Page 36 of Resist Me

West

The inevitable happened. To say I was a bit of a mess right now was an understatement. I wasn’t freaking out. I’d moved past that when it came to my dad. That by no means meant I wanted to deal with it.

I stared at the three missed calls. He’d also sent some texts demanding that I call him back. ‘Immediately’ was put in all caps.

But what if I didn’t? He wasn’t paying for my school or anything. When it came down to it, he had no control over my life. He could drop me from his health insurance, but it wasn’t like I went to the doctor anyway because he’d yell at me for it.

With a sigh, I backtracked from that idea. I told Willow that she needed to let him know she was moving, so I probably had to hop on the communication train too. My dad didn’t deserve my respect, but if he wanted to have a conversation, I could manage that.

Putting in my earbuds, I waited for him to answer. Each ring made me want to hit something. When it connected, there was silence on the other end save for his breathing. It sounded like a horror movie with the creepy bad guy making phone calls without saying anything.

“I called you back,” I noted. “Should I just hang up?”

“What… the hell… are you thinking?” he gritted out.

I rolled my eyes. “Let me guess. You’re going to blame me for what your adult daughter decides to do.”

“Don’t treat me like an idiot, West. You encouraged her to do this. Why would you convince her to drop out of school and move across the country?”

“That’s not what I did. She didn’t want to finish, so she decided to get her GED. It doesn’t matter.”

“Of course it matters! She’s staying here. You’re going to tell her that.”

“No.”

Silence again. It was tense and made me grind my teeth. I readjusted on the bed, crossing my legs in front of me.

“Weston, I swear to God.”

“Willow wants to live with me,” I said matter-of-factly. “We have an apartment, she’s on the lease, and when she gets here, she’s going to find a job. You get to have the house to yourself. I don’t know what you have to complain about.”

“She’s too young to leave.”

I let out a dry laugh. “And I wasn’t? You didn’t say a damn thing about me moving. Pretty sure you couldn’t fucking wait, huh, Dad?”

“You can take care of yourself.”

“So can she. We’re not eight years old anymore and I’d never invite anyone into our lives who would hurt her.”

His breath caught and I immediately closed my eyes as shame washed over me. I hadn’t meant to bring it up. As much as I hated my dad, I didn’t like to do that. All it did was force us to continue this constant cycle of blame and guilt. There was no winner or loser. Only regret.

“You’re going to fuck it all up,” he said in a cold voice. “When something happens to her, it’ll be your fault.”

There was a click signaling that he’d hung up. Not keen on giving myself time to spiral, I called Willow. Her face showed up on the screen and her eyes immediately softened.

“How bad was it?”

“Not great,” I replied. “But it is what it is. I knew he’d be pissed.”

“He stormed out after I told him. I’m at Kai’s parents’ house now.”

“Good. How long are you staying?”

“I don’t know. Probably just tonight. I want to give him time to think things through. Maybe we’ll be able to have a good few days before I leave.”

I made a noncommittal sound. It was possible but unlikely. He wouldn’t treat her like he did me. The strain in their relationship was completely different. He was terrified to get too close, to give himself the opportunity to fail her again. It was ironic because by doing that, he constantly failed her. Neither of us had much of a father since we were about nine.

“Are you sure this is what you want to do?” I asked.

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