Total pages in book: 120
Estimated words: 113464 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 567(@200wpm)___ 454(@250wpm)___ 378(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 113464 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 567(@200wpm)___ 454(@250wpm)___ 378(@300wpm)
“Lucas stopped by the house yesterday.”
My heart lurches into my throat.
I’ll kill him. I’ll fucking kill him.
Now I wish I hadn’t eaten anything for lunch. A sudden wave of nausea clings to my throat, causing bile to rise at the thought of Lucas telling my father anything. Explaining the breakup is the least of my worries. Would he be stupid enough to bring up the phone call or what happened in the club?
I will die here and now. I will absolutely die.
“What did he say?” I whisper, pushing the words out.
“He told me you dumped him a few weeks ago.” He shakes his head, a frown appearing on his lips. “I know you have a lot going on, and you’re an adult, but I thought we were closer. Since when do you hide things from me?”
“I wasn’t hiding it from you,” I lie, making sure to maintain eye contact. He’s the master of reading body language.
“Then why not tell me? I don’t want to scold you, and I don’t expect you to share everything with me, but the two of you were together for a long time. It couldn’t have been easy. Breakups are hard, especially first love. You shouldn’t have to go through something like that alone. I know I’m just your dad, but… I’d help however I could.”
“I just… did he tell you why I dumped him?”
He grimaces, tapping his fingers on the table in a slow rhythm. “Whenever a man says it was all a misunderstanding, it usually means it was not a misunderstanding, and he’s just a cheating piece of crap.”
I smile. “Well, he did it to himself.”
“I figured as much, and that’s why I told him to get the hell off my property and never come back.”
“You did?” Tears unexpectedly prick my eyes, and I laugh them off, blinking them back.
“What kind of dad do you think I am? I wasn’t about to invite him in and crack open a couple of beers.” He cocks his head to the side. “He cheated on my little girl and broke her heart. He’s lucky I didn’t unload the shotgun on him as he ran across the yard.”
“I’m glad you didn’t. Nothing good would come from that. He’s not worth the ticket or court fees.”
He waves a dismissive hand, snickering. “When you know the people I know, none of those things matter.” He sounds a little too much like Callum right now. “I assumed he showed up because he wanted me to talk to you on his behalf. Like that was going to happen. I wasn’t about to help him earn you back, knowing it wasn’t a misunderstanding, and he was just an idiot.”
I feel immense relief without that hanging over my head. “Thank you for having my back.”
“I always will,” he reminds me. “What we really need to talk about is where you’re living. He said you moved out.”
Ugh. Here we go.
This is the exact reason I didn’t want to tell him yet.
“I’m staying with a friend from school. Her roommate’s gone for the summer, so I’m subletting.” I’m almost impressed with how easily the lie rolls off my tongue.
He takes a sip of coffee. “What’s your plan after that?”
I sit up straighter, glad to have a quick answer. “Funny you should ask. I have an appointment to look at an apartment after work. It’s not far from here, so I wouldn’t even have to drive to work.” I smile. “It’s a studio, so it’s small, but I don’t need a lot of room.”
“I’d be happy to come along with you. You know how some of these landlords like to take advantage of young people—especially pretty girls like you.”
His heart is in the right place, which is why I don’t roll my eyes. “Dad. I’m not a little girl anymore. I’m an adult with a college degree. I have to do these things on my own.”
“I know,” he grumbles, frowning into his cup. “That doesn’t mean I have to like it, do I?”
The server comes our way with the check, which is a relief. The less time we spend together, the less chance there is of me letting something I shouldn’t slip. Like mentioning the fact that I fucked Tatum’s dad from behind one-way glass a few nights ago while a couple hundred people partied below me.
“By the way,” I tell him while he hands over his card to pay, “you look exhausted. Do I have to call your boss and tell him to give you some time off?”
He chuckles, but the sound is grim. Something’s bothering him, and he won’t tell me about it. It irks me, especially when he’s always jumping on top of me whenever something seems off, but when it’s the other way around, he can’t be bothered to spare me a little honesty.