rageandruin (rageandruin) wrote in shadows_rpg, @ 2017-11-14 12:10:00 |
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Entry tags: | #group scene, #september 2017, caden, caden x jasper, caden x roxy, jasper, jasper x roxy, roxy |
Who: Caden and Jasper with a cameo by Roxy
When: Thursday, September 14th, Evening
Where: Caden’s home in Seaview
Warnings: Language, probably
Status: Complete
It had been a pretty decent week weather wise, so it made sense that they would have a shitty day full of rain. He found he couldn’t complain too much, because it kept the bar pretty busy throughout the day, and it wasn’t storming, so he didn’t expect to drive home that night and find the power out. Roxy was closing, so once he made sure she’d grab a ride home from Mila, Caden kissed her and headed out, stopping at the market near Seaview to grab a six pack. Once he was home, he lit a cigarette and opened both of the living room windows, aware that Roxy wasn’t terribly fond of him smoking in the house. The rain pattered against the roof and the small porch, and Caden decided to order a pizza, since there was nothing in the kitchen that interested him. Nothing he actually felt like cooking anyway. Maybe he’d have dinner if Roxy didn’t take all the goddamn leftovers to Gavin, but take out would work.
He’d just changed out of his work clothes when the text from Jasper came through, asking to stop by. Caden never had a problem with his nephew coming around as long as he and Roxy weren’t busy, so he thumbed in a quick response, letting Jasper know the front door was unlocked. Caden was relaxing on the couch, watching some mindless television when he heard Jasper’s car pull up. He had no idea if the kid needed a place to stay for the night, or if he just wanted to hang out, but he figured he’d know soon enough. When Jasper came through the front door, Caden pulled his cigarette from his mouth and saluted his nephew. “Beer in the fridge if you want one,” he said, in lieu of an actual greeting.
Jasper had actually gone to school that day. The weather was shit, so he didn’t want to just drive around all day long, and he could at least say he’d been at school most of the week. He’d gone through the usual bullshit with the front office since he didn’t have a note, then daydreamed his way through most of his classes. He’d caught a few glimpses of Jules here and there, and that had perked him up a little, but not enough to salvage the day. He didn’t even have work as a distraction to look forward to. Just going home. Which he didn’t want to do. So after doing some cruising, he’d shot off a text to his uncle Caden, to see if he could come hang out. It had been a while since they’d seen one another, and there was usually some good food there.
He’d been a bit relieved when Caden said he could come over. His older uncle was kind of a crapshoot sometimes in terms of mood. Jasper could always hang out with Aaron if he needed to, but if Caden was home, Aaron was probably at the bar. Since the door was unlocked, he walked on in when he arrived, smiling faintly at Caden’s to-the-point greeting. Jasper had a few joints tucked away in his backpack, but a beer sounded good too. He toed his wet shoes off at the door, shed his jacket, locked up behind him, then went to the kitchen to get a can. He popped it open as he headed back to the living room, then flopped onto the couch next to Caden. “Thanks,” he murmured belatedly before he took a swallow.
"Yup." Caden took another drink of his own beer, watching the television again. He considered texting Roxy about the company, but decided to wait until he knew just how long Jasper planned on staying. It was a school night, so... not that it being a school night meant anything. It wasn't like Caden always made sure to be home when he had school the next day. He'd barely graduated due to his truancy. After several moments of silence in which the two drank their beer and watched television, Caden finally looked over at Jasper as he took another quick drag from his cigarette. "You seen your dad lately?"
Jasper hadn’t really considered where he was spending the night yet. He rarely had a plan for it, unless he was just desperately searching for somewhere to crash. He felt like he had some options tonight. It still wasn’t too cold, so he could always sleep in his car if he needed to. The rain on the roof might be nice, even. He was content to stare at the TV with Caden while they sipped beer, and after a few moments he pulled out a cigarette of his own to light up. Roxy might bitch, but she would bitch to Caden, so whatever. He glanced over at the question, one brow quirked. “Uh ... yeah. Yesterday morning,” he said, glad now that it hadn’t been too long ago. It didn’t make sense, but he always felt like an asshole admitting to his uncles that he hadn’t seen his dad in a while. “Spent the night, had breakfast over there.”
Caden had spoken to Gavin a bit here and there over the week, but Gavin hadn't mentioned Jasper. That wasn't surprising. It wasn't as if his brother was terribly talkative. Unsurprisingly, neither was Caden. He tongued his teeth and studied Jasper before releasing a small huh before turning his attention back to the television and smoking his cigarette. "Your dad mentioned somethin' about a family dinner," he said after a couple minutes. "Something Amelia wanted. He say anything to you?" Caden still thought the idea had all the makings of a total disaster, especially if Jasper's grandparents were involved, but if it was something Amelia wanted, he had a feeling Gavin would find it difficult to say no.
Jasper left out the detail about him sneaking in late to sleep on the couch. Breakfast had of course been tense and awkward, like most interactions Jasper had with his father. He never could seem to just do this with him -- sit and relax and have a peaceful smoke and a beer. It was probably sad that he was closer to his uncles than he was his own father, but there it was. Life was fuckin’ sad sometimes. He thought again of Jules pushing to go over to his house and felt gross about it all over again. “He mentioned it. I dunno about details though,” he answered after a moment’s thought. Jasper glanced over at Caden. “You goin’?” He sometimes felt like they were the most alike -- the true misanthropes of the family. If Caden was at a family gathering, there would at least be some funny shit said.
Caden was convinced that neither he, nor his brothers, were cut out to be parents. He had no plans to ever become a father, and god help them all if Aaron ever knocked a girl up. But Gavin hadn't really had a choice. Olivia had been a crazy bitch, and he'd been doomed from the beginning of that relationship. It wasn't like they'd had anyone to learn from. Their own dad had been shit. Was still shit. "I don't know," Caden said after a minute before he chuckled. "I think I got time to find something better to do. If your grandma guilts me into it, well..." He shrugged and leaned over to put his cigarette out in the small ash tray. The doorbell rang then and Caden set his beer down as he stood to answer it. A minute later he carried the pizza over to the table and set it in the middle, flipping open the lid and motioning to the food. "Eat," Caden said, since he was betting Jasper hadn't had much food that day. Who knew how much breakfast he'd actually eaten with Gavin. He took a piece for himself and glanced at his nephew. "You got a place to sleep tonight?"
“Yeah, I might be working,” Jasper muttered before the doorbell rang. It surprised him a little, but he caught on soon enough that it was pizza. His stomach rumbled with hunger the instant he smelled it, and he sat forward on the couch as Caden returned with the box, stubbing out his cigarette. He actually hadn’t eaten anything but some chips and soda at lunch since the night before. Jasper pulled a piece loose and took a bite as he shrugged his shoulders. “I got some options,” he said, glancing back at Caden. He wasn’t quite sure what those options were yet, beyond his mom’s, his dad’s, or his car. Out of those choices, he kind of preferred the car. But if Caden was going to offer ... Jasper always hated asking him, he knew his uncle liked his space and he always felt like he was putting Roxy out a bit, but he never turned it down.
If there was one thing Caden didn’t want Roxy arguing with him about, it was Jasper. The kid had shitty parents - as much as Caden loved his brother, Gavin was a shitty father - and Caden couldn’t blame Jasper for wanting to sleep elsewhere when he could. So if his nephew wanted to sleep on his couch every now and then, Caden was okay with it, which meant Roxy had to be okay with it. “Couch is open if you want it,” he said, standing up to walk into the kitchen to grab a roll of paper towels to use as napkins. “Roxy is closing but I can let her know you’re here if you want to stay. Unless your other options are more appealing.” He set the paper towels down and sat, glancing at Jasper. He was guessing those options included his mom or dad’s house. He might have some friends too, but being in high school, Caden was guessing those options were much more limited. Not many parents wanted teenage boys couch surfing in their homes.
Jasper couldn’t help but feel relieved, and he was glad that Caden got up for a second, because he was sure it showed on his face. “If you’re sure that’s cool,” he said as his uncle came back. It was his standard response, as he was never sure how else to accept the offer. Caden was always sure it was cool, of course, or he wouldn’t have offered in the first place. Jasper occupied his mouth and hands with pizza, reaching to tear a paper towel off the roll. This was definitely the most appealing option he’d had in mind. Caden’s couch was pretty damn comfortable, and as long as he kept the TV on low he could take advantage of their cable. Roxy always made good breakfast, and sometimes she gave him a quick hug before he left and he got to feel her tits. Not that he would ever mention that part to Caden. “Thanks,” Jasper added a moment later.
"It's cool," Caden said. It usually was, and if it wasn't, Caden would say so. He knew he wasn't the easiest person to get along with, but he wasn't really the kind of person who wanted his own nephew to sleep in his car at night either. After he finished off his first piece of pizza, Caden washed it down with some beer and reached for another. "So what's goin' on with you?" he asked, picking up the remote with his free hand to turn the channel to something else. "Still going to school?" He wasn't entirely sure what Jasper did with his time, and it was essentially none of his business either. But it was something to talk about if Jasper wanted to talk about it. Caden was pretty sure he didn't get much interest from home, and even if he did, what teenager wanted to talk to his parents?
It was kind of fucked up that his uncles asked more about his life than his parents did. Never mind that Jasper hated talking to both of them about anything. His mother had given up on him a long-ass time ago, and his dad seemed the same way. They just let him do what he wanted while he silently resented them for it. Eyes more on the television than Caden, Jasper shrugged a bit. “Most of the time, yeah,” he said. “I mean we just started back. Other than that, I’m workin’ at the Lobster Shack a lotta nights. Hanging out with friends. The usual shit.” He paused while he took another bite of pizza, giving Caden a sideways glance. “There’s kinda ... this girl, too,” he muttered. Jules would probably hit him for mentioning her at all, but as long as he didn’t say her name, what difference did it make? It wasn’t like Caden would deduce who it was, he probably didn’t even know she existed.
Caden didn't really expect much more than that. It sounded about right for a kid Jasper's age. Friends, work, school - sometimes. Caden could bet Gavin didn't even know where Jasper was working. He'd considered offering Jasper a job at the bar, washing the dishes and cleaning up at night, but that was more or less Aaron's job, and Caden was assuming Jasper wouldn't want to be working that close to his dad anyway. Wiping his mouth with a paper towel, Caden cocked a brow curiously in Jasper's direction. A faint smile tugged at his lips. "Oh yeah? How's that going?" At that age, and beyond, really, Caden had never spoken to many people about his girlfriends, only because they had never been that important to him until he'd met Roxy.
Beyond his father’s “always bring your own condoms and use them” lectures, Jasper didn’t talk about girls with much of anyone. Aaron ribbed him about his sex life sometimes, but that didn’t really constitute advice. Jasper wouldn’t ask him for it anyway, he didn’t seem to have a clue. But Caden had a real relationship he’d maintained for years, so out of all three Lucas brothers, he was probably the most knowledgeable when it came to women. “It’s going,” Jasper answered with a faint chuckle. “I dunno, it’s not really like ... a thing, we’re just hooking up a lot. Since early summer. It’s kind of a secret, I guess.” He glanced over at Caden again, not even sure why he was talking about this at all. It wasn’t like he could make it not a secret, or anything more than it was.
That was definitely more interesting than what Caden had been expecting. If it was a secret, it was probably because it wasn't supposed to be happening. Then again, teenage girls could be dramatic as shit, so who really knew what was going on there. Caden waited until he'd taken another bite of his pizza before he set the half eaten piece down in the box to pick up his beer. "I'd probably agree that a couple hook ups isn't a thing. Not so sure about a lot of hook ups since early summer, though." He took a drink and ran a hand over his short hair before leaning back against the couch and studying Jasper. "Why's it a secret? She got a boyfriend already?" Caden had been the Other Guy a couple of times in his life. It had never bothered him, because it was the perfect situation. He got to have sex, and never had to deal with the exhausting relationship part of it all.
A tiny part of Jasper felt a bit validated that Caden confirmed it as a Thing. He didn’t know what kind of thing it could really be, since he and Jules pretty much avoiding talking about anything of substance, and he didn’t trust her much and vice versa ... but still. At least that part wasn’t all in his head. “Nah ... I mean, not a steady one. She’s like ... she’s a cheerleader, she’s popular, gorgeous, rich ... one of those girls.” He gave another shrug that attempted to be casual but probably wasn’t. Jasper was pretty sure Caden could figure out the rest -- he was the dirty little slumming secret. The hot bad boy who fucked Jules like nobody else could, but she would die before she had anything to do with him publicly. Caden knew about the Lucas reputation, since he was part of the reason it existed in the first place.
Caden cocked a brow and took another drink from his beer. It didn't take a genius to figure out what Jasper was saying. Girls like that had little do with guys like Jasper. Not that Caden considered Jasper to be trash, but Caden was well aware of his family's reputation in town. It was one that preceded Caden or his brothers thanks to their dad. Really, Jasper never stood a chance. Unwittingly, his mind began to play over the richer families he knew in town. There was only one wealthy neighborhood, and that was up on the overlook. How many of those families had kids in high school? Probably quite a few. "Shit, girls like that," Caden shook his head. "From what I remember, they're pretty high maintenance. I'm gonna go out on a limb here and guess it's been worth it to keep sneaking around that long. You two get along?"
Jasper let out a little laugh -- ‘high maintenance’ was an understatement when it came to Jules. Luckily he hadn’t had to worry about keeping her happy on a boyfriend sort of level, and he honestly didn’t envy the guys she actually dated. He didn’t necessarily like the idea of what they were doing to her behind closed doors, but that felt like a different issue. Jasper kind of felt like he’d claimed her sexually, misguided or not. “Dude, the sex is just ...” he grinned at Caden and shook his head in a way that conveyed how he couldn’t even describe it. Maybe when he was Caden’s age he wouldn’t think so, but it was definitely the best he’d ever had. And he’d had a fair bit. “Get along, though? Eh. Kinda. Sometimes. I dunno, we bitch at each other a lot. That just kinda makes it all hotter though. She’s definitely high maintenance. I just don’t give a shit about doing the maintaining.”
Caden snickered softly. It was hard to walk away from a woman when the sex was that good. Especially when they knew the sex was that good, and kept dangling it in front of you like bait. Every woman had a manipulative streak inside of her. "Well, it ain't your job to maintain anything," Caden said with a shrug. "Let the other guys take care of that shit, and you take everything else, if she's willing to give it to you. Just be careful of girls like that," he added. "They'll turn on you in a blink of an eye." Caden knew Gavin had beat it into Jasper's head to always use protection because his life was the Textbook Consequences of being stupid. Caden didn't think Jasper probably had anything to worry about on an Olivia Level, though. Usually rich bitches weren't looking to sully their reputation by getting knocked up, especially in high school. But if they felt wronged somehow? Fuck. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned was one of the truest things Caden had ever heard.
"And don't let her make you feel like a piece of shit. She probably thinks she's better than you, and maybe financially she is, but..." Caden shook his head and took another drink. "Girls like that don't have anything going for them other than their bodies. Fucking dumb as shit and crazy to boot and they get off on looking down on guys like us. Just use your brain, the right one, and don't let her fuck you up."
It sounded pretty perfect to Jasper on the surface -- let other dudes do the boyfriend shit while he got the wild sex -- but something about that arrangement bothered him somewhere deep down. He didn’t know why though, and he wasn’t going to give himself the time right then to figure it out either. He listened to his uncle’s sage advice instead while he chewed pizza and washed it down with beer. He kind of wanted another one, or five, but he’d only seen a six pack in there, and he didn’t want to steal all of Caden’s beer. Maybe his uncle would smoke a joint with him instead.
Jasper felt well-versed when it came to crazy women. One had given birth to him, after all. He’d watched Olivia make Gavin’s life hell and vice versa his entire life. It was enough to turn a guy off of marriage, that was for sure. Maybe for life. He felt the weird urge to defend Jules about the stupid part -- she wasn’t, just bitchy and evil sometimes -- but didn’t. He felt the part about her turning on him was probably accurate though. Inevitable. He had some ammo for when that happened, but that didn’t mean he was looking forward to it. “I think she likes thinking I’m a piece of shit,” he murmured in agreement. “Like ... she’s slumming, and it’s dirty and hot to her. I dunno. It’s fun, but it’s weird sometimes, too.”
That really wasn't all that surprising to Caden. Some girls liked feeling like they were superior to whoever they were with. It made them feel better about themselves. It was probably the family tie, but he didn't like the idea of any rich girl making Jasper feel like shit, even if it made the sex hotter somehow. "And what makes it dirty and hot for you?" Caden asked, gesturing at Jasper with his beer can. "Are you okay putting up with that just to get laid? Is she really the only girl in this town willing to give you a piece? You've got to be getting something out of this too for it to be goin' on as long as you say it has."
Jasper tossed the crust into the pizza box and then sat back, slouching comfortably to nurse his beer. They were all valid questions, and he guessed if he was asking for advice, he probably owed Caden the answers. Jasper looked thoughtful as he gazed at the TV without really seeing it. “I mean ... it’s kinda hot to fuck a cheerleader. She’s got a body that won’t quit and she could suck the chrome off a tailpipe, y’know? But like ... I dunno, it’s like ... fucking upward, I guess? And I know I’m the best she’s had, or she wouldn’t keep coming back for it.” He had to sound a tiny bit smug about that. “But naw, she’s not the only girl. Just the best. And it’s kinda fun to make her mad, she fucks even better when she’s pissy.” It was kind of nice, feeling like he could talk openly about his sex life with someone. Caden was probably the only one he would be so candid with. He definitely wouldn’t talk to his dad like this, that was for damn sure. “Nobody else lets me do the shit I can do to her,” he added in a murmur.
Caden's brows raised, and he saluted Jasper with his beer can before finishing it off. He couldn't really say much to that because what guy didn't want a girl like that in bed? And he knew for a fact that women fucked harder when they were pissed off. Roxy was living proof of that. He leaned over to set the empty beer can down on the table beside the pizza box. "Sounds like it's kind of an even trade off then. She gets off on fucking someone she thinks is beneath her, and you get to do whatever the fuck you want to to her. Can't say I blame you for dealing with the bullshit if that's your reward."
Caden stood up and walked back into the kitchen to grab two more beers from the kitchen. He came back to the living room and offered the second to Jasper. "I gotta say though, just... watch your back. I'm a pretty firm believer in the idea that women can't fuck without getting emotionally attached. It's just not fucking possible, especially for a teenage girl. Hormones and drama and shit. It can be intoxicating for awhile, right? But then it might be hard to pull out of it and you've got a fucking lunatic on your hands. Just look at your dad." Caden sat back down and scratched idly behind his ear. "You deserve better than that shit. Just so you know."
Was it an even trade off? Jasper wasn’t sure. Sometimes he thought Jules wasn’t worth the headaches she occasionally gave him, other times ... well, other times he was pretty sure he would take all kinds of abuse from her. Those times usually happened when he was balls deep inside of her, making her scream, though. On the other hand, she didn’t bother him all the time or want him to take her out or talk about his feelings or meet his parents or any of that annoying girlfriend shit he’d blown off in the past. It was kind of ideal. Not that many girls had wanted to keep him for their very own or something. He wasn’t that kind of guy, all the evidence suggested. Did he want to be, though?
He mumbled a thanks when Caden brought him another beer, tipping the open one in his hand up to drain the last of it before he popped the top on the fresh one. He couldn’t see Jules getting emotionally attached to him, but Caden probably knew better than he did. He’d heard second-hand stories about some of the crazy women his uncle had dealt with before he got with Roxy. Even she could be crazy at times, he knew. That was just women. Hearing that he deserved better than the shitshow relationship his parents had was kind of touching, and it made Jasper smile a little. “Well I’m definitely not knocking her up,” he murmured. His dad had not been so smart, he was the living proof. “I dunno how much better I’ll do though. Not in this fucking town, at least.” He slurped down a bit more beer, side-eyeing Caden. “And I’m never getting fucking married, that’s for sure.”
Roxy definitely had her moments. Thankfully Caden loved her enough to put up with it, for the most part. He'd honestly never met one woman who didn't have some kind of batshit crazy festering inside of them. It was nature, he supposed. Caden grinned and lifted his can in salute. "Amen to that, Jas. Wise beyond your years, even at eighteen. You're already far and away a hell of a lot smarter than your dad ever was. Stay that way, for Christ’s sake." He took a quick drink and realized he still needed to text Roxy so Jasper's presence wasn't a surprise. Shit. Sighing, Caden leaned over to grab his phone from the coffee table. He thumbed in a quick message to Roxy, Jas sleeping on the couch tonight. FYI, and hit send before dropping the phone back onto the table. "You got a picture of her?" Caden asked, settling back against the couch again. "Miss Cheerleader?" He could have probably been a bit more crude than that - Jasper was - but the chick was probably underage and Caden didn't want to be a creep about it.
Jasper laughed at the compliment, given in perfect Caden-style. He lifted his own beer in a small toast, then took another swallow of it. He did love his dad, but he resented the shit out of him too. He had been stupid to get Olivia pregnant and then stay with her all those years, through so much bullshit ... but if he hadn’t, then Jasper wouldn’t exist. Sometimes he thought maybe that would’ve been better. So it was kind of a complicated feeling. Not that he was at all eager to talk about his dad-issues. He let out a little huff at his uncle’s question. “I got tons of pictures of her,” he said with a lopsided grin. “Hang on.” Jasper pulled his phone out of his pocket and tapped here and there to get to where he’d saved all the nudes and teases Jules had sent him. He scrolled through until he found one that was just her in her thong in a full-length mirror, hips twisted so her ass looked good, her free hand over her nipple and her iPhone held up in the way of her face. That one looked all right to show, so he turned his phone so Caden could see.
Caden leaned over a bit to get a better look. He hadn't really expected a semi-nude picture of the girl, and his brows raised before he let out a low whistle. "Jesus Christ. So I'm starting to get why you'd put up with that." He couldn't see much of her face, but he didn't really need to. "Especially if she's sending you pictures like that. Makes shit a little more tolerable, yeah?" Sex had always been Caden's preferred way of dealing with life. It was that or drinking far too much and he'd rather have pussy than a hangover. Caden reached over to pick up his partially eaten piece of pizza. "So if it's a secret, how're you guys hooking up? You're not taking her to your mom's house, are you?" Jasper probably wasn't taking this girl to Gavin's. That was something Gavin probably would have mentioned to Caden by now.
He grinned at Caden’s reaction, feeling a weird sense of pride at the approval. His uncle wasn’t easily impressed, and he had lots of experience, so if he thought Jasper had landed a hot one, it was almost like an accomplishment. Jasper looked at the pic himself again for a moment, zooming in on the curve of Jules’s ass, then closed it out again. He let his phone rest on his thigh as he took another long swallow from the beer can. “Fuck no,” he said. “She got pouty about it the other night too, but ... no. We mostly fuck in my car. Sometimes at her place if her family isn’t home.” He shrugged his shoulders. It wasn’t ideal, and with winter coming the car sex would probably stop, but he would cross that bridge when he came to it. They’d find a way, somehow.
"At least it's a nice car." Caden chuckled. "I never brought girls home in high school, so I don't blame you." Not only did he share a room with his brothers, but Caden would have rather died than have any girl he was fucking accidentally meet his parents. That was a definite mood killer and pretty much guaranteed he wouldn't be getting laid again. His dad was a rude fuck, especially when he'd been drinking. No, Caden had always found other places to take his girlfriends, and he honestly had never cared much if they complained about it.
At least he was in good company. Jasper chuckled and took another swallow of beer. He smoked weed more than he drank, so his extremities were starting to feel a little warm and tingly. “Yeah, I’d be happy if she never met my mom, like ... ever,” he murmured. Jasper knew that introducing a girl to Gavin was less likely to be embarrassing, if not exactly comfortable. But Jules wasn’t ‘a girl’ in that sense, not for him. “Where’d you used to take ‘em?” he asked, looking over at Caden curiously. Maybe there were spots he hadn’t thought of yet.
Caden shrugged. "It would depend on the weather and how much money I had. If we couldn't fuck at her place and it was cold, I'd take 'em to that cheap ass motel outside of town. They never cared how old you were as long as you had cash to pay. There was always an empty house or two on Ludlow. If it was warm, outside was just as good as anywhere else." Caden grinned slightly. "Had a girl on the football field at school once, after dark. You just gotta get creative if you want it bad enough. And if this girl gets off on slumming, then she shouldn't mind getting her ass a little dirty." Caden took a bite of his pizza. "You got a key to your dad's place, don't you? He's usually at the bar after school. Why don't you take her there?"
Jasper knew about the motel, he knew some guys who went out there to get high on more than weed sometimes. He could only imagine the nose-wrinkling Jules would do if he suggested they go there. An empty house on Ludlow though ... that sounded feasible. If he brought a sleeping bag and a space heater or something, it might even be comfortable. He laughed a bit at the idea of Caden fucking a girl on the football field -- even though he was well aware his dad and uncles had gone to the same high school as him, it was still a little hard to imagine. “I dunno,” he answered with a shrug. “It always feels weird there to me. The whole place is depressing. Might try it sometime, we’ll see.”
"You're there to fuck, not romance her. Who cares if it's depressing?" Caden leaned over to drop the crust back into the open pizza box. Sex was sex, regardless of where one had it. And Caden knew from experience that a teenage boy would do whatever it took to get laid. "You got anything else going on besides work and your cheerleader? You doing okay in school?" Caden hadn't given a shit about school, but he kind of felt like if Jasper did halfway decent, he might be able to do enough to get out of this town so he didn't end up like his dad, stuck with a crazy bitch like his mom and kids he had no desire to have.
It was kind of hard to explain that all of the bullshit with his dad got into Jasper’s head sometimes and it made him not even want to jerk off there. But he didn’t want to sound that fucked up to his uncle, so Jasper didn’t try. Besides, that was when his dad was home and they were alone together. Maybe it would be different if it was just Jasper and Jules. Maybe he would try it after all, just to see. Switching subjects was maybe good, Jasper never liked the conversation to get too close to his and his dad’s relationship. Or lack thereof. “Uh ... yeah I guess,” he said, glancing briefly over. “The year just started, but ... I’m goin’. Most of the time.” He had no sense of how he was doing in his actual classes yet, just that the administration was more than ready for him to graduate or drop out voluntarily. They seemed reluctant to expel him for whatever reason.
"Yeah, well, I'm the last person to give advice on school, but you should keep going," Caden said after a moment. "Graduate and get the fuck out of here if you can." The last thing Jasper wanted to do was end up like Gavin, but Caden was sure the kid already knew that, so he didn't say so. Caden was content with his own life, but he wasn't sure how happy Jasper could be in the same situation. And it was obvious that Gavin and Olivia weren't the kind of parents who'd actually encourage Jasper to do something with his life. The kid was bouncing from house to house to car to house just to fucking sleep.
That was more life-encouragement than Jasper usually got from anyone in his family, but it came out in such a Caden way that it felt pretty perfect. Jasper let out an amused huff through his nose and nodded. “Gonna do my best,” he murmured. Okay probably not his best, because he hadn’t been doing that so far. He wasn’t stupid, school was just boring and annoying and mostly pointless. Jasper had no clue where he would go to ‘get the fuck out’ of Point Pleasant, but the idea was still vaguely appealing. If he seemed like he was tanking the school year, he had already decided to drop out. Get his GED maybe, find a trade school to go to. It was as much of a plan as he had. Jasper drained the last of the beer and crunched the can in his fist before setting it on the coffee table with its fallen brother. “You ever wish you got the fuck outta here?”
Life encouragement wasn't something Caden did well, simply because he had never received any himself, and he tended to take a 'fuck all' attitude toward most things. The best he could do was try to get Jasper away from his crazy ass parents... at least his mother. Gavin wasn't so much crazy as he was clueless. That might have been worse, depending on the person. Jasper seemed like he could handle crazy, at least. Jasper's question had Caden grinning for a second. "Yeah, sometimes. Way back in the day when I was workin' on cars. Then your dad bought the bar, and it seemed like a good investment. Then I found Roxy. It's different when you got reasons to stay." Caden had dreamed of leaving town, just to get away from his dad. But then Caden figured his dad would die eventually, and Point Pleasant was still home, even if it didn't have a lot of good memories. It had enough. "You want another?" Caden asked, nodding toward the empty beer cans.
“I don’t wanna drink all your beer,” Jasper said, glancing between Caden and the beer cans himself. He did kind of want to drink all his beer, but he was sure Caden had brought that six pack for himself, and Jasper would hate to rob him of a buzz if he wanted one. He nodded toward his backpack where he’d dumped it in the corner. “I got a couple’a joints if you wanna split one,” he offered. At least he had something to trade, sorta. Jasper had to wonder if he would end up finding reasons to stay in Point Pleasant just like his uncle had. This place seemed to have a strange pull on people -- Jasper had heard about plenty of them leaving, only to come back years later to live there again. What if he was stuck? Ugh, now he really did want to get drunk or high or both.
"I can always buy more beer," Caden pointed out, but he leaned over to set his half empty can down. He wasn't expecting a trade of any kind. He felt like he could share his beer with his nephew. But he wouldn't say no to a joint. "But yeah, I'll split one with you. Go ahead and light it up." Roxy would either be pissed, or jealous, when she got home. Caden could never tell what her mood would be on any given day. Women. At least he didn't have to open the bar tomorrow. Even if he'd had to, he'd probably have called Gavin to do it for him, if he wasn't in the mood to deal with that shit after smoking.
Buying more beer meant going out again, and while he probably should’ve offered to make the beer run himself, Jasper was feeling lazy now. The constant low-key stress from always trying to find a place to sleep had been relieved, and he didn’t want to go anywhere else now. “Hell yeah,” he said with a lopsided grin, and pushed himself up to standing. He went to his backpack and crouched to paw through it until he found his stash baggie. Jasper brought it back to the couch and flopped down again. He pulled one of the fat joints out and tucked it into his lips to light it. After taking a draw to hold in his lungs for a moment, he offered it over to Caden. If Roxy wanted some when she got home, he would hook her up too.
Caden took the joint, thinking it had been awhile since he'd gotten high. It didn't bother him in the least that he was getting high with his nephew. He doubted Gavin would care much either, so Caden wasn't worried about that. Maybe if Gavin got high with his kid every now and then, they'd have a better relationship. He took a hit from the joint and then studied it for a moment before exhaling. "Not bad," he said with a chuckle before offering it back to Jasper. "That ought to keep you feeling good at night no matter where you're sleepin'." Roxy might enjoy it, actually, if she was in the mood when she got home. "You make any decent money at the Shack?"
Seeing as how Jasper had started smoking weed young and done it at the house more times than he could count with both of his parents home, he didn’t give two shits what his father thought about it. Neither of them cared, so why should he? Fuck caring about anything, honestly. He took the joint back and took another hit and a sip off of it before he passed it again. “Yeah, it puts me out pretty good no matter what,” he murmured, his words coming out on smoke as he exhaled at the same time. “I do all right. And anytime I see dad, he’s slipping money in my pockets, so.” Jasper shrugged. Money wasn’t too big of an issue for him yet, he was just kind of drifting. As long as Gavin kept paying his phone bill, he didn’t care. “Bar’s doin’ all right, I guess?”
Yeah, that made sense. Gavin couldn't do shit for his kids but give them money. And Olivia, which still pissed Caden off when he thought about it, but nothing he said would change how Gavin went about things. He still couldn't quite comprehend why Gavin was still married to the nut job. Jasper was already eighteen, so Gavin would only be stuck with paying child support for Amelia, if Olivia decided to ask for it, which she would if Gavin filed for divorce. It was a messy, fucked up situation and just another reason why Caden had no plans to ever get married himself. "The bar is fine," Caden said with a small smirk in Jasper's direction. "We're getting the bills paid. I'd offer you a job, but I doubt you'd want to work with your old man." He wasn't sure Gavin would be appreciative of Caden getting Jasper a job at the bar either, though he was less worried about what his brother would want.
Could he even work at a bar if he wasn’t twenty-one yet? Maybe, Jasper didn’t know. He couldn’t serve alcohol, probably, but he could like, clean up and shit. Even though he thought working with his uncles would be pretty cool, the rest of it was unappealing. Not only being around his dad so much, working for his dad would suck. And he already cleaned up restaurant shit now, so it wouldn’t be much of an upgrade. “Yeah, no thanks,” Jasper said with a chuckle. He slouched comfortably down into the back of the couch again, his head resting back against the cushion as he gazed blankly at the TV. “It’s bad enough seein’ him every couple weeks.” Jasper was tempted to ask Caden how he dealt with his father -- he knew very well that his grandfather had been a shitty dad and he’d just taught Gavin to be a shitty dad too, but it was still hard to have sympathy. He didn’t, though.
"What makes it so bad?" Caden asked. "Seeing him in general? Is he a shithead to you?" Gavin barely managed to put two sentences together for most people, so he couldn't really see Gavin being a dick to Jasper... verbally, anyway. Caden wasn't sure Gavin saw his kids enough to do much more than give them a room to sleep in from time to time and slip them some money - Jasper, at least. Caden wondered if Jasper would be up for a different kind of job, one that would probably pay him a hell of a lot more, but that would be something Caden would have to sleep on. Getting Jasper involved in anything that could get him into trouble before he'd even graduated high school was likely a Very Bad Idea. Not like that had ever stopped Caden before, but it was different when it was family.
Jasper frowned vaguely. He didn’t much want to talk about this, but it felt easier to do with beer and now some THC drifting through his system. “No, he’s not a shithead,” he said thoughtfully. “Not like ... directly, anymore. He’s just ...” How to describe it? That vast distance Jasper felt between them, like they were on opposite sides of the Grand Canyon even when they were in the same room? The way his dad looked at him sometimes, like a kicked puppy who wanted so badly to say something but never did? The stiff questions that sounded like he didn’t honestly care, but he was just reading from a ‘How To Dad’ script? It all felt so fake. When he was a kid, Jasper had been terrified of his dad’s temper. Now, some days, he wished the old man would get pissed and throw a punch at him. At least then he would be engaged somehow. “He’s just not really there,” he ended up murmuring. “He doesn’t know me, doesn’t care to. I’m just this ... shitty inconvenience he never wanted in the first place.”
Caden couldn't exactly defend Gavin. He didn't know the first thing about proper father and son relationships. Personally, he would much rather had a dad who wasn't there, and didn't care to be. Maybe he might have grown up a different person without dealing with a fist in his face, or bruised ribs every night. Then again, maybe he just was who he was and no amount of affection and attention would have changed that. It wasn't something Caden ever gave a lot of thought to. What was the point? He was content with his life, and he didn't want anything more from it. He couldn't even deny that Gavin hadn't wanted his kids. Caden knew they were both unplanned. What fifteen year old wanted to be saddled with a baby? What fifteen year old boy anyway. Olivia had probably been more than ready to knock out a couple kids at that age. "Yeah, well, your dad doesn't care to know anyone," Caden said, reaching over to grab his beer to finish it off. "Between our dad and your mom, he didn't stand a fucking chance."
Jasper wasn’t really looking for sympathy, and even if he’d wanted some, he knew he wouldn’t get it here, from Caden. They’d all had hard lives, and at least Gavin had never kicked the shit out of Jasper like his own father had done to him. On the surface that sounded worse, but Jasper had to wonder if he wanted his dad to hate him, deep down. At least that would be something. It was the indifference that drove him crazy. But he shouldn’t say that to someone who’d been beaten by his own father, Jasper figured. What did he really have to complain about? “Cheers to the unwanted,” he muttered, lifting the joint in Caden’s direction in a little toast before he took another hit off of it and offered it back. At least Gavin acted like he cared about Amelia most of the time, that was something. Sure, watching it got Jasper all mixed up in the chest, but that was his own problem.
Caden took the weed and gave Jasper a mock salute with it before he took another hit. "Hey, at least that's somethin' you got in common with your dad," Caden said as the smoke slipped past his lips. Sure, they were a Catholic family and sure his parents probably felt obligated to have kids, but he was pretty sure his dad had never wanted any of them. He had certainly never treated them like he had. Thank god for alcohol. And pot, apparently. Caden let the THC flow through him for a few minutes, his head resting on the back of the couch and his eyes closed. It was a bit of a shame Jasper was staying, because he felt like he could have spent a few hours having some lazy sex with Roxy once she got home. Caden handed the joint back to Jasper. "Well, you know you can come 'round here anytime you need," Caden said. "We don't mind having you around."
Jasper wasn’t sure he would still be getting by without intoxicants of some kind. Finding alcohol had been a turning point in his life, and pot hadn’t been too far behind it. He knew he’d started early and that had contributed to him being one of the Bad Kids, but it had helped him cope. Being numb and getting to escape for a while made life much more bearable. Booze, pot, girls ... they were all still effective for Jasper. He didn’t know what he would do when that stopped being true. Maybe drive his car off a bridge. Who knew. He took the joint back from his uncle and gave him a lopsided, half-hearted smile. “Thanks,” he said. He knew that offer came with limits, no matter what Caden said -- he couldn’t live there, even most of the time. Roxy wouldn’t go for it, and he would be in the way of his uncle’s life. Caden protected his privacy, and Jasper couldn’t blame him. He would too. But it was still nice of him to say. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
Caden grunted a soft response and finished off his beer before placing the empty can next to the pizza box. He was definitely feeling pretty mellow now and ready for another piece of pizza. It wasn't the worst way to spend the evening. Caden generally liked to have a few hours to himself every now and then, but he didn't see Jasper all that often, so this was definitely okay. The pot was an added bonus. He had no intention of texting Gavin to let him know Jasper was there, but that didn't mean Caden wouldn't call his brother out for his shitty fathering the next time he saw the guy. In his mind, all three of them were trying hard not to become like their dad. Gavin should be trying harder, and maybe it was time someone said so.
It had been a long night closing the bar down. Thursdays always seemed busy for some reason, and there had been a couple of guys who hadn’t been eager to leave until Aaron had gotten a little more insistent. She was tired and had a bit of a headache as she pulled her car into the drive. She’d seen Caden’s text about Jasper, and his car still being there meant he hadn’t changed his mind, as he was sometimes wont to do. Roxy didn’t mind him being around sometimes, she kind of felt bad for him. His home situation wasn’t good, and she could definitely relate to that.
Roxy made efforts to be quiet as she unlocked the door and stepped inside. The TV was on a low murmur, and after she’d put her purse down and toed out of her shoes, she padded to the living room to peek in. Jasper was there on the couch, curled up against the arm of it and snoozing -- he still looked like a little boy to Roxy when he slept. But Caden was on the couch too. It looked like they’d killed a six pack between them, and the smell of weed and cigarettes was still lingering. She walked around to the side of the couch and saw that Caden’s eyes were open. “Hey,” she greeted softly, leaning in to kiss his head.
Caden had heard Roxy come inside, but he'd been too relaxed to do much but look up at her when she approached. She didn't look pissed, so that was nice. "Hi," he said, smiling lazily as he tilted his head back to give her a proper kiss on the lips. He probably smelled like beer and pot, but he didn't think she'd care. "Was waitin' on you." That was mostly true. Caden glanced at Jasper before he moved to stand, groaning a bit before he stretched and rubbed his hands over his face. When he dropped them, he gestured toward Jasper. "Think he was gonna sleep in his car tonight, so I told him to stay on the couch. We got anything for breakfast?" Caden had no clue if Jasper would actually wake up to go to school, but he figured it was best to be prepared. He wouldn't slip a bunch of cash into Jasper's pockets the way Gavin would, but he'd at least try to feed the kid.
Roxy wasn’t pissed, she was just tired, and maybe a tiny bit pouty that she’d missed out on smoking with them. Maybe she ought to be the Responsible Adult and disapprove of Caden getting high with his nephew, but Jasper was eighteen now, and he would be doing it anyway. It wasn’t like it was meth or anything. She kissed her man with a tiny quirked smile; she liked that grin on him. He looked chill and happy, and that was when he was the easiest to love. Roxy backed up to give him room to stand, giving Jasper a sympathetic glance when Caden said it was this or his car. “We got plenty for breakfast,” she answered, still keeping her voice soft. “I’ll set my alarm.” Roxy highly doubted Caden was going to actually get out of bed and cook, so it would be up to her to feed Jasper in the morning. Roxy walked around to the back of the couch, gently pulling the blanket free to drape over the kid. At least he’d kicked his shoes off.
"Thanks, babe," Caden said. He ran a hand over his head, ready to crawl into bed and sleep until noon the next day. He knew Roxy would take care of Jasper in the morning, and hopefully get his ass off the couch and into his car to get to school. After he turned off the television, Caden set the remote back down and left the pizza box and empty beer cans. They'd get cleaned up tomorrow. "This shit's gotta change," he said finally, padding into the kitchen to grab a glass from the cabinet to fill with water. "He's got two homes. He shouldn't be fuckin' sleeping in his car." On some level, Caden understood. He hated sleeping at home when he was that age. But he didn't think Gavin was as bad as their own dad had been, neglectful or not.
Roxy went along with Caden to the kitchen, and pulled her bottle of sangria out of the fridge to pour herself a glass to take to bed. If Caden got to drink beer and smoke weed, she got to have a little nightcap herself after a long day on her feet. “Do you think Gavin knows he does that?” she asked, glancing over at Caden. Roxy was willing to bet Gavin had no idea. Which was probably part of the problem. The boy was practically transient, and his shitty mother just allowed it to happen and his shitty father was just clueless. Roxy knew Jasper probably lied to both of them and just did what he wanted, but he shouldn’t want to sleep in his damn car. It was parenting failure, and Roxy silently vowed once again that when she and Caden had kids, she would be a better mother.
Caden snorted. "Gavin probably doesn't know where the fuck he is six days of the week. So no, I doubt it. But he's going to when I'm done talkin' with him." Because a "talk" with Gavin was going to happen. Caden didn't care if he didn't have kids of his own. He had a brain, and it was clear Jasper needed some fucking guidance before he turned into his old man. "He says he's going to school, but I don't know." Caden shrugged and took a sip of water while glancing over at Jasper. The kid was knocked out. He wasn't afraid of Jasper waking up and overhearing the conversation. "He's got a girl too, but doesn't want to take her home to his mom's, or Gavin's. Can't blame him, but c'mon. It's like Gavin's not even trying with him. Slippin' him some money every now and then. It's bad enough he's got a batshit crazy mom." Caden's dad was an asshole, and while his mom was no peach, she was somewhat more tolerable. She wasn't a nutter like Olivia either.
Roxy leaned a hip against the counter, her eyes on Caden as she sipped her wine and listened to him. Once he seemed done for a second, she half-grinned at him. “Listen to you,” she murmured, sounding appreciative. “This protective uncle thing is kinda sexy.” Her dark eyes crinkled further at him and she took another swallow. No matter what Caden thought of himself -- and she knew his opinion wasn’t too high when it came to certain things -- she thought he would be a good father. He would at least be a fiercely protective dad: their children would be safe from anything outside the family. In Roxy’s opinion, the rest of it could get better. Holding his own babies would soften Caden up some, that was how it was with most men. “Good luck with that, though.” She meant that, she just hoped Caden wouldn’t choose to have this Talk at the bar. “Who’s the girl?”
Caden shot her a look, but smirked anyway. He wasn't going to protest anything Roxy thought of as sexy. He wasn't sure if it was protectiveness over his nephew, or irritation toward his brother. Maybe a combination of both, but who could tell? In any case, all this family bullshit was exactly why Caden never wanted a family of his own. He had Roxy and that was enough for him. He'd yet to see any sign that kids made anything better. It certainly hadn't for his parents, or for Gavin. He shrugged and finished off his water before placing the glass in the sink. He wouldn't talk to Gavin at work. There wasn't always a lot of privacy there. But a talk would happen. And it wasn't likely to go over well. "Dunno. Some cheerleader he's been hooking up with since summer started. She's pretty cute." He opted out of telling Roxy he'd seen a picture of the girl in a thong. He might have been a little high but he wasn't that high. "He says they're keepin' it a secret, if that tells you anything."
Roxy hummed a bit around the rim of her glass. “A snobby bitch, then,” she concluded once she had swallowed. “Say no more, I know the type.” She had seen plenty of girls like that in high school, who would fuck around with the bad boys on the down low. Hell, her sister had been kind of that way. Roxy took another good swallow from her glass and then set it aside. She moved in on Caden, pulling on him to turn a bit so she could lean against him and wrap her arms around his neck. “She’s cute, huh?” she murmured with a little smirk. She wasn’t actually jealous of some cheerleader baby bitch, but she did like to remind Caden who the cutest was. He already had her. “You want me to get a little cheerleader skirt?” Roxy grinned at him a bit. “Bet they don’t even make ‘em big enough for my ass.”
Caden snickered, because he'd had the same thought as Roxy. Although he had no trouble fucking snobby bitches if they were hot enough. He wasn't going to blame Jasper for it. As long as his nephew didn't knock a bitch up, what did Caden care? He slid his arms around Roxy's waist when she came in close and cocked a brow. "Cute for a high school girl who probably lives off a rabbit diet," Caden said, his hands sliding down to grip Roxy's ass. "I like a little more meat on my woman's bones. But I'm not going to complain if you want to find a tiny skirt to put on for me. Buy some pom poms and make up a cheer about how amazing my dick is." Caden chuckled briefly before giving her a quick kiss, his hands resting on her backside. "I think I'd definitely enjoy that."
That made Roxy laugh, though she tried to stay kind of quiet about it for Jasper’s sake. She rolled her eyes lovingly and shook her head at him. “Of course you would,” she said, still snickering a bit. “Oh God, now I’m already thinking of rhymes for ‘cock.’” Sometimes he really knew exactly what to say to her, and he could still be that charming bastard she couldn’t stay away from in the early days. Roxy dipped her head in to kiss the side of Caden’s jaw, then slowly down to his neck. He smelled like beer and pot, but it was a good mix to her nose, and it made her feel a little less tired. Roxy nuzzled him a tiny bit more, then pulled back to give him a little smile. “You wanna take a shower with me?”
Caden glanced past Roxy toward the couch, where it appeared as though Jasper was still asleep. It wasn't a big house by any means, but maybe he was knocked out from the beer and pot. And he was feeling a bit horny now that Roxy was home and smelled so good. Caden reached up to push her hair back behind her shoulder. "Yeah, I think that sounds good. 's long as you can be quiet," he said with a grin. "I don't want to traumatize Jas. He gets enough of that from everyone else."
They’d had some stealthy sex before when Jasper was over, so Roxy knew it was possible at least. And the white noise of the shower would help drown out the quiet noises she was bound to make. Roxy could be loud as hell if she really let loose, but there was something kind of hot about having to sneak around. She ran her hands down Caden’s flanks, some warmth spreading through her at the prospect. A few orgasms with her man would be the perfect topper for the night. “I can be quiet,” she murmured, tilting her face up to kiss his jaw again. “‘Specially with your hand over my mouth.”
"Noted," Caden said with a chuckle. His own hands roamed over her body, his cock starting to harden in his gym shorts. If they didn't move soon, he'd end up wanting to fuck her in the kitchen, and that was definitely a no-no with Jasper sleeping so closely nearby. So he gripped Roxy's hips and began to lead her backward, out of the bathroom and down the hall. With Jasper here, he knew Roxy would make a pretty decent breakfast, so that was just an added bonus to all of this. He'd deal with his brother later, when he was in the mood for it. Right now, spending some time with his woman before he passed out sounded like the perfect way to end the night.