Total pages in book: 108
Estimated words: 101736 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 509(@200wpm)___ 407(@250wpm)___ 339(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101736 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 509(@200wpm)___ 407(@250wpm)___ 339(@300wpm)
I was so fucking proud of her for standing up for herself. It had to be hard enough to do alone, but she’d done it this morning with an audience. Mrs. Novak’s hard expression faltered as she realized she didn’t have the leverage she thought she did, and I could read the thoughts running through her head clear on her face. This had been a bluff.
They’d never expected their good girl to walk away from them.
“You can make your decision on the porch,” my dad quipped to the couple. “Because I’d like you to get the fuck out of our house.”
Mr. and Mrs. Novak bristled at his profanity, which gave me dark satisfaction. They had a lot of balls coming in here and disrespecting my dad and Cassidy like that.
“You’re a terrible father,” she said.
“Are you fucking kidding?” I blurted. “He’s a better parent than you’ll ever be.”
Every pair of eyes snapped to me in surprise, but no one looked more caught off guard than my father. Maybe he never expected me to defend him after the mistakes he’d made, but what I’d said was true.
Everyone waited on edge for her to move or say something, and Mrs. Novak’s discomfort visibly grew. She chose to ignore me, and her focus went to her daughter, even though I was still holding Sydney’s hand.
“I didn’t sleep at all last night, so I’m not at my best right now,” Mrs. Novak said, like it was a good enough substitute for an apology. “We were crazy with worry for you, and maybe we let our emotions get the better of us. It’s hard to think straight.” Her gaze flicked to my dad for a second before returning to her daughter. “Can we discuss this in the car?”
Sydney took a deep breath, squeezed my hand, and when I squeezed it back, she nodded.
No one spoke as the Novak family shuffled toward the front door. I followed closely behind, but stopped at the threshold, fighting the urge to stay glued to her side. Once again, I knew she didn’t need rescue, but I wanted to be there for her. To help however I could.
I was no stranger to messy family drama, after all.
“I’ll text you later,” she said and brushed her lips against mine in something almost too short to be called a kiss, but I understood why. She was trying not to wind up her folks any more than they already were.
“You better,” I teased, although I was entirely serious.
I watched them go, shut the door, and turned to face my dad and Cassidy. They both peered at me like they didn’t know what to say.
“Sorry about wrecking your morning,” I said. “And I’m sorry for what she said.”
“That’s not your fault.” He scrubbed a hand over his face, making the whiskers of his short beard bristle, and his gaze turned toward his girlfriend. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah.” Cassidy waved a hand like that wasn’t important right now. “But I liked the part where you told them to get the fuck out of our house.”
“Yeah,” I said. “Me too.”
She moved toward my dad and put her arms around his waist, and he instantly responded by slipping his arm around her too. It was so comfortable, so natural, and I’d seen them like this enough times it didn’t feel weird to me anymore. Hell, she’d been with him longer now than she’d been with me.
She sounded dubious. “Colin’s okay with you dating his sister?”
“No, not at all.” I sighed and sank down onto the couch, setting my head in my hands. “He doesn’t know.”
“Oh,” she breathed.
The silence that followed was so heavy, I struggled under it. “You don’t have any room to judge.”
“No, I don’t,” she said.
Her agreeing with me somehow made it worse, and I felt the urge to defend myself. “He’s my best friend, but if I tell him? We’re done. Our friendship’s over.” It was the bitter truth, and I hated it. “He made it really fucking clear she’s off limits, but no. That didn’t stop me. Hell, it barely slowed me down.” My face twisted with displeasure. “God, I’m such a shitty friend.”
She couldn’t have looked more shocked if she’d tried. “Oh, my god. You really like her.”
My dad’s tone was borderline gloating. “I told you he did.”
“What?” I asked.
He gave me a sad, knowing smile. “That day she cooked for you, I could tell. You haven’t looked at another girl like that except for . . .” His expression hung as he tried to change course. “I haven’t seen you look at someone like that in a while.”
Fuck, was that true? He was talking about Cassidy, who was the only girl I’d ever loved. And he thought I was looking at Sydney the same way? That idea was terrifying.
I wasn’t ready for any of that.