Chapter 14
Honestly, it was a bit of a surprise hearing my brother and his wife yelling at each other when Nick and I returned home from school. They only yelled at each other when Elliot was pregnant and on her mood swings. Even then, it was more of her yelling and not him.
Nick and I walked into the apartment and just stood there, witnessing their argument. I wasn't going to lie, it was a bit entertaining for me. Laughlin and Elliot were known for the near-perfect relationship and seeing them argue was amusing.
I was probably a jerk for enjoying their argument.
In the end, Elliot just stormed into their bedroom and slammed the door behind her, which only made Aaron, who was in the room with Elliot, cry. Laughlin sighed and noticed us standing there. "You heard that?"
"No," I said sarcastically. "We didn't hear all the yelling even though we're in the apartment."
Laughlin rubbed his forehead. "Don't bother taking your shoes off," he said. "We're going out."
"Out?" Nick asked. "Where?"
"A restaurant," Laughlin said. "The three of us are having an early dinner with Grayson."
"Uggh, Grayson," I said. "Gross."
"Just be nice to him for once," Laughlin said. "I'm just going to tell Elliot."
"You really want to go talk to her right now?" Nick asked. "That's like heading into a warzone."
Laughlin did anyway, only to receive even more yelling from Elliot. He left the bedroom angrily, the keeping the door open. He put on his shoes and looked at Elizabeth, who was coloring at the coffee table while watching her favorite TV show. "Lizzie, Daddy's heading out," Laughlin said. "Don't make a mess for Mommy, okay?"
"Okay," Elizabeth said, giving her dad a smile before going back to coloring.
The three of us left and went to the nearby restaurant. When we got there, Laughlin told us Grayson already had a table, so we went there. "I'm seriously done right now," Laughlin said as we sat down. Ryder was there was well, coloring on a piece of paper.
"What now?" Grayson asked.
Laughlin sighed. "It's Elliot. I mean, I love her more than anything, but she's pissed at me just because I didn't wake up in the middle of the night to take care of Aaron. And now, she's not talking to me."
A waitress walked up to us, giving Grayson and Ryder their drinks before taking our order for drinks. She headed back to the kitchen and I began playing with the strings on my sweater. I didn't even want to be here. I hated being out with a group of people for more than two minutes.
"It wasn't even my fault," Laughlin continued. "I was up late at night taking care of a whiny Elizabeth so when I did get to bed, nothing could have woken me up."
"Women, am I right?" Grayson asked.
"Tell me about it," Laughlin muttered.
"Men don't need women," I said, still playing with the strings on my hoodie. Take me, for example. I was perfectly happy without one and I was a senior in high school. Love was overrated.
"Tell that to Kamille," Nick muttered under his breath, but everyone heard. I was going to kill that kid.
"Who's Kamille?" Grayson asked.
"The girl Munro has a thing with," Nick said.
I looked over at him. I did not want Laughlin finding out about it. He was already bugging me about liking acting even though I didn't. I couldn't have him bugging me about Kamille as well. So I lied. Or, I tried to lie. "What? I....I don't have a thing with Kamille. We're leads in the play that I was forced to be in. That's it."
"You get to kiss her in the end," Nick said with a smug smile. "That will change things."
"Shut up."
Laughlin sighed and rubbed his forehead. "I'm only twenty-three and I have to raise teenagers. I'm too young for this. I'm going to have grey hair before I'm thirty."
The waitress came back with our drinks before taking our order. Ryder was being stubborn like his dad and wanting grilled cheese the way Poppy made it, even though Grayson kept telling him no. After a long time, he settled for chicken strips.
"I don't even know what to do about Elliot," Laughlin said. "She hasn't been this pissed at me before, even when she was pregnant with Aaron. And I didn't even do anything wrong."
Anything wrong? Laughlin yelled back at her and he knows how much Elliot hated it when he yelled at her.
"Just buy her flowers," I said.
"Flowers are cliche," Ryder spoke up.
"How do you know what that word means?" I asked. "You're three." Seriously. He was three years old and he knew what cliche meant?
"Still," Ryder said, looking at Laughlin. "Flowers are cliche. It's showing that you love her, but not enough to do something special. Anyone who buys flowers are cheap."
I tuned out the conversation everyone had. If it was about relationships and anything like that, then I was not interested.
Two girls, most likely around Laughlin and Grayson's age, approached out table. "Hi," one said. "We were just wondering if any of you have seen an earring sitting anywhere. I lost it."
I snorted. "Sure you did," I muttered under my breath, quiet enough so nobody else heard. Grayson looked at me and furrowed his eyebrows and I just rolled my eyes. Some guys, mostly taken guys, were really oblivious at times. I should know.
"Oh," the girl said with a smile. "Well, it looks like this." She moved her hair out of the hair to show off the diamond earring. I was looking closely at the other ear and even though it was covered by hair, I was able to tell there was still an earring in there. Liar.
I snorted again and when Grayson looked at me, I looked at the girl then him before raising an eyebrow. He and Laughlin finally understood and began talking to the girls, with Laughlin bringing up his wife and Ryder ended up bringing up Grayson's wife.
The girls left. "Girls always go for the unavailable guys," I said.
"Do you like someone, Munro?" Ryder asked.
I looked at him. "What? No. You're three, what do you know?"
"I know you like a girl," Ryder said. "Just be friends with her until you can open up to someone, especially her." I didn't reply as I went back to playing with the strings on my hoodie. Telling Kamille about my past was something I did not want to do. Ever.
So I was going to stick with being single.
Everyone went back into a conversation and I stayed out of it. When the waitress came with the food, I was happy I was able to focus on something else besides my sweater strings.
"Ryder, since you're apparently the love expert, I need advice," Nick said. "You see, there's this guy I know who has a crush on his castmate at our school play. And the thing is, it's the first girl he likes. What should he do?"
"Is this person Munro?" Ryder asked.
"Yes."
I punched Nick's arm. "I don't like her," I said. "We're friends."
"Uh huh," Nick said.
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Troubled One (Wilde #2)
Teen Fiction*cover by harleenhollow* Munro Wilde is as troubled as they come. But who can blame him? His dad was in prison for five years and his mom took off, then returned only to be sent to prison. He thought his older brother having custody of him wo...
