It Was Only Ever Erin

Chapter 8 - Family Matters

Ollie’s P.O.V

I was on my way back to Erin’s place to pick Jase up. It was weird, the other night had been the first time I’d ever spoken to her and yet it felt like I already knew everything about her from all that Jase had told me. I could now see what he meant about her being a closet ass kicker – that woman has attitude!

Honestly, I’d never really understood his obsession at school; hell, until Jase pointed her out I’d been completely oblivious to her existence. I guess she’d been hot for a nerd and had a pretty face, but she’d always managed to just fade into the background or blend into the crowd. Last night was the first time I’d gotten a proper look at her and caught a glimpse of the appeal; seeing her usually impassive face fully come alive and having her throw that much sass in my face. Not to mention the fact that what clothing she was wearing left very little to the imagination.

After we’d got Jase into bed she’d just spent the rest of the night endlessly looking things up in her gigantic doctor books or on the internet, mumbling to herself and running in and out of her room to check on him. Up until now, Erin had always been more like a character in a story that Jase would tell me sometimes – and yet now, here she was in the flesh. All woman.

All I could think about that night was how the hell I was gonna explain all this to Jase’s dad. Terry had always been one of those people who’d joke around with you, support you, encourage you like a fun dad or uncle – then the second you screwed up or pissed him off, you’d better run for your life. When I went to tell him what had happened with the deal, I honestly thought I was gonna come out of it in worse shape than Jase had.

He’d asked me who the hell this girl was that I’d left his son with and I’d explained that she was a doctor that Jase knew from high school – only a slight exaggeration. He’d called Jase after that and it seemed as though my sentencing was on hold until he came back.

I pulled up outside Erin’s apartment – this s**t hole made my place look like a f*****g palace. The door to the building had clearly been kicked in, breaking the lock, so I just walked in, up the stairs and knocked on her door. Shirtless Jase opened it a few moments later.

“Hey, come on in, I just need to get my stuff together.” He said, making his way into the bedroom so I followed.

“So, how are you doing?” I asked as I handed him the shirt he’d asked me to bring. I’d chucked his holey, bloody one in the trash the other night.

“Yeah not bad, Erin gave me these strong-ass pain meds she had left over from some tooth surgery she had a while back. She took a look at it this morning and says it’s looking alright.” He sat on the edge of the bed and started pulling on his shirt and shoes one handed.

“Uhuh, and how was last night?” He looked up from his shoes and gave me a knowing, s**t-eating grin. I shook my head laughing. “You gonna see her again?”

“She gave me her number.”

“Seriously though Jace, she gonna keep her mouth shut?” He gave me a hard look, got up and walked through to the living room, grabbing a bundle of paper off the dresser on the way.

“This is Erin we’re talking about, Ollie.”

“No, this is a woman you haven’t seen for 5 years; everything we know about her is the equivalent of Blanchard bar trivia. We have no idea whether or not she’s the kind of person who’d go to the cops about what she saw or what we-”

“No, you have no idea! I know her, she knows how serious this is and what would happen if she told anyone anything. She’s not gonna say a thing.” He stared me down for a while, daring me to say another thing against her.

“…Fine, you ready to go?” He grabbed his phone off the coffee table and followed me out the front door. As we walked through the hall and towards the car he turned and looked back at the building.

“Jesus, I didn’t see it the other night. What the f**k is this place?” I laughed.

“I know, you wouldn’t tell from her apartment. I’ll hand it to her she has good decorating skills.”

“Tell me about it. Talk about putting lipstick on a pig.”

***************

Jason’s P.O.V

When we walked through the door of my loft, I started making my way towards the stairs when I noticed the figure stood in front of the floor to ceiling windows. I froze on the spot and looked towards my father, hearing Ollie close the door behind me.

I dropped my bag at the foot of the stairs and made my way slowly over to Dad, putting my hands in my pockets. When I was stood in front of him he nodded towards my bandaged shoulder.

“How is it?” he asked.

“Mending.”

“And the jaw?”

“Fine… for now.” I said with a slight defiant grin. Dad huffed a laugh, then punched me hard in the jaw. Christ, it felt like someone had taken a mallet to my face. After a few moments I straightened up and looked back at him.

“Daaad… did it have to be the face? I just got a girlfriend.” Slowly, his face broke into a grin and he laughed loudly; I smiled back at him. Patting me on my good shoulder he led me to sit on the couch with him and Ollie made his way to sit in one of the armchairs. “I’ll get the money-”

“No need, I already got the money. Only thing we lost was the car, they torched the car which pissed me off. I liked that car.” Dad said, shaking his head.

“And the guys who took it?”

“Dead.”

“Won’t Andrew be pissed?”

“Hey! Watch your language. And no Andrew doesn’t give a shit.” I rolled my eyes – f*****g hypocrite. “He was the one who pulled the trigger. He knew they f****d up and he’s got guys to spare.” Andrew was our biggest buyer and a mogul of the local club and casino scene. “Apparently they were a couple of morons trying to impress him by coming back with the merch and the money. Little did they know that Andrew is all about reputation and has cash to spare. Pfft, idiots. So who’s the girl?”

I was torn by this question – I felt that the less Dad knew about Erin, the better. That being said, if I didn’t tell him enough, he’d go about finding it all out in his own way which could be a lot worse.

“Just someone I went to school with. She’s training to be a doctor so she offered to patch me up.”

“Is it the pretty girl from your Chemistry class?” I stared at him in wide eyed astonishment. “What was her name? Ellie?... Ellen?...”

“Erin.”

“That was it.”

“How the hell do you know that?”

“You got drunk one night and told me all about her. I couldn’t shut you up for two hours.” Ollie laughed loudly and I groaned, running my hand over my face in embarrassed bewilderment. “Well?”

“Yes Dad, it’s the pretty girl from my Chemistry class.”

“Huh, you guys must have enjoyed… catching up last night,” he smirked, then he caught Ollie’s eye and they both burst out laughing.

“Kill me, kill me now.”

***************

Erin’s P.O.V

Even though I’d just finished a 12 hour shift it felt like I’d eaten about 10 candy bars and had 20 cups of coffee. I’d been buzzing ever since I’d left Jason this morning and as far as I could deduce, it was for a number of reasons.

-          The incredible, mind blowing, earth shattering sex

-          Pure terror about breaking the law and going to prison

-          Endlessly picturing insanely hot Jason with very few clothes on

-          All the things he said he’d felt about me at school

-          A drug dealer now had my number in his phone and I was definitely gonna go to prison at some point

-          …That s*x though

I was now on my way to Mom’s having picked up a few things at the store. Our childhood home had never been in a great area, but Mom and Dad had always done their best for us and always encouraged us to strive for better. If Dad could see where I was living now, safe to say he’d think I’d failed miserably in that particular area of my life.

I parked my car in the drive and knocked on the front door before making my way in. The first thing that hit me was the smell – stale air from where the windows haven’t been opened, 5 days’ worth of dirty dishes in the kitchen and whatever the hell Elliot’s been smoking.

“Mom?”

“In here honey.” I heard from the living room. Mom was sat in front of the TV, curled up in a blanket with her hair looking greasy again. However, as I made my way in she looked up at me and gave me a broad smile – now that was something I hadn’t seen in a while. “Hey, how was work?”

“It was good, long but good. I’ll tell you about it over dinner, why don’t you head up and shower and I’ll get cooking?”

“Sounds good gorgeous,” she beamed, practically jumping up and bouncing up the stairs just as Elliot came into the room.

“She seems in a good mood,” I said pointing after her.

“I just told her I got a job,” he said with a slight smile.

“No way!? Congrats, I’m so proud of you!” I wrapped my arms tightly around his lanky frame. He struggled to get his hands out of his pockets to give me a pat on the back in return. Elliot’s like a runner bean – tall and skinny, with dark hair that stuck up in all directions, thin lips and the same dark eyes as me. Despite the 8-year age gap we’d always been close and I had always liked to think of myself as his second mom, looking after and nagging him. Watching him slowly throw his life away the last three years has been more painful than anything else, so hearing he’s got a job and taking on some responsibility is music to my ears. “So what’s the job?”

“Just a delivery guy, nothing big but it pays well,” he shrugged. I held his face in my hands and looked proudly up at him.

“Little things can lead to bigger things, I’m just happy you took the initiative,” I gushed as I pulled him in for another hug. “My little brother’s growing up!” He finally gave me a proper hug back for the first time in years. ‘There must just be something in the water this week’ I thought.

“Okay Mom” he rolled his eyes. “What’s for dinner?”

“Honey mustard chicken salad,” I said, carrying the grocery bags through to the kitchen.

“Eugh, salad,” he groaned dramatically behind me, so I turned round and stuck my tongue out at him. Real mature.