Breaking the Friendzone

CHAPTER TWO

Luke

I debated having a beer as I watched each light in the main house switch from on to off. A handful remained lit, telling me my father was still awake. Not surprising. He rarely fell asleep before midnight, and it was nearing eleven. He'd be sitting in his den reading The New York Times, as he did most nights when I still lived with him.

Everything in me was screaming not to go inside—not to put myself into a situation where the temper I got from him would get the best of me. I also knew not going inside would make it that much worse in the morning. It was my first time home since leaving for school last December, and there was nothing about the Hamptons I missed. Especially this house. I really didn't miss North Carolina, either, but at least there I was somewhat free of William Drake.

It was exceptionally warm for late May, and opening the sliding door from the porch that led to the four seasons room came with a blast of cool air. Billie Holiday on vinyl accompanied my journey through the darkened house and grew louder until I was standing in the den's doorway. My father sat in his favorite wingback chair with The New York Times in hand, as assumed, and a cigar smoking in the ashtray beside him. Without looking up from his current read, he picked it up, flicked the ash free, and placed it in the corner of his mouth.

"I wondered how long you'd wait to come in here," he said, still refusing to look away from the paper. "Collin said you arrived nearly two hours ago."

Collin was correct. I hadn't realized the full-time driver was now a part-time tattletale. He was more security than anything. My dad loved to believe he was more important than he actually was. The beach was littered with everyone, from movie stars to actual royalty, so even though he had more money than most of them, the paparazzi weren't exactly lined up to see the son of an oil tycoon and Big Pharma CEO's day-to-day life. A basic security system would have sufficed. Sometimes I believed my dad kept Collin around simply for company. He was the only one willing to put up with William Drake this long.

I leaned my shoulder against the doorjamb, indicating that I wasn't willing to hang around long. "I was unpacking."

He dropped the paper into his lap and pulled the cigar out of his mouth. "Only you?"

I knew where this was going. "Just me," I confirmed.

His disappointment in me was nothing new. In twenty-three years, I hadn't done a damn thing right in his eyes, and tonight wouldn't be any different. He may have had a say in many parts of my adult life, but this was not up for discussion.

"You're fucking up."

"I beg to differ," I said, still feeling his words hit me in my gut. It wasn't the first time he'd said it and wouldn't be the last. "I don't love her. It was inevitable."

"You put a ring on her finger, Lucas! You cannot turn this into me forcing you to love her. You loved her enough to ask her to marry you."

My head shook. I was purposely clenching my jaw to prevent myself from arguing with him further. I never said I didn't fuck up by putting the ring on her finger. I should have known better when the ring wasn't big enough. Her agreeing with my father on my career path, and then telling him about my doubts was the last straw. I was convinced Tiffany only saw my name, and the money that came with it. Me deciding I wanted out of the Drake-Mason shadow should have stayed between the two of us, but it was a threat to the life she was expecting. It wasn't the first time we'd broken up. It would definitely be the last.

Now I was home for the summer without the girl who was the reason for coming home. Tiffany had taken a summer job with my father as his personal secretary while he was waiting to replace his current one, who would retire next week. She was likely staying somewhere nearby with friends since I left without her, but I hadn't bothered to ask where. She was not my problem anymore, and I attempted to leave the room before he could make it mine.