Page 58 of Finding Out

Wren shifted away from her mother and stood on my far side, her eyes blazing. “I’m not marrying a senator and putting on charity events forever, Mom. Get that idea out of your head.”

Don’t react. Don’t react. Fuck, the idea of her marrying anyone but me made my skin crawl. I didn’t want to hear about it, think about it, picture it. Yet for the second time in fifteen minutes, I was forced to.

“Don’t be dramatic. It doesn’t have to be a senator.” Heath sat back in his chair and crossed his arms. “But it wouldn’t hurt to find someone.”

I hadn’t realized they had such an obsession with setting their daughter up with a man. What the fuck? I would have preferred Avery not date at all before she met Chris. Focus on her friends, her schooling, her career—that’s what I always told her.

At the frustration locking Wren’s tight jaw, I was pretty sure my way of handling Avery was better than whatever this was.

“The real point is you did an amazing job,” I rushed out. “We’re all impressed.”

Onyx eyes softening, she shifted her attention from her mother to me. “Thanks.” She surveyed the room. “With all the gifts, they’ll definitely have the sexiest honeymoon ever.”

I groaned. “Please don’t go there.”

“Married people have sex. Loosen up, Daddy Wilson,” she taunted, resting a hand on my shoulder.

Through my white button-down, I could feel the heat of her palm as she squeezed.

“Stop annoying Tom,” Heath muttered, picking up his drink.

“Fine, fine.” I didn’t have to look at her to know she was rolling her eyes. “I’m going to do one more round to make sure the staff has everything handled.”

“Don’t work too hard, baby girl.”

Next to me, Heath coughed and slammed his glass onto the table so hard I was surprised it didn’t shatter. “Son of a bitch.”

In that moment, all the air was sucked from my lungs, and my heart fell through the floor.

Oh shit.

What had I just done?

With my hearthammering in my chest, I dropped my hand from Tom’s shoulder.

“Tell me I’m imagining this, Tom,” my dad snapped, addressing one of his best friends. Steam might have been coming out of his ears for as red as my father’s face was. “Tell me right now the woman you’ve been dating is not my daughter.”

There was no way my parents would be reasonable about this. I had always known that. I shouldn’t have touched his shoulder, and I shouldn’t have teased him while they were right there. I wasn’t thinking, and now…

“Tom?” my father gritted out. Luckily, the party had mostly dispersed. But Emerson, Chris’s best friend, and his fiancée, Gianna, moved closer. As did Avery’s mother and stepdad and Leo.

I frantically looked for Avery, but I didn’t see her.

Jana was across the room, and when she met my eye, she mouthed, “What the fuck?”

Looking away, I swallowed, fighting back the panic bubbling inside me. I wasn’t sure what Tom would do. If he didn’t lie, this was going to explode.

Tom pushed to his feet and shot me an apologetic look.

Dammit, he was going to deny it. My shoulders slumped indisappointment. But instead of telling my father he was wrong, he took my hand firmly in his and lifted his chin.

“I can’t tell you that, Heath.”

My stomach flipped. How the hell was it possible to be both thrilled and terrified in the same second? Despite how impossible it seemed, that was exactly how I felt. Tom Wilson was willing to blow up his life to claim me in front of every person who mattered to him.

His fingers tightened, grounding me, reminding me that we were in this together.

“No.” My dad slapped the white tablecloth with all his might, causing the dishes to rattle and knocking over my mother’s wineglass. But no one moved. Every person in the room was frozen. “You are not dating my daughter.”

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