Price Check On Monogamy

Five seconds after stepping off the private jet that took us straight to Tandem's father's house-- if that was even the right word for the estate-- I knew exactly why Tandem looked the way he did.

His father owned a beach. And apparently, Tandem didn't just look like a surfer-- he was a surfer. A very dedicated surfer, who ripped off his shirt the second we touched down and ran straight for the water.

He didn't realize he didn't have a board until he dove into the water-- and once he did, he turned bright red and jogged back out of the water to face my laughing.

"I'm a little bit excited," he mumbled defensively. "Ever since I moved, I haven't gotten any real swim or surf time."

"You were here yesterday!"

"Well..." After thinking for about a second, he grabbed me fast and slung me over his shoulder. Ignoring my pounding on his back and shouting for him to put me down, Tandem slung my into the water.

What a jack ass.

"I'm going to kill you!" I shouted, laughing and shoving my hair out of my face.

"You can't beat me if we're in the water," Tandem stuck his tongue out at me, flicking his head back to get his hair out of his eyes. "Or in my house. Face it, you're stuck."

And there was another moment where I was reminded of just why he was so worth the risk: when he was comfortable, he was amazing to be around, and Tandem seemed to be comfortable around me a lot.

"Tandem!"

I froze, turning around slowly and wincing at reality: this was Tandem's father's house. This meant I had to meet Tandem's father. This meant I had to meet Tandem's father after Tandem threw me into the water in my clothes, so I probably looked like a wet, Irish rat.

Dammit.

Tandem looked about as pleased as I did. Swimming out of the water slowly, Tandem was on the beach in a second, walking calmly toward his dad-- without me. Not once did he turn around to look at me.

He must have a reason. Jogging to catch up, I wrung out my hair fast and tried to fix my shirt, thanking God, at least, that it wasn't white. By the time I got to them, they were already talking.

"And who might this be, son?" Tandem's dad looked exactly like him; tall and tanned, built lean, hair slicked back. He was dressed in a suit, meaning he'd probably just come out of a meeting or something. The only thing that differed between him and his son, in fact, was the deadened look in his eyes, and his tone... his tone was all wrong. Nice, but... there was something just so wrong about it.

"A friend," Tandem said firmly, stepping away from me subtly. And he still wouldn't fucking look at me. "Her name's Tiger, dad. Don't you have somewhere to be?"

Maybe it was cold, or maybe my heart was cracking-- who knew? Either way, I pulled on a smile and held out my hand. "Pleasure to meet you, sir. Umm, sorry, this isn't exactly how I would have chosen to meet, but I kind of... I'm a little clumsy, I tripped into the water when Tandem dove in," My smile didn't waver a bit-- hell yeah.

Or, at least, it didn't until Tandem's father didn't touch my hand at all, gave me a once over, decided I wasn't worthy of a twice over, and turned back to his son.

"I'm having a business dinner tonight. Do me a favour and go out to eat in about an hour and don't come back until later." And that was it; Mr. Blake was off, and my hand was still sticking out and making me look like an idiot.

I dropped it back to my side and started walking over to grab my bags. Suddenly, I wasn't in the mood to mess around in the water.

And, judging by the way he was quick to follow and point me in the direction of the front door, I was guessing that Tandem wasn't in the mood, either.

- - -

Tandem slammed his fist into a wall-- hard.

Fuck my dad for always ruining every moment I have.

Fuck me for letting him do it.

Toweling off his hair, Tandem threw the towel at the mirror and sighed. He still had no idea what had possessed him to invite her to California; it wasn't like he'd randomly just blanked on the fact that she'd have to meet-- and he'd have to deal with-- his father.

Not to mention the fact that he'd have to explain why he and Tiger had been gone all weekend to Caleb and Jeremy.

He just... ugh, he just really wanted to have a good time. And he didn't want Tiger staying back where he couldn't protect her...

When he got his hands on Milo, there wouldn't be enough left to fit into an urn.

Pulling on his boxers and a t-shirt, Tandem was tugging on his jeans when he thought about it. If he had to deal with everything, this weekend should be worth it, right?

Being with her is always worth it. It's making up for being an asshole that's gonna take some work.

Stripping off the jeans and shirt, Tandem flipped open his phone and thumbed through his speed dial. "Hey-- yeah, hey, Brian, it's me... yeah, Tandem... yeah, whatever, man. Anyway, I need a favour..."

- - -

Whatever had happened at the beach, Tandem was over it by the time we had to leave the house-- which, by the way, was absolutely breath taking. Three stories of glass and chandeliers, heavy oak carved doorways the likes of which I hadn't seen in years. It was hard to believe that Tandem's father lived here alone, but after meeting him, I wasn't really interested in asking any questions about him.

Then again, it looked like California had stolen all my abilities to ask questions, because I wasn't asking any about Tandem's random frost toward me in front of his dad, either.

"Come on, I got us reservations!" He was pounding on the door of the bathroom-- across the hall.

Chuckling to myself, I opened the door to the bathroom I was in and leaned against the doorframe. "Wrong bathroom, stupid."

Tandem turned on his heel, about to snap at me for taking so long, probably, then stopped. Looking me up and down fast, he broke out in a smile. "You're..." clearing his throat roughly, he coughed fast. "You dressed up."

And suddenly, I was incredibly self conscious. I hadn't dressed up that much... and old, black, sweetheart dress, almost backless except for a cross in the back, capped shoulders. It ended around mid-thigh. Mary jane black heels and my necklace... was I really overdressed? He'd told me to dress up. He was in dress pants and a white dress shirt, dammit, I wasn't overdressed! But maybe I was wrong...

"Tiger? Tiger! You look great." And his arms were around my waist and he was kissing my forehead and making me feel better. Grabbing my hand and twirling me in a circle, Tandem laughed. "Ready for dinner? Let me show you how great Cali can be."