The Pretend Boyfriend

Chapter 5

Picture of Tony on the side >>>>

It’s a strange thing, when your brother beats up your pretend boyfriend. Actually, it’s a strange thing when your brother beats up anyone.

            “How was I supposed to know she had a boyfriend? I barely even remember her name!” Ashton exclaimed, wincing as I put an icepack on his black eye.

            “Melody,” I grimaced. “And it’s your fault. You shouldn’t sleep with someone else’s girlfriend!”

            Ashton frowned. “I just said, I didn’t know she was dating Tony! She told me she was single.”

            I sighed. “Well, maybe if you weren’t such a-” I stopped, realizing I was about to insult Ashton again. “Never mind.”

            “What?” Ashton looked at me with his one amber eye that wasn’t covered by the ice. “Such a what?”

            “Oh, you know. Just uhh…” I moved my hand, as if waving the topic away. “So anyways…”

            “No, tell me.” Ashton insisted, taking the icepack off his eye, suddenly glaring at me. “You were going to say if I wasn’t such a man whore, weren’t you?”

            I blinked. Damn, he figured it out. I didn’t think it would offend him so much, everyone knew it was true. “Err… yeah?” It came out more like a question.

            “Wow, you’re so judgmental!” he exclaimed, standing up. “You wanna know what? I don’t need your help; I can deal with this myself. I think you should leave now.”

            I grimaced. Great, I really did piss him off. I think that was the second time I’ve called him that today. I have really got to watch my tongue.

            I shuffled out of the kitchen where I had been icing Ashton’s jaw, black eye, and knuckles. Tony had come out of the fight almost unscathed, except for a few cuts and a bruise forming on his nose. I grabbed my sweater and bag once again and headed outside to Tony’s car. He was inside with the motor running. I climbed in the passenger side, but Tony didn’t look at me.

            We drove home in silence. Tony didn’t speak once, so I didn’t either. The whole time he just glared ahead at the road, his knuckles turning white from gripping the wheel so hard.

Wanting to be less awkward, I pulled out my phone. There were fourteen new messages, all of them from Lee. They basically said the same thing, asking me to call her immediately and if I was really dating Ashton. I decided to call her when we got home.

A few minutes later, Tony pulled into our driveway, cutting the engine and getting out. I could tell from the way he was walking that he was still really angry. He had really loved Melody, and I guess he blamed it all on Ashton.

            As we walked in, Tony quickly slipped upstairs to his room before Mom could see he had gotten in a fight. I bet he would spend the night drinking. Again.

            When Mom saw me, she called over from the living room. “You're back, Evelyn.” No duh. “I made dinner; it’s a caesar salad and fruit. It’s in the kitchen.”

            I nodded in acknowledgement and dumped my bag at the bottom of the stairs. I wasn’t really in the mood to eat, but I ate about half of it before dumping it in the garbage.

            Remembering I still had to call Lee, I scurried up to my room. Once I got upstairs, I saw Buddy sitting on my bed. When he saw me, he jumped up and his tail started wagging excitedly; his tongue flopping out of the side of his mouth.