Page 5 of Don't Let Your Mind Go There

One not many would agree with, but then, not many would understand the love I had for him.

3

TATE

The food was incredible, and my stomach was full after finishing my plate. Still, that didn’t stop me from ordering a strawberry milkshake for dessert. Ronan ordered one as well. They came almost immediately after ordering them, and they were gone just as fast.

Everything I had eaten was perfect, and I wasn’t sure I’d be satisfied with Mom and Dad’s cooking for the rest of the trip. Luckily, I could just sneak over here and buy something if I ever need to.

“That was nice, wasn’t it?” Mom asked with a pleased grin on her lips.

“Very. We should eat here every night,” Ronan teased.

Dad chuckled and shook his head. “That would cost us more than this trip.”

As they continued to talk, I got lost in my thoughts again. I needed to find a way to spend more time with Dad. Alone. I wanted to get closer too.

Sitting next to him wasn’t giving me the satisfaction I thought it would, but I had the chance to get just a tiny bit closer without anyone noticing.

I looked at his face, then dropped my gaze to his lap. His elbows were resting on the edge of the table, and he was leaning forward as he kept talking to Mom and Ronan.

Slowly, I reached out my hand and placed it on his thigh. I kept it there without moving for a moment, then I started to caress his leg with my fingertips.

He seemed to like it, but the longer my hand was on his thigh, the more I felt him tense.

He cleared his throat and shot me a quick glance, then his hand covered mine, and my heart skipped a beat.

But my excitement didn’t last long.

He took my hand and placed it on my thigh, patting it gently before moving away. He got up from the booth and cleared his throat one more time before saying. “I’ll be right back. We can leave when I get back.”

I followed him with my eyes and watched him disappear in the back. His touch had left a strange feeling inside of me. There was something pulling me toward him, and without thinking about it too much, I got up and excused myself to head to the restroom myself.

Something deep inside of me was telling me not to follow him. To just let this need of being close to him go, and to not think about it too much. But that was hard, and truthfully, I didn’t want to ignore the way I felt.

I didn’t have to use the toilet, so I waited in the narrow hallway for Dad to come out of the men’s bathroom. I leaned against the wall and watched the door, and when it finally opened, Dad appeared and let out a heavy sigh when he saw me.

“Tate.” His voice was hard, and he looked way too serious for this not being a serious situation.

“What?”

“You know what. You can’t do that.”

“Do what?” I frowned.

I wasn’t stupid.

I knew what I was doing, but I hated how he was pushing me away.

“You know what I mean. You can’t touch me like that. And you can’t follow me.”

I furrowed my brows further. “I don’t think they noticed.”

“That’s not the issue, Tate. You simply can’t do that again.”

“But I thought we—”

“Don’t.” He looked at me with a warning glare. “Don’t go there.”

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