Page 34 of Prince of Pain

“I’m so glad you see it that way, but you’re fucked when you pull up at her house and get out of that car,” he scoffed, shaking his head. “How long have you been fucking her?”

“I don’t know. A while. She’s got a good pussy,” I shrugged, waving away his concern. “I’m fine, Dad. Don’t worry about me.”

He sighed, raking a hand through his hair. “Ry, you took off last night on Maddox and Jett. Apparently, you lost your temper over a game.”

“Hey, Maddox smashed an entire console for not ejecting a disc once. Don’t give me that temper bullshit as if I’m the only loose cannon around here. We’ve all got anger issues, in case you didn’t notice. Most of us got that from you.”

“Me? That’s all on your mother. She’s the psycho one,” he joked, the concern not leaving his eyes. “Please be careful. You’re playing a deadly game of roulette with her. She’s toxic.”

“Jesus, I’m not marrying the girl, chill. Besides, I’m toxic, and you know it. You should be more worried about her safety, not mine. I’m leaving, I’ll be home later.” I went to walk off, but he grabbed my arm, stopping me.

“Promise me you’ll stop seeing her.”

I shook him off with a scoff. “Me and her aren’t a thing. She was here, so I fucked her. Get off my ass about it.” He let me go, and I stomped into the kitchen and placed my mug in the sink, glaring at Tempest as she sat patiently at the table. “Come on, I don’t have all fucking day.”

“Who pissed in your Cheerios?” she huffed as she stood, not bothering to say goodbye to anyone as she followed me out to the garage. She didn’t speak again until we were in the car, not looking at me. “Is Skeet pissed?”

“He’ll get over it. He thinks I’ll get back on the drugs if I’m within ten miles of you,” I snorted, backing out of the garage and heading towards her place. “And the fact that Archer will kill me.”

“Dad can’t do shit, I’m an adult and so are you,” she grumbled, turning the radio up to avoid conversation, which was fine by me. Just because we fucked, didn’t mean I wanted to get to know her more.

I didn’t care what her favorite color was, or her favorite song. We only shared moments in the dark that no one else would understand.

The moment I parked out the front of her house, the front door jerked open and Archer stepped out, making me huff out an amused breath. “You’d better tell everyone how good my dick was at my funeral. None of that sweet bullshit.”

“You really think I’d lie and say you were a nice person and an asset to the community?” she deadpanned, glancing over at me as I reached for the door.

“I totally am. Do you know how many women have had the pleasure of my community service?”

She snickered as she climbed out, and I followed her towards the front door, where her father waited furiously.

“What the fuck is this?” he bit out, looking me up and down as if he’d never seen me before. “You touched my daughter after I told you never to go near her again?”

“In my defense, everyone’s touched your daughter,” I grunted, crossing my arms. “I heard she was blackout drunk at a party and climbing all over everyone, so I went and got her so she could sleep it off at my place. You’re welcome, by the way. I nearly got my ass beat by some angry dudes over it.”

It was a small lie, but he didn’t have to know that.

“You want me to believe that you didn’t touch her?” he said flatly, making me roll my eyes.

“I didn’t take advantage of your passed-out daughter. Happy? Is Lexi home? I need to apologize to her for my behavior the other night.”

“Why’s she in your shirt then?” He looked ready to punch me and I was honestly surprised that he didn’t. Tempest couldn’t help but piss him off more though.

“Probably because I was naked when he found me. Ruined a really good orgy.”

“Get in the house!” he barked, turning back to me. “Lex is in the kitchen. Make it fast before I put a bullet in you.”

“I’ll remember that next time I find out Temp is in trouble,” I deadpanned, walking inside and making a beeline towards the kitchen. Lexi glanced up at me and did a double take, her eyes narrowing after a second.

“Why are you here? Out to cause more problems?”

I sat beside her, resting an elbow on the table. “I brought your wayward princess home and thought I’d come in and apologize for my behavior at Wet Dreams. I was having a bad day, and I was taking it out on everyone around me. I’m sorry I made things difficult for you.”

Her face softened and she took my hand, holding it firmly when I tried to pull away.

“You’re a good kid, Ry, and I appreciate you looking out for Tempest. I love my daughter, but I worry she’s going to drag you down with her. You’ve been doing so well.”

“She can’t make me do anything I don’t want to do.”

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