Page 67 of Tasting Innocence
Chapter Twenty-Six
It’s nearlysix o’clock when I decide to head out and grab a pizza. Dad told me he’d be in his office for the next few hours, but we were able to chat for a little while as he put together a sandwich to eat in his office.
With a large pizza in hand, I make my way to Lake Renap, finding a picnic table near the water. Since sundown is still over a couple hours away, the temperature remains warm. After I finish a slice, I pick apart the crust and toss it to the ducks in the water.
By the time I’m done with the second slice, the ducks are already starting to approach me, waiting for more bread.
“You’re going to spoil them,” a voice says behind me.
I turn and find Renzo approaching me, his hands in his pockets. He doesn’t grin or laugh, but he also doesn’t look like he’s about to punch me either, so that’s good.
“They’re greedy little fuckers, that’s for sure,” I say, tossing small pieces on the grass.
Zo sits on the other side of the bench, and we both stare out at the water, neither of us saying anything for a while.
“What’re you doing here?” I finally ask.
He sighs softly. “I didn’t forget what day it was. I went to get a pizza and Jake told me you had just left with one, and since I know you won’t go see a movie by yourself, I came here.” He opens the box and grabs a slice.
“The day’s almost over.”
“We have five and a half hours left. Better late than never.”
“Yeah.”
I spin, facing him. “Zo, I’m sorry, man. Look, I really like Vi. I know you’ve only seen me treat girls like objects, using them for a quick fuck and then tossing them aside, so I get why you’re angry, but it’s not like that with Vi.”
“I talked to her the other day,” he says, dropping the rest of his pizza in the box. “And I’ll tell you what I told her. It’s still weird to me, and I’m not exactly thrilled. I know she’s eighteen now and can be with whoever she wants. To be honest, she could always be with whoever she wanted, whether I liked the guy or not, but I never wanted her to be with one of my friends, and I never thought for a second that it would be you.
“I don’t want this to end our friendship, and I worry if this doesn’t work out for you two, it might do just that. Violet tells me we’d just have to figure it out, but I know you, Dex. I know how some of your not-relationships have ended, and if Vi is on the receiving end of your bullshit and gets her heart broken, I won’t be able to forgive you.”
“I can’t explain it to you, but you’ll have to trust me on this one. Violet is different. I actually like her. I always have, it’s just a little different now. I like her for who she is, not just because of her body or what she can give me. I know that’s how I was with other girls, and while I know that’s fucked up, it’s just how I felt. Most of those girls I was with didn’t really give a shit about me either. They wanted to fuck Dex Anderson, the son of a billionaire, the star football player, the popular guy everyone wanted. It’s all bullshit. They want to say they were with me, not actually be with me. I guarantee if things end between me and Vi, it’ll be her doing, because I feel like for the first time someone is actually interested.” I run my hand through my hair, turning my head. “I know that makes me sound...soft or whatever, but fuck it.”
“Hey,” Zo says, waiting for me to look at him. “It’s not soft to want to be cared about. We all want that. Look, if Violet makes you happy, then that’s cool. I mean, I don’t want to hear about anything y’all do. I mean that. Anything. But I do want both of you to be happy.”
I smirk at him. “I won’t say anything, don’t worry.”
“I really hope it works for you guys, and I’m sorry for being such a dick about it.”
“It’s fine.”
“It’s not, Dex, and when I said you weren’t family, I didn’t mean that. You know I love you. You’re the brother I never had, and I know now that just because you’re like family to me doesn’t mean you had the same closeness with Vi. I’m sorry for making it sound like you were some pervy creep.”
“I appreciate it, man.”
“We good?” he asks.
I grin. “We’re good.”
“Good. Now what did you do today?”
“I actually talked to my dad about my mom leaving. Found out she had an affair and left to be with a guy who didn’t want anything to do with kids that weren’t his. Turns out they had a kid together, but he was an abusive asshole and my dad gave my mom money so she could run away with her daughter.”
Zo’s eyes are nearly bulging out of his head, his lips parted into an O. “What?!”
I nod. “Yeah, crazy shit. Dad didn’t ever really want kids, so he didn’t know what to do when Mom left.” I sigh. “But I think we’re gonna be okay now. He doesn’t need to parent me anymore, you know? I just want some sort of relationship with the guy. I don’t really know much about him.”
“Sucks you guys couldn’t have talked this out sooner, but again, better late than never.”