Page 103 of College-Virgin & Dark Bully Next-Door

“I was going to-”

I don’t want to hear it. My mom opens her arms to me like she didn’t run off and abandon our whole family. I hug my dad. I bury my face in his shirt, happy he smells like his old self so I can get rid of everything Ash made me feel.

Dad wraps his arms around me and rubs my back. Then he squeezes me – the most he’s touched me in two years. “I’m sorry, sweetheart.”

“Me too, honey,” Mom adds, squeezing my shoulder. I stiffen.

“You should leave, Claire,” Dad says to her.

“No, Sky is-”

“This is too much. Come back tomorrow,” he replies softly. “I need some time alone with her.”

Mom seems put off by his response, but she finally nods. I hope she understands that this is what ‘baby steps’ mean. I see Chase pull her into a hug as Dad walks me inside and up to my room before he lets me go. He strokes under my eyes, only removing makeup since I’m actively refusing to cry. I don’t get to cry. I ended it.

“How much have I missed with you, Sky?” he asks, looking at me like I’m a stranger.

“Everything,” I whimper. “I had to do everything, Dad. I had to remind you to pay the bills, then take your phone and card to do it. I had to cook. I had to clean. I had to forge your signature. Chase and I …”

“Sorry doesn’t cover that,” he whispers.

“No.” I shake my head. “It doesn’t. I want it to … I wanted to give you time, and I wanted you to get through it without worrying about anything else, but … but …”

He nods and hugs me again. I hate a million and a half things, but I can’t hate Dad. He sits with me for a long time as we talk. I tell him about everything with school. I tell him about things with Ash – short of the things a dad shouldn’t know. I tell him about Bonnie leaving in two weeks and how much I’m going to miss her when she’s in New York. I mention the internship and how I haven’t heard from the studio and how I’m getting more nervous with each passing day. Hours pass as I just spew up everything I’ve been saving up until my throat is sore and my voice is hoarse, and the sun is low in the sky.

Dad listens, holds my hand tightly, doesn’t try to defend himself, doesn’t make excuses, just nods along, asks questions when he’s confused, lets me go on and on until I’ve talked myself tired.

My dad lets me lay with my head in his lap and rubs my back until I feel like a kid again. He takes a slow breath. “Your mom leaving had nothing to do with you, sweetheart. It didn’t. It was me. We never talked like we should have. I didn’t know what was bothering her, and I never asked. She kept waiting until I did. By the time I realized how bad it was, it didn’t seem like talking would fix it, and then I didn’t get the chance to.”

I nod, then sit up, remembering I need to clean Dracula’s tank. My dad stops me. “Sky, you can’t push things down and wait until the perfect time to deal with things because the perfect time doesn’t exist. You’re allowed to feel, even when it’s inconvenient.”

“Feelings complicate everything.”

“And it’s okay to need someone at specific moments as long as you don’t depend on them for everything.” His green eyes meet mine. “Not needing someone doesn’t make it hurt any less when they leave.”

I glance out my window to where Ash’s curtains are closed.

“Love isn’t something that waits until the right moment to strike. It’s complicated and messy. There’s a lot of good and bad in it. But if you feel it, if you’re that lucky … you have to take advantage of it, Sky. Learn from it, open yourself up to it, and give it a chance.”

“Yeah, I already lost that. And I’m going to school in-”

“Listen to me,” Dad insists. “You can fix everything if you try, and even if you can’t … it’s worth it to try. Why else do you think I let your mom come back?”

“You thought she’d stay,” I whisper.

“If I worked hard enough, yes.” He stands and kisses the top of my head, hugging me again. “You’re strong in so many ways you shouldn’t be, so let yourself be weak too.”

That might have helped me two days ago. All it does is make me feel like shit now.

Chapter 31

Ashton

I fling myself into working out. I don’t want to talk to my brother about that disgusting stunt he pulled. I don’t want to talk to anyone. I just want to get out every bit of frustration I feel. Should I have waited to talk to Sky? Probably. But waiting just leads to more waiting with her. I know that.

I know it. When she doesn’t take the leap, I do. It’s always worked. So why didn’t it this time?

It wasn’t like I busted into her house, claimed her as my girlfriend, sat down and pretended like things were normal. She was alone, looking like a kicked puppy, looking like she was holding onto the end of a fraying rope and …

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