Page 69 of The Problem with Players

“Nothing.” He took another bite of his sandwich and tossed a few chips into his mouth. “I punched him in the fucking nose.”

I laughed and rolled my eyes. That was until I saw the seriousness in his eyes. “What?! No. Daddy, you didn’t!”

“Sure did. Got a nice cut on my knuckle from his big ole stupid nose that somehow cut me.”

My eyes all but fell out of my sockets as they bugged out. “Daddy! You really punched him?”

“One hundred percent. I guess you get my bad emotional filtering from me.”

The thought of my father punching Wesley was not something I saw happening, but I wasn’t entirely shocked by the idea. If there was one thing about Matthew Kingsley, it was his strong papa bear skills. He might’ve been an amazing construction worker with his own business, yet he always said his first and most important position in life was being a father.

Unfortunately, Wesley found out what mess-around-and-find-out actually meant.

“Dad,” I groaned. “Everyone in town is going to have a panic attack about you punching him.”

“I’m fine with being the gossip. I don’t care. And heshouldn’t have been speaking about you in such a way. Especially with that woman by his side.”

“A woman?” My stomach slightly knotted up. “Drew?”

“Yes. He said it was his best friend. What’s that about, huh? That’s weird.”

“What’s even weirder is they dated for a long time.”

“That’s why I hate men,” Dad exclaimed. “We’re idiots. He had the diamond of the ball and ended up with rusty nails. I never did like Trevor.”

“Wesley,” I corrected. Though it didn’t matter.

He brushed his hand against the back of his neck. “How’s my girl, though? You okay?”

“Yes. I’m good.”

“You’re lying?”

“Yes. I’m lying.”

He nodded. “Figured so.”

“I’m staying at Willow’s until I can find a place.”

“You’re both staying in Big Bird? That has to be cramped.”

I shook my head. “No, Willow headed off to…” My words faded off, realizing I was not supposed to tell Dad where Willow was.

His brows shot up. “Where is Willow?”

I pressed my lips together and shook my head.

“Avery Kingsley, tell me right now before I go find out from Yara and make her pregnant self cry.”

I sighed. “She’s going to Puerto Rico for a few weeks, then off to Europe. She said she’ll message you when she lands.”

“Puerto Rico?!” he gasped. “With who?”

“Good question,” I quipped.

He sighed. “If I had hair, they would all be gray because of you girls.”

I laughed and rubbed his bald head. “Luckily for you, you started balding in your thirties.”

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