why his father wouldn’t approve. Her hips were wide and her ass was even wider, and Cade liked her like that.
“If it is, we’re going to see it. And we’re both going to chew actual sticks of gum and add to it.” She giggled and hopped onto him, her legs around his hips. He felt his jeans slip down slightly with the weight of her. “This is going to be the best summer ever, isn’t it?” She leaned back so she could see his whole face, and then leaned in to kiss him.
Cade kissed her back, and all of a sudden, the feeling returned, the deep and strange hurt that he’d felt in his father’s room.
He shoved it away.