Page 78 of Mistle-Ho

Again, I don’t know what to say. It’s too much and not enough at the same time.

And again, Alexis steps in.

“That’s a good start, but you know you’re going to have to dig into the specifics if you really want to fix all the shit you fucked up, right?” She steps in front of me, eyes narrowing as she stares my dad down. “And just so you know, if you do anything to hurt him in any way, I will make sure you suffer.”

My dad nods. “Understood.”

Alexis lifts her chin high in the air. “Good.” She turns to me, running one hand down the center of my chest. “I should go check on the stuff in the oven.” She raises her brows in silent question, making it clear she won’t leave me on my own with him unless I want her to.

“Good idea.” I lean down to press a kiss to her lips. “Don’t want your first attempt at making Granny D’s butter cake to burn the building down.”

Al scrunches her nose at me. “Funny.”

“I’m hilarious, remember?” I kiss her wrinkled nose. “See you in a minute.”

She gives my dad another glare before disappearing behind me, leaving us alone.

“She’s real protective of you, isn’t she?” There’s something akin to awe in my dad’s voice. Like he can’t believe what he’s seeing.

“She is.” I cross my arms and lean against the door frame. “And I’m real protective of her.”

My dad nods and goes quiet for a minute. When he speaks again, his voice is softer. “I miss you, son.” He glances down the hall before continuing. “I want to fix this.”

“To fix this, you have to fix you.” I still love my dad, but I won’t let him be around Alexis if he’s going to be the man I know him to be. He has to be different. Better.

“I know, and I’m trying.” He scrubs one hand down the back of his neck. “I’ve had a lot of time to think about things, and I started to realize I might have fucked up as much as your mom did.”

This is the first time I’ve ever heard my dad take accountability for anything. It’s weird.

“Maybe I can take you and…” His eyes drift into my condo.

“Alexis.”

“Maybe I can take you and Alexis out for dinner sometime.” He peers around me, like he expects her to come back to lay into him again at any moment. “Or just coffee. Whatever you want.”

It’s funny how quickly he walked back from dinner, but it’s hilarious that my little spitfire of a girlfriend is probably why he decided to offer something with a shorter time frame.

“I’ll think about it.” I’m not committing to anything. Not until I talk to Alexis. Not because I want to make sure she’s okay with going—I know she will always support me—but because I need to figure out ifI’mokay with going.

Things are so good between us. Fucking perfect. I won’t risk that for anything.

Not even my dad.

“Fair enough.” He gives me a tight smile. “Let me know what you decide.”

“I will.”

I watch as he leaves, waiting until he’s in the elevator to go inside. I find Alexis sitting on the sofa with Cilantro, aggressively working on the project she’s been fighting with for weeks.

“You might want to calm down before you start dropping stitches and get really pissed.” I sit next to her, carefully taking the scarf she’s torn apart and reworked more times than I can count. “You sure you don’t want me to do this for you?”

“It’s your scarf. The point of it is that I’m the one who makes it.” She snags it from my hands and goes back to fighting the loops. “That way it’s filled with all my love for you.”

I squint. “Is it though? Because you’re usually cussing at it.”

“Listen.” She all but throws the scarf onto the coffee table, nearly taking out the selection of candles and artfully arranged decorations that now line its surface. “I never promised my love didn’t include cussing.”

I grab Al, pulling her across my lap so her knees straddle my thighs. Raking both hands through her blonde hair I breathe in the soft scent of her skin. “Thank you.”

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