Page 127 of Come Break My Heart Again

But he doesn’t.

“Did you have a nice time at Keira’s?”

“Yeah.” It’s not entirely a lie. Until Ryder showed up, the evening was pretty pleasant.

“How is Prescott doing?”

I close my eyes for a few seconds. I could lie, but I’m too drained to. “We broke up, Dad.”

A pause.

“Oh. That’s too bad. What happened?”

I put my feet up on the arm of the chair next to mine. Wait for my dad to raise an eyebrow or make a comment about table manners. He doesn’t, surprising me once again.

“Ryder James was released from prison.”

A much longer pause follows.

Ryder is a touchy subject, one we haven’t discussed since my senior year of high school. I got suspended and switched schools, and my parents acted like private school had been the plan all along.

“Yes, I believe I saw something about that in the paper,” he finally says.

“People love to gossip,” I comment, watching Scout continue to explore my parents’ yard.

And judge.

“You didn’t answer my question,” my father says. “About Prescott.”

I look over, meeting his gaze straight on. “Yeah, I did.”

I watch that register on his face. My dad doesn’t miss much. Any bluntness I have, I inherited from him. He knows what I mean, what I’m really saying.

“He’s a criminal, Elodie.”

“He didn’tmurderanyone. Good people make mistakes. There’s a lot more to Ryder than just … that.”

My father huffs what sounds suspiciously like a laugh. “He has moxie—I’ll give him that.”

I sit up straight. “What are you talking about?”

As far as I knew, my dad’s never met Ryder.

“He came here. The day before he got arrested. You were off at a brunch with your mother.”

“Rydercamehere?”

“Yes.”

“To … why?”

“To see you, I believe he said. I was more focused on a stranger trespassing on my property.”

I roll my eyes. My dad can be so dramatic.

And intimidating. I can only imagine what he said to Ryder.

Yet, somehow, my dad left the encounter thinking Ryder hadmoxie.

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